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As you may be aware, in early May applications opened for a new round of grant opportunities for the Community Child Care Fund (CCCF) with a special focus on “Establishing Child Care in Limited Supply Areas” (Grant Opportunity ID: GO6229).
Following analysis of the application criteria, Family Day Care Australia (FDCA) met with the Department of Education to propose amendments to the guidelines, such that existing established services with capacity to efficiently and effectively expand in areas of need, could apply without the need for additional new approvals.
As a result of this interaction, the Department has confirmed through addenda to the ‘Questions and Answers’ document that the intent of the current CCCF grant opportunity was to ensure existing family day care providers could apply to “establish one or more new premises” (i.e. new educators) “from which a new or existing family day care service will operate.”
In summary, following the addenda, an existing family day care approved service can now apply for CCCF funding under this grant opportunity to support the establishment of new family day care educators in the identified priority areas, subject to meeting other eligibility criteria.
Earlier today FDCA sent an email bulletin to all services regarding this important update. To view the bulletin and review all the details of the amended guidelines, click here.
As most educators are aware, from 1 July 2023, families using child care must pay their CCS gap fee using Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT).
Family Day Care Australia (FDCA) has created two new factsheets, one for families and one for educators, to assist in explaining the changes. These factsheets are available here in a new section of our website dedicated to keeping you informed about the new gap fee requirements.
In addition, we are sending educators a pack in the mail that includes one educator factsheet and ten parent flyers to distribute as needed. Approved services are able to download the factsheets from our website.
The information sheet for families explains:
Families are also encouraged to contact their family day care service or educator to find out about changes to the payment processes, as EFT payment methods will vary amongst services.
Similar questions are addressed in the information sheet for educators detailing:
Educators are also advised to keep families informed and to review their record keeping processes.
At FDCA, we are committed to supporting the sector in continuous improvement and in the delivery of quality practice. We believe that staying informed is the first step towards achieving this goal. We encourage all services, educators and families to read these factsheets and stay informed about the upcoming changes to the CCS gap fees.
To learn more about the Child Care Subsidy, click here.
To learn more about gap fees, click here.
Episode four of the FDCA Online Engagement Series will take place on Thursday 25 May at 6.00pm (AEST) and will cover a range of hints, tips and hacks that educators can implement in the day-to-day running of their family day care business.
To help frame the conversation we want to hear from our members. You can share your top tips for educators and hacks to spruce up your family day care environment by taking part in our Menitmeter quiz.
To share your tips and hacks, click here.
About our panel
In episode four of the FDCA Online Engagement Series, FDCA Policy and Advocacy Manager, Michael Farrell will be joined by FDCA Sector Liaison Coordinator and 2021 National Coordinator of the Year, Lyndall Cotterill, 2022 National Educator of the Year, Hannah Smith and 2018 Educator of the Year National Finalist and multiple regional award winner Martha Smith to discuss a range of tips, hints and hacks for family day care educators.
The episode will be available for FREE to view live on the FDCA website, FDCA Facebook page and through FDCA's YouTube channel.
FDCA is giving a lucky family day care educator and one of their families the chance to share in $2,500 worth of prizes!
We're inviting families that have children enrolled in family day care to participate in a survey to help us understand:
The survey takes less than five minutes to complete.
Families that complete the survey can go into the draw to share in a $2,500 worth of prizes.
Even better, by completing the survey, families will enter their family day care educator into the prize draw as well!
The prizes up for grabs include:
How can families enter?
So that families can complete the survey, simply share the link below:
www.surveymonkey.com/r/fdcsurvey2023
Alternatively, you can share the survey link with families in your newsletters or group communications or click here to download and print a flyer that can be handed to families with information on the survey and competition.
The survey closes at 11.59pm AEST on 4 June 2023.
The data gathered from this survey will provide vital information that will help guide FDCA's policy positions and promotion of family day care into the future.
For more information about the survey please contact marketing@fdca.com.au.
Terms and conditions for the Visa Gift Card competition are available here.
ACECQA has released its latest National Quality Framework (NQF) Snapshots data and reports. These ‘Snapshots’ provide a point-in-time overview of the Australian children’s education and care sector, including the progress and results of quality assessment and ratings against the National Quality Standard (NQS) by sector and state/territory.
The data presented in this Snapshot was taken from the National Quality Agenda IT System (NQA ITS) on 1 April 2023. This Snapshot shows that the family day care sector continues to make steady gains in terms of quality ratings. Family day care services rated as “meeting or above” now represent 64% of all family day care services. This compares to 59% in Q1 2022.
The full range of information from the latest NQF Snapshot, including the interactive NQF Snapshot Online tool, is available on ACECQA’s website here.
Deakin University would love to hear from all Early Childhood Education and Care professionals from across Australia.
Share your insights, to shape contemporary understandings on how induction, mentoring, and professional practice networks are effectively implemented.
This is your opportunity to shape the future of the early childhood workforce - your ideas and opinions count!
We invite you to participate by completing an anonymous 20-minutes survey and/or joining an online or in-person focus group or interview.
For more information click here.
The study has been commissioned by Australian Education Research Organisation (AERO), to help carry out actions in the National Children’s Education and Care Workforce Strategy, for a sustainable, high quality ECEC workforce.
Participation is voluntary and you can withdraw at any time.
This study has received Deakin University ethics approval (HAE-23-015).
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