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It’s official, registrations are now open for National Family Day Care Week!
This year National Family Day Care Week will take place from 5-11 May and we’re calling on all FDCA members to take part in the celebrations.
Once again, FDCA members will have an exclusive chance to secure a FREE National Family Day Care Week Picnic Pack by being one of the first 200 members to register their National Family Day Care Week Picnic.
The FREE National Family Day Care Week Picnic Pack includes:
To register your National Family Day Care Week Picnic, click here.
By registering your National Family Day Care Week Picnic and sharing your photos on social media using the official hashtag, #fdcweek25, you’ll join the only nation-wide celebration dedicated to highlighting the crucial role family day care plays in the lives of Australian children, families and communities every day.
Geccko, the online learning platform for the early childhood education and care sector created by the federal Department of Education has just released a new course First Nations Cultural Awareness.
Designed for all staff working in early childhood education and care, including family day care, the course will help you better understand issues impacting First Nations families. Understanding these issues will help create a safe, welcoming and respectful environment.
This course will provide insights into:
To access this free course, you must first register for Geccko. You can register for Geccko here.
CCS must not be claimed when an educator is caring for close family members. This includes the educator’s or their partner’s:
Educators may be able to report CCS eligible sessions for extended family members (educator’s or their partner’s niece, nephew, cousin, grandchild or great-grandchild) if this is the case the less than 50% rule must be enforced.
When calculating the 50% rule, you must count all children enrolled in a session of care for the fortnight regardless of whether they attended care.
The Australian Government Department of Education has developed a video explaining the rules for family day care educators who care for relatives in their extended family, that you can view here.
We are pleased to announce that a new 6-month payment plan has been developed, exclusively for FDCA members attending the FDCA 2025 National Conference.
We know that for many members the ability to be able to secure a conference ticket and pay in regular monthly instalments is an important factor in being able to attend the conference.
To access the new 6-month payment plan, click here.
Conference schedule available
The schedule for the FDCA 2025 National Conference is now available to view.
The conference schedule outlines a mix of keynote addresses and over 20 workshops that will be available to choose from. Keep an eye out in the coming weeks for the release of the full conference program!
To view the schedule, click here.
Each year, Red Nose Australia promotes Safe Sleep Week which aims to reduce the risk of sudden and unexpected infant deaths, including SIDS and fatal sleep accidents.
Red Nose has a dedicated family day care webpage that includes key information on:
Follow Red Nose on Facebook for more safe sleep tips.
The Australian Government Department of Education has declared several local government areas (LGAs) in parts of New South Wales and Queensland as a Child Care Subsidy (CCS) period of emergency due to the impact of Tropical Cyclone Alfred. The CCS period of emergency applies from 5 March 2025 to 13 March 2025.
If services, families or educators are affected by Tropical Cyclone Alfred or another natural disaster, please visit the Department of Education website to view the most up to date list of declared LGAs and timeframes.
Providers, services, and families in affected areas can access emergency support for the specified dates. The department will continue to monitor emergency situations and update the list as needed.
For further information about the support that is available in affected regions, click the links below:
Queensland Health has developed a number of books and videos to help young children cope with cyclones and other natural disasters, available on their website here. Birdie and the Cyclone is a story about Birdie and her friend Frog and what happens when a cyclone hits their homes.
Birdie and the cyclone is a story to help young children:
There are a number of other topics covered in the Birdie’s Tree series including floods, storms, bushfires, using shelters and relaxing. These can all be found on the Queensland Health website here.
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