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We’re excited to announce that we will be celebrating National Family Day Care Week 2026 by hosting a Nature Play Picnic on Tuesday 5 May in partnership with the Department for Education South Australia!
The picnic will take place at the amazing Mukanthi Nature Play Space in Morialta Conservation Park, South Australia, and is FREE for all educators, children, families and service staff to attend!
All FDCA members and families are able to access a free ticket that includes entry for themselves and up to four children.
The day will include a range of amazing nature play activities supplied by Nature Play South Australia for everyone to enjoy, including:
To secure your tickets, please click here.
Event Details
Location: Mukanthi Nature Play Space, Morialta Conservation ParkAddress: Woodforde SA 5072
Date: Tuesday, 5 May 2026
Time: 10.00am - 1.00pm
What is National Family Day Care Week?
National Family Day Care Week is one of the most important events on the family day care calendar, spreading awareness of the vital role family day care educators, coordinators and services play in the development and wellbeing of 68,500 Australian children.
To find out more about National Family Day Care Week, visit www.fdcweek.com.au.
The Child Care Quarterly Report for the December 2025 quarter was recently released by the Australian Government Department of Education. The report shows that:
15,271 approved childcare services operated during that quarter, comprising:
1,011,600 families nationally used approved care. Of these:
1,502,040 children attended approved childcare. Of these:
The average hourly fee charged across all approved care services (excluding in-home care) was $13.75, with the average hourly fee for family day care sitting at $13.80. This compares to an average hourly fee of $14.40 for CBDC services and $9.75 for OSHC services.
In the December 2025 quarter, a total of 180 (or 51.9%) family day care services charged above the hourly fee cap of $13.56. This compared to 38.9% of CBDC services charging above the cap of $14.63, and 16.1% of OSHC services charging above the hourly fee cap of $12.81.
To view the full report, visit the Australian Government Department of Education website.
Please note: As families and children may use more than one service or services in more than one state or territory, and due to rounding, the sum of the component parts may not equal the total.
The Early Childhood Education and Care Qualification Review is now inviting family day care educators and services to have their say on what the future Certificate III and Diploma in Early Childhood Education and Care courses should look like.
As part of the public consultation phase, draft training products are open for feedback – providing a key opportunity for the family day care sector to help shape qualifications so they better reflect the realities of practice.
This consultation is focused on improving training products, delivery and outcomes across the sector. Input from family day care services and educators is critical to ensure that future qualifications recognise the unique skills, knowledge and relationship-based care that underpin quality family day care.
There are several ways to provide feedback:
Feedback is open until Sunday 31 May 2026.
For more information, to complete the surveys or register for workshops, visit the Early Childhood Education and Care Qualification Review website.
The FDCA office will be closed from 5pm AEDT Thursday 2nd April, and reopen 9am AEST Tuesday 7th April for Good Friday and Easter Monday.
Should your family day care insurance require renewal during this period or if you need to purchase a new family day care insurance policy, please visit our website. If you need to make an emergency claim, details of how to do this are located on our website.
We wish everyone a happy and safe Easter.
The Department of Education has declared a Child Care Subsidy (CCS) period of emergency declared in Queensland.
If you recently closed your service due to a period of emergency, the approved provider should contact the Australian Government Department of Education through the Provider Entry Point (PEP) or third-party software and also contact your state or territory regulatory authority.
The following support is available in affected regions during the CCS period of emergency:
Note: a gap fee waiver is a type of provider discount. Approved providers must report the type and amount of prescribed discounts in session reports if they have been applied for the session.
Click here for more information about support during a CCS period of emergency.
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