11 June 2020

Update: Return to the Child Care Subsidy System Transition Support Package

As you are all aware, on Monday 8 June 2020 the Minister for Education, the Hon Dan Tehan MP, announced the end of the ECEC Relief Package on 12 July 2020, and a return to the Child Care Subsidy System (CCSS) as of 13 July 2020.

As communicated in Monday's bulletin sent to Family Day Care Australia (FDCA) members, while we know that the overwhelming majority of members were calling for a return to the CCSS as soon as possible, there is of course some uncertainty to be navigated as a result of the proposed CCSS return and the associated transition measures.

Following the announcement, FDCA CEO Andrew Paterson spoke with ABC News 24 about what the impact of the ECEC Relief Package has been to date and what the transition back to the CCSS may mean for family day care educators and services. You can watch Andrew’s interview with ABC News 24 below. On Tuesday 9 June, Andrew also spoke to 2GB’s Let’s Talk Business show about the Government's announcement. You can listen to the interview with 2GB by clicking here.

We have fielded some questions from members, and there will no doubt be more to come. Yesterday we met with the FDCA Advisory Committee on COVID-19 to discuss these preliminary queries and other considerations as a result of the announcement. Subsequently, FDCA met with the Department of Education, Skills and Employment (DESE) national Early Childhood Education and Care Reference Group (ECECRG) to seek further clarification on key aspects of the transition measures accompanying the return to the CCSS.

FDCA has collated the feedback obtained to date from members and the Advisory Committee and is engaging with DESE on the following matters in the first instance:

1. Changes to the Activity Test;
2. How the "fee freeze" and "employee guarantee" clause will apply in the family day care context;
3. The structure, administration and disbursement timeframes of the Transition Payment; and
4. The withdrawal of JobKeeper payments.

FDCA will keep members updated on clarification of the above as it comes to hand.

FDCA relies on the valued input of you, our members, to ensure the collective voice of family day care is being heard at the appropriate levels of government. As such, if you have further questions or concerns in the interim, please email us at enquiries@fdca.com.au.

Brisbane National Engagement Program forum postponed

As restrictions begin to ease around Australia, FDCA is looking forward to once again providing our members with free professional development and networking opportunities at our National Engagement Program forums. However, due to ongoing restrictions on public gatherings and uncertainty regarding interstate travel, we have made the decision to extend the timeframe mentioned in our previous announcements, now postponing all face-to-face events scheduled to take place before 30 July 2020.

This means that the Brisbane National Engagement Program forum, initially scheduled to take place on Saturday 18 July, will now be postponed. All members who had registered to attend the Brisbane National Engagement Program forum have been contacted via email with more information.

We thank you for your understanding and support of this decision. We hope to be able to announce new dates for these events later in the year, and as your national peak body we look forward to supporting and promoting the sector through these events.

National Burns Awareness Month

This June is National Burns Awareness Month.

An initiative of Kidsafe Australia, National Burns Awareness Month aims to increase awareness of burns prevention and the correct first aid treatment for burns.

Child safety is paramount in family day care and while the home-based family day care environment offers so many amazing and unique learning and development opportunities for children, it also comes with specific risks that need to be managed and mitigated.

Kidsafe offers a variety of resources and educational materials on burns for use in family day care settings.

For more information on National Burns Awareness Month, click here.

Infant Mental Health Awareness Week: 8 – 14 June

A growing body of research shows that understanding infant mental health is the key to preventing and treating the mental health problems of very young children and their families. This week (8 – 14 June) is Infant Mental Health Awareness Week 2020, with the theme of 20:20, seeing through babies eyes.

You can read more on this initiative by clicking here and watch this Be You webinar recording on infant and toddler wellbeing.

Finally the Australian Association for Infant Mental Health (AAIMH) has identified a number of resources useful for teachers, educators and parents and carers of young children affected by COVID-19, which are available here.