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On Saturday 25 October, FDCA was proud to announce the 2025 Educator, Coordinator and Service of the Year at the FDCA National Conference Gala Dinner at the Pullman Melbourne Albert Park Hotel in Victoria.
In front of over 270 guests, we were pleased to announce the following National Winners:
You can re-live the magic of the announcement of the National Winners from Saturday night via the FDCA Facebook page by clicking here.
With close to 5,000 nominations placed in the 2025 Excellence in Family Day Care Awards, we would like to thank everyone that participated in the awards in 2025, including those who attended the Gala Dinner and all those that placed nominations.
We also thank Early Childhood Australia, who helped to make the 2025 Excellence in Family Day Care Awards possible.
To view our 2025 Award nominees, winners and media coverage, click here.
From 5 January 2026, the Child Care Subsidy (CCS) activity test is being replaced. All families eligible for CCS will be able to access at least 72 hours of subsidised care per fortnight. This new update is called the 3 Day Guarantee.
Families do not need to do anything if they already receive CCS. They will still need to meet the usual CCS eligibility and entitlement requirements and continue to pay a gap fee, except in certain limited circumstances.
In some cases, families may still be able to access up to 100 hours of subsidised care per fortnight for each child. This applies if they:
To receive more than the minimum 72 hours, families will need to ensure their recognised activity is up to date with Services Australia.
For more information about the 3 Day Guarantee, visit the Department of Education's website or the Services Australia website.
The FDCA 2025 National Conference took place from 23-25 October 2025 at the Pullman Melbourne Albert Park Hotel, with over 330 guests in attendance.
Across the three days, delegates, speakers and exhibitors created an amazingly positive atmosphere and took advantage of a rare and unique opportunity to come together and explore all things family day care.
Whether it was the insights and inspiration shared with delegates from keynote speakers such as Nathan Wallis, Jana Pittman, Meena Singh and Anne Hollonds, the knowledge gleaned from a wide variety of workshops or the glitz and glamour of the Gala Dinner, the conference had something for everyone!
We would like to thank all of the delegates, speakers and exhibitors who attended, and of course a big thank you to our conference sponsors, FDSee, BMA, Early Childhood Australia, Foundations Family Day Care and Bright Sun Family Day Care.
Delegates are reminded that we will be in touch soon to confirm access to presentations and photos and also to complete their delegate survey so that we can take on all feedback to ensure future conferences are bigger and better!
As the bushfire season intensifies, it is a timely reminder to ensure family day care services and educators revisit their emergency preparedness. Natural disasters like bushfires, floods, and storms can strike with little warning, but careful preparation and robust planning can help minimise risks and facilitate recovery.
Under the Education and Care Services National Regulations, an approved provider must:
For family day care services, the principal office and each family day care residence or venue must consider and plan for the individual nature of their premises. For the purposes of preparing the emergency and evacuation procedures, the approved provider must ensure a risk assessment is conducted to identify potential emergencies that are relevant to the service (Regulation 97).
For more detailed guidance, refer to ACECQA’s information sheet on Emergency and Evacuation Policy Guidelines.
It’s also a good idea to familiarise yourself with the support offered by the Australian Department of Education to services and families in the event of a Child Care Subsidy (CCS) period of emergency being declared, and to ensure that the contact details for your service are correct through the Provider Entry Point or their third-party Software.
We also encourage you to check your state and territory regulatory authority websites for information, templates and other resources that may help services enhance their preparedness.
As the end of the year approaches, families often have changes to their child care routines - particularly around children finishing care, starting new enrolments or taking extended breaks. Understanding how the Child Care Subsidy (CCS) applies to absence days during these periods is important to ensure families understand how they are charged, and that subsidy claims remain compliant.
In general, CCS cannot be paid for absences that occur:
OR
Any absences outside these dates are not covered by CCS, and families must pay the full fee for those sessions. However, CCS may still be paid for up to six days of absence at the start or end of an enrolment, if there is an approved reason.
Approved reasons include:
Services and educators should be aware of these circumstances, discuss them with families and, where applicable, request evidence to support the reason for the absence.
It’s also important to note that if a child does not attend care for 14 consecutive weeks, their enrolment automatically ends, and CCS will not be paid for any absences after the last physical attendance date.
By proactively monitoring attendance patterns and communicating clearly with families, services can help prevent CCS payment issues and ensure smooth transitions for children starting or finishing care.
Calling all bookworms! We’re looking for the next book reviewer for edition 109 of JiGSAW.
The books to be reviewed will be sent to you and you’ll need to write a 100-150 word review for each book. Best of all, the books will be yours to keep!
If you would like to be considered as our book reviewer, please email marketing@fdca.com.au with your membership number and contact details before noon AEDT on 4 November 2025.
Good luck to everyone!
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