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When several demands arise at once, it is normal to experience heightened feelings such as stress. The responses can narrow our thinking at the very time we most need perspective. We may respond quickly, focus on only one part of a situation or find it difficult to recognise what we, or someone else may need.
Be You’s Stop Reflect Act approach provides a practical way to pause, understand what is happening and choose a helpful next step. It can be used to plan for your own wellbeing or when you are concerned about another person.
You do not need to resolve everything immediately. Support can sometimes mean listening, helping someone consider their options and following through on what you have offered. After a difficult conversation, it is also important to notice how you are feeling and consider what you may need.
A moment to reflect: Where can a deliberate pause help you this week?
Be You’s Planning for Wellbeing resource provides guidance on understanding stress and its connection to the brain and introduces the Stop Reflect Act approach to support conversations about wellbeing.
Explore the Be You guide/tool: Planning for Wellbeing: Mine, Yours, Ours
The Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) has cancelled qualifications and statements of attainment issued to certain former students at Unique College of Technology (RTO 91358).
This action may affect early childhood education and care qualifications and statements of attainment issued between 1 June 2022 and 2 September 2025 and includes:
Not every qualification issued by the RTO should automatically be treated as cancelled. ASQA has contacted affected individuals directly with a formal notice of its decision.
What Educators and Staff Should Do
Family Day Care educators who have received notification from ASQA, or believe their qualifications may be affected, should:
What Services Should Do
Approved providers and services should review educator and staff records to:
A cancelled qualification or statement of attainment is no longer valid and cannot be used as evidence that qualification or training requirements have been met.
For further information, visit ASQA’s notice about the Unique College of Technology qualification cancellations. Anyone who believes their qualifications may be affected but has not received a notice can contact ASQA on 1300 701 801.
Services can also view ASQA’s complete list of qualification integrity regulatory actions.
The annual Excellence in Family Day Care Awards Gala Dinner is just around the corner and there are only a handful of tickets left. Ticket sales will close Sunday 15th November so don't miss out on your last chance to secure your spot.
Taking place on Saturday 28 November 2026 at the Pullman Brisbane King George Square, the Gala Dinner will bring the family day care community together for a special evening celebrating the outstanding educators, coordinators and services who make a difference to children, families and communities across Australia.
Join friends and colleagues from across the sector, celebrate this year’s Award Winners and Finalists, and be there as the 2026 National Award Winners are announced.
What does my ticket include?
Your Gala Dinner ticket includes:
FDCA members can secure tickets at an exclusive members-only discounted rate of $165 ($215 for non-members).
Table packages available
Discounted tickets are available if you would like to purchase a table for a group of 8, 9 or 10. If you would like to purchase a table, please email marketing@fdca.com.au for more information.
To find out more about the Gala Dinner, including times and dress code details, click here.
A new Safe Sleep Practice in Family Day Care microskill is now available to family day care services and educators across Australia.
Developed by the NSW Early Learning Commission in collaboration with TAFE NSW, the training has been designed specifically for the family day care environment.
The training will help participants to:
Family day care services and educators can use the training as a professional development opportunity to refresh their knowledge, review existing practices and strengthen children’s safety during sleep and rest.
For further information or to register for the training, visit the TAFE NSW – Safe Sleep Practice in Family Day Care website.
The Australian Government Department of Education has recently reminded providers about the enrolment requirements for children attending care under shared care arrangements.
When a child attends family day care under more than one CCS-eligible guardian, the service must create a separate enrolment for each guardian. This is important because each guardian may have a different Child Care Subsidy (CCS) entitlement.
This ensures that sessions of care are reported against the correct enrolment, based on which guardian is responsible for the child on that day.
For example:
Remember: Allowable Absences Are Per Child
The 42 allowable absence days are allocated per child, not separately to each guardian or enrolment. This means the child's allowable absences are shared across both enrolments.
Services should monitor absences across all enrolments linked to the child and ensure each absence is reported against the correct enrolment.
Approved providers should check that:
For further information, visit the Department of Education’s ‘How to enrol children’ webpage or complete the ‘Enrolments Course’ through Geccko.
Under regulation 164 of the National Regulations, family day care educators must notify their approved provider about:
The regulation does not limit this notification requirement to circumstances arising at the family day care residence or during education and care hours. A relevant circumstance may occur at another location or outside the educator’s working hours.
Examples include an adult resident:
An educator is not required to provide specific details of the circumstance when making the notification. However, they must tell their approved provider that a circumstance has arisen that may affect the resident’s fitness and propriety.
What Services Should Consider
Approved providers must require educators to make these notifications. Services should ensure their induction, policies and ongoing training clearly explain that the requirement applies to relevant circumstances occurring both during and outside education and care hours.
To support educators’ understanding and demonstrate that appropriate information and training have been provided, services may wish to:
Educators who are unsure whether a circumstance may be relevant should raise it with their service. The approved provider can then consider whether the resident’s fitness and propriety needs to be reassessed and whether any further action is required.
For further information, read ACECQA’s guidance on the legislative requirements for family day care providers.
The Department of Education has declared a Child Care Subsidy (CCS) period of emergency in the Northern Territory:
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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