Close
To support members reflect on digital safety and the role we play in protecting children online, FDCA has released a new resource for FDCA members titled Child Safe Practice: For the Use of Personal Devices in Family Day Care, which was developed in partnership with Dellamarta Consulting, one of Australia’s leading child safeguarding consultants.
This resource has been created in response to ACECQA’s release of the National Model Code for Early Childhood Education and Care: Taking Images or Videos of Children while Providing Early Education and Care, and to address the growing need in building awareness around preventing risks associated with the use of personal electronic devices in family day care settings.
This resource includes:
The Service Guidance Note and the accompanying Educator Resource have been developed in consultation with service providers, who offered valuable insights into the challenges, implications and strategies for addressing safe device use in family day care contexts.
It is important to note that while the National Model Code suggests prohibiting personal devices on an educator’s person while providing care in a centre-based setting, no such obligation currently applies to the family day care environment. However, risks still exist, and this guidance note and educator resource offers strategies on how to mitigate them.
FDCA has developed these resources to assist services and educators in applying child safe practices similar to those outlined in the National Model Code but contextualised to the family day care environment. We strongly encourage services and educators to use this tool to facilitate conversation around safe device use and child safeguarding in family day care settings.
This resource is free for FDCA members and can be accessed via the Resources and Factsheets section of your FDCA Member Zone. Please note that it is optional to use and that it is not directly affiliated with the National Model Code.
All educators and education providers in Australia have obligations under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and the Disability Standards for Education 2005 (the Standards) to support children and students with disability. These obligations include preventing discrimination against children, their families or others because of disability, making reasonable adjustments for children with disability and consulting regularly with children and parents to address concerns as they arise.
The 2020 Review of the Standards recommended changing the Standards to explicitly include approved early childhood education and care (ECEC) providers in the Standards so that it will make it clearer and easier for these services to understand and meet their obligations under the DDA.
Consultation on the draft Amendment Standards
The Amendment Standards has been drafted and is now open for consultation. The proposed changes address the recommendation to include early childhood education and care (ECEC) providers in the Standards and other minor changes. The ECEC services identified as most suited to be covered by the Standards are the ECEC services that by law must deliver an education program based on an approved learning framework.
Before these changes are finalised, the Australian Government Department of Education would like to hear from state and territory education stakeholders, early childhood education stakeholders, disability stakeholders and parents and carers.
Visit the Department of Education website to access further information on the consultation and to access the consultation documents.
Submit your feedback on the proposed changes by taking the Department’s short survey here.
Resources being developed by ACECQA to assist service providers
The Department has also engaged ACECQA to deliver and trial an Inclusive Practice Framework to help approved services to better understand their current level of capability to embed inclusive practices and to plan strategies to make any necessary improvements. Inclusion experts will assist ACECQA in this work. ACECQA will also provide a suite of free and practical resources for services, building on their existing suite of DDA resources.
FDCA's Mission is to REPRESENT, SUPPORT and PROMOTE the family day care sector in delivering high quality early childhood education and care to more Australian children.This year, the FDCA National Conference will be held at the Pullman Melbourne, Albert Park from 23-25 October.
Overlooking picturesque Albert Park Lake, near the beachside St Kilda, iconic Chapel Street and a short ride away from the Royal Botanic Gardens and CBD. With easy access to Melbourne top attractions, the conference location provides exciting possibilities with so much at your doorstep.
There’s a lot to experience and explore in Melbourne and surrounding regions. Whatever your interests, there’s an option for everyone, you can:
8-Month Payment Plan ends this month
Did you know that FDCA members can secure their conference ticket now and pay later?
Exclusive for FDCA members, our payment plans are designed to assist members manage their cash flow while securing their conference ticket via simple monthly instalments.
Our 8-month payment plan is a popular ticketing option for members but is only available until the end of February, so be quick!
You can lock in your conference ticket via a payment plan, by clicking here.
FDCA is excited to announce the launch of a new webinar series titled FDCA Insights which starts recording next week.
This new series will dive into the business of family day care and provide FDCA members with access to tips and advice across a range of topics, designed to help members with the day-to-day running of their family day care business.
The webinars will be available to members via the FDCA Member Zone 24/7, meaning that you can access them at a time that suits you.
The first episode of FDCA Insights will explore Marketing for Family Day Care and we want to hear from you. If you have a question or want some advice about marketing for your family day care business, simply click below and get your question in before 16 February 2025.
Click here to ask your question.
Did you know that as an FDCA member you are able to access more than 45 professional learning modules via the FDCA Learning Hub at no additional cost!
The Australian Government Department of Education has added 7 extra local government areas (LGA) to the declared Child Care Subsidy (CCS) period of emergency in parts of Queensland due to the impact of flooding.
The CCS period of emergency applies from Wednesday 29 January 2025 to Tuesday 25 February 2025 in the following local government areas:
For further information about the support that is available in affected regions, click the links below:
The Australian Government Department of Education has declared a Child Care Subsidy (CCS) period of emergency in parts of Victoria where some services have been directed to close due to the impact of fires.
The CCS period of emergency applies from 27 January 2025 to 10 February 2025 in the following local government areas:
For further information about the support that is available in affected regions, click the links below:
The Australian Government Department of Education has added 6 extra local government areas (LGAs) to the declared Child Care Subsidy (CCS) period of emergency in parts of NSW due to the impact of storm activity.
The CCS period of emergency applies from 15 January 2025 to 17 January 2025 in the following local government areas:
For further information about the support that is available in affected regions, click the links below:
FDCA offers more than just great public liability insurance to protect your business. We have a range of options to protect your home, your vehicle and you!
We also offer Family Day Care Legal Services through our partners, Wotton & Kearney, to provide you with top tier legal advice and peace of mind.
Wotton & Kearney are one of the undisputed leaders in the legal services industry, with specific expertise in the provision of family day care and over 340 specialised lawyers operating across Australian and New Zealand.
Trusted by educators and services for over 35 years, click here or call 1800 658 699 to find out more about how FDCA has got all of your business needs covered.
.svg)
