Close
On 30 January 2024, Family Day Care Australia (FDCA) lodged a submission in response to the November 2023 consultation paper for the Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) Capacity Study, being undertaken by Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA) in partnership with HumanAbility.
The purpose of the ECEC Capacity study is to provide critical evidence, insights and recommendations to support current and future workforce planning in the ECEC sector, including a detailed understanding of the current state and future needs of the workforce.
In our submission, FDCA seeks assurance from JSA and HumanAbility that the important role of family day care is adequately considered and clearly recognised in the study’s findings, and that recommendations are made that will support the continued growth and viability of the sector.
You can read FDCA’s submission to JSA on our Submissions page.
From 1 July 2023, changes to the minimum qualifications for family day care educators came into effect, with educators now being required to hold an approved Certificate III level (or higher) qualification prior to commencing their role in a family day care service and cannot be ‘actively working towards’ a qualification.*
However, existing educators currently engaged at a family day care service and who are currently ‘working towards’ their Certificate III qualification have until 1 July 2024 to complete their qualification. This provision does not apply to FDC educators in South Australia as FDC educators in South Australia must hold an approved Certificate III level (or higher) qualification prior to commencing their role in a FDC service.
Waivers for staffing requirements will continue to be available. If by 1 July 2024, educators do not hold an approved Certificate III level (or higher) qualification, the approved provider can apply for a waiver. The regulatory authority may consider granting the waiver if it is satisfied that the approved provider has reasonable justification for not being able to comply with regulation 127. For more information on waivers visit the ACECQA website.
* Please check the legislation for commencement dates in Western Australia
Did you know that FDCA has an Incident Reporting protocol for when incidents occur in your family day care business? Did you also know that FDCA's Member Zone allows you to lodge an incident report online with the click of a button?
Below are some examples of the types of incidents and the time frames in which you are required to notify FDCA:
Category A
These are severe incidents where a claim is likely to occur. These types of incidents must be reported to FDCA within 48 hours of the incident. Some examples of a Category A incident are:
Category B
These incidents are less severe but a claim may still occur from the incident. These types of incidents must be reported to FDCA within 30 days of the incident. Some examples of a Category B incident are:
Category C
These incidents are not severe and can be managed and dealt with straight away. There is no need to report a Category C incident to FDCA. Some examples of a Category C incident are:
These timeframes must be followed to ensure protection under your insurance policy, in the event that the incident leads to a claim in the future.
How to report an incident?
You can either complete FDCA’s incident report form which is available on our website at OR you can complete an online incident report from which is located in the Insurance section of your FDCA Member Zone. Hard copy incident report forms, once completed, can be emailed to memberservices@fdca.com.au.
For more information on incident reporting, please click here.
The fifth Early Childhood Education and Care National Workforce Census is fast approaching and will take place from April to July 2024.
The Australian Government is urging services to start reviewing their details in the CCS system now to ensure they are up to date.
Participation in the National Workforce Census is compulsory for all Child Care Subsidy (CCS) approved providers and services and is part of their obligations under Family Assistance Law.
When reviewing details in the CCS system make sure to:
You can check and update your details via the Provider Entry Point (PEP) or your third-party software.
The results of the National Workforce Census help the Government develop and measure policies and programs for the early childhood education and care sector. Find out more about the Census on the Australian Government Department of Education website here.
To get information and alerts about the upcoming census, make sure you subscribe to the Department’s weekly newsletter here or join its Facebook group.
Inspired by our members and their families, FDCA’s “My Family” Day Care E-Book is a story about a child’s first day of family day care and is available to all FDCA members.
The E-Book is designed to support the transition of children into care and showcase the natural approach to play and discovery that family day care nurtures.
FDCA members are able to access, create and download as many versions of the E-Book as they would like, free of charge from any desktop device.
Members are also able to customise the names of the E-Book’s main characters, including the main child, the parent, the educator and the name of the family day care, to make the story personal to your children.
This level of customisation means that you can create a new E-Book for each child in your care, or create an E-Book for new children arriving in your care to share with their family!
Alongside the ability to choose the character names, the use of well-known Australian native animals in the illustrations will allow a wide range of readers to “step into the shoes” of their character and follow along with the adventure!
How to use the E-Book
“My Family” Day Care is available to access through your FDCA Member Zone, under the subheading E-Book.
To customise and download your very own copy of “My Family” Day Care, refer to our “How to” video here.
We hope you enjoy reading “My Family” Day Care as much as we enjoyed producing it for you!
.svg)
