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From 1 July 2023, families will be required to pay the CCS gap fee payment using electronic means. Make sure you, your educators and your families are ready for this change by accessing the suite of EFT Transition Resources that Family Day Care Australia (FDCA) has developed, available free on our website here.
The latest releases include:
These resources are valuable additions to those already available on our EFT Transitions Resources page, which include:
At FDCA, we are committed to delivering resources that support your continuous improvement and in the delivery of compliant, quality practice. We appreciate your cooperation and commitment to providing excellent care and education to children in family day care. Together, we can embrace these changes and continue to create a positive impact on the lives of children and families.
If you have any questions or need more information about the upcoming changes to gap fee payments, please contact us on 1800 658 699 or at enquiries@fdca.com.au.
Join FDCA and our guest panel on Thursday 29 July at 1pm (AEST) as we explore Quality Area 7 with the topics of Governance and Leadership.
In this episode, FDCA Advocacy and Engagement Manager, Michael Farrell will be joined by Annette Steley, Service Manager from Choices Family Day Care (QLD) and Jo Georgiou, Regional Manager from Nature Alliance Family Day Care (WA).
Michael, Annette and Jo will discuss and investigate a range of topics including:
Episode 5 of the FDCA Online Engagement Series will be streamed live on the FDCA website, FDCA’s Facebook page and via FDCA’s YouTube channel. The streams will be accessible via the links below:
Please note, if you would like to submit live questions through the comments on Facebook or YouTube, you will need to be logged into Facebook or YouTube.
The Department of Education has released a valuable guidance resource to assist service providers in understanding and implementing reasonable steps to collect gap fees through electronic means.
The guidance is designed to help service providers to develop local polices and procedures tailored to their individual service’s unique circumstances. It is important for service providers to stay informed of any updates or changes to regulations and seek independent legal advice if necessary.
By following the reasonable steps outlined in the guidance resource, providers can ensure compliance with Family Assistance Law and contribute to the integrity of the Child Care Subsidy System.
Some of the key points highlighted in the resource include:
To access the guidance resource for providers, you can find it here.
New professional learning resources are now available to help the early childhood education sector ensure their services are accessible to children with disability.
The package can help you to:
The Team Meeting Package was developed by the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) in consultation with the disability and early childhood education and care sectors. It includes 6 session cards, which take approximately 30 minutes but can be split up if needed. Each session is designed to be delivered in a team meeting style setting so the staff team can participate, contribute and learn together. A facilitator guide is provided to support the delivery of each session.
The Team Meeting Package will help services understand their obligations under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (DDA), ensuring staff know about making reasonable adjustments so children with disability are included in early childhood education and care.
Under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (DDA), children’s education and care services must make reasonable adjustments to support children with disability. Service leaders and educators should work together with children and families to make these reasonable adjustments.
The following 6 tips for making reasonable adjustments in ECEC/OSHC/FDC services are included in the Team Package resource.
Reasonable adjustments can be easy and inexpensive to make.
Reasonable adjustments can be changes to the environment, the program, teaching style, the design of activities and the use of resources. This might include flexible routines where children can access their favourite activity throughout the day, using resources like sensory toys to support a child to feel calm and focused, moving equipment and resources to a lower height, or using a visual timetable to help children see what will be coming next in their day.
You can access external supports to help you make reasonable adjustments.
Accessing available supports such as professional development, additional resources or other professionals, will help you identify barriers to access and participation, plan ways to remove them and build your capacity to include children with disability. Children’s education and care services approved for Child Care Subsidy (CCS) can access support through the Inclusion Support Program (ISP).
Think about how you and your coordinator can work as a team to make reasonable adjustments.
Consider the elements of your environment or program that might be a barrier for the child. Invite your coordinator to observe your practice to see if there are any other barriers you have not recognised. Talk with your coordinator about other support, resources or training you might need and plan your strategies and budget to help you make adjustments to support children with disability.
There are benefits of making reasonable adjustments for the whole service.
View any cost of making a reasonable adjustment as an investment, as it may benefit other children. Consider how it may better prepare the service to accommodate children with disability in the future.
Collaborate with the child and family, your coordinator and other professionals to make adjustments.
Listen to the child and family and provide the opportunity for them to make choices and decisions that affect them. Your coordinator, the child, family and other professionals who may be involved can provide key information and perspectives to complement your knowledge of the child, the environment, the program and other children.
Monitor reasonable adjustments and change them if you need to.
Children’s needs change over time and there may also be times when adjustments don't work as planned. Monitor and evaluate the adjustments you have made with the child and family to see if they are still supporting the child or if changes are needed.
Nominations in the 2023 Excellence in Family Day Care Awards have only been open for just over two weeks and we’ve already received over 3500 nominations.
This amazing engagement shows how important the Excellence in Family Day Care Awards are as a platform to recognise excellence in the sector and to share some amazing stories across the country.
Get ready for the next round of nominations!
Keep your eyes peeled and your fingers ready to open your emails. Later this week we’ll be releasing the second round of nominations in the awards. This will include all those members that have been nominated from June 21 through to June 27.
Place a nomination of your own
Do you know an amazing educator, coordinator or service that deserves to be recognised in this year’s awards?
If the answer is yes, make sure you get your nomination in!
To place a nomination in the 2023 Excellence in Family Day Care Awards, click here.
A research team from Macquarie University have been contracted under the terms of the National ECEC Workforce Strategy to investigate how rates of pay and employment conditions and benefits impact the recruitment and retention of ECE staff including in the family day care sector.
This national survey gives you the opportunity to let the researchers know what needs to be improved in order to solve this workforce crisis. Your responses will directly inform Government ECE policy and industrial relations reform as well as workforce initiatives planned by large and small ECE employers. By completing the survey, you can enter a draw for one of ten $300 gift vouchers.
The survey asks about your current employment conditions, your job attitudes, and which employment conditions and benefits are the most desirable. It should take no longer than 15 minutes to complete. The survey closes on 24 July 2023.
To complete the survey and have your say, click here.
NAIDOC Week will be held this Sunday 2 July until Sunday 9 July 2023, with festivities taking place across Australia to celebrate and recognise the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Valuing Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures is an underpinning principle of the National Quality Framework. The 2023 theme for NAIDOC week is ‘For Our Elders’. Across every generation, our Elders have played and continue to play an important role and hold a prominent place in our communities and families.
As early childhood professionals, NAIDOC week provides an opportunity to reflect on how you could build stronger relationships and new partnerships with your local Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander communities, through activities, events and shared learning spaces.
Access the NAIDOC website for a range of educational resources to support learning, along with information about the history of NAIDOC Week and local events.
We at Family Day Care Australia acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we live and work, the Darkinjung People, and pay our respects to their Elders past and present. We honour Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples' continuous connection to Country, and celebrate their traditions and living cultures.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has commenced an education campaign aimed at raising awareness about the potential dangers of infant inclined products.
Reports indicate 151 babies in Australia have died in inclined products such as rockers, bouncers, and on propped items.
Inclined products that place an infant’s head above a horizontal position pose serious safety
concerns, particularly if used for sleep.
Sleeping on an incline increases the risk of sudden death for infants from:
It’s important to always follow instructions on how to use these products safely.
Red Nose safe sleep recommendations advise placing babies to sleep:
To read more from the ACCC please click here.
Download the infant incline product safety poster here.
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