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Family Day Care Australia has lodged a submission to the Senate Education and Employment Legislation Committee’s inquiry into the Wage Justice for Early Childhood Education and Care Workers (Special Account) (Extending Support and Strengthening Safety) Bill 2026.
The submission makes five key recommendations:
1. Address the family day care workforce gap
Recognise that the current WRP settings do not provide a meaningful workforce-retention response for the predominant family day care operating model.
2. Establish a tailored workforce-retention mechanism
Develop a family day care-specific mechanism that can support eligible independent contractor educators without requiring them to become employees to access workforce support.
3. Clarify the barriers to inclusion
Clearly determine whether the remaining barriers to supporting independent contractor educators are legislative or relate to the administrative and program design of the WRP and take the appropriate action to address them.
4. Ensure family day care service employees are not excluded
Allow otherwise eligible service employees, including coordinators, managers and administrators, to access the WRP regardless of whether the educators supported by their service are employees or independent contractors.
5. Provide interim support if a tailored solution cannot be delivered promptly
Establish a time-limited workforce retention and viability support program to help stabilise family day care while a longer-term solution is developed.
These recommendations reflect FDCA’s continued advocacy for workforce support that recognises the unique structure of family day care and helps sustain educators, services and families’ access to care.
Read FDCA’s full submission here.
As part of FDCA’s Rethinking Family Day Care series, we are sharing innovative models identified through the Australian Government-funded FDC Capability Trial.
With workforce shortages continuing to affect the early childhood education and care sector, finding new ways to attract and develop future educators is increasingly important.
School-based traineeships can introduce young people to family day care while supporting them to gain practical experience, work towards a formal qualification and build confidence at the beginning of their careers.
This week’s story explores how Busy Butterflies Family Day Care is using traineeships to create local career pathways and inspire the next generation of family day care educators.
Click here to read the full story and consider whether traineeships could form part of your service’s future workforce strategy.
The Australian Government Department of Education is progressively adding more short courses to its online learning platform, Geccko. Geccko is tailored to the early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector. One of the available courses is ‘Family Assistance Law Notification Requirements’.
This course provides early childhood education and care providers who administer Child Care Subsidy (CCS) and Additional Child Care Subsidy (ACCS) with information about the requirement to keep records under Family Assistance Law.
In the course, participants will learn how to:
All Geccko courses are self-paced and can be accessed via tablet, computer, laptop or mobile phone. On completion of this course, you can download a certificate for your professional development records.
To access this course or to find out more about other free online courses provided by Geccko, you can register here.
Knowing that your vehicle is a vital part of your business, FDCA has negotiated a range of motor vehicle insurance policies to meet the day-to-day needs of our members.
Our insurance providers cover the operation of the motor vehicle for your family day care business, allowing for:
What should I ask before purchasing insurance for my vehicle?
We’ve put together a quick Q&A to outline some important questions you should ask before purchasing any motor vehicle insurance, and how FDCA’s insurance providers stack up.
“I now operate a Family Day Care business and am paid to care for children. Some of the activities such as school runs and excursions will involve taking the children in the car. Will you still cover my car for my family day care transport?”
FDCA Answer: Yes!
“I may have a number of child safety seats and booster seats to cater for the range of children I have in care. Will you cover all the child seats on the policy?”
FDCA Answer: Yes, up to the limits of the policy.
To protect your vehicle with insurance that understands the unique needs of your family day care business, give us a call on 1800 658 699 or visit our website.
The Australian Government Department of Education publishes a weekly newsletter containing important updates, news and information for the early childhood education and care sector.
The newsletter includes information about Child Care Subsidy (CCS), Family Assistance Law and other Australian Government policies and programs affecting ECEC.
Family day care educators, coordinators, service staff and approved providers are encouraged to use the following channels to stay informed:
Approved providers and services should also ensure their contact details in the Child Care Subsidy System remain current so they receive important Department communications.
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