Close
Tickets are now available to the annual Excellence in Family Day Care Awards Gala Dinner, 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.
Family Day Care Australia has lodged a submission to the Senate Education and Employment References Committee’s inquiry into the state of Australia’s early childhood education and care system in rural, regional and remote communities.
The submission highlights that improving regional access requires more than increasing the overall number of early childhood education and care places. Families need care that is available where and when they need it, meets their children’s circumstances and can be sustained within the community over time.
You can view the full submission here.
FDCA’s submission makes six key recommendations:
1. Build place-based regional ECEC planning around local need and service diversity
Use place-based planning that starts with the needs of each community and considers the full mix of service models, including family day care, centre-based care, outside school hours care, in-home care, mobile services and other locally appropriate approaches.
2. Establish a sustained regional family day care workforce strategy
Support educator recruitment, entry and retention through targeted recruitment, start-up assistance, accessible training pathways, mentoring and support that recognises housing and premises barriers and the contractor-based family day care model.
3. Reform the inequitable family day care CCS hourly rate cap
Increase and recalibrate the family day care hourly rate cap so it reflects contemporary delivery costs, supports family affordability and sustainable educator remuneration, and recognises the costs of non-standard-hours care.
4. Provide predictable supply-side support for family day care in persistent thin markets
Provide ongoing operating support where local need has been established but ordinary market conditions cannot sustain provision. This should include support for the additional costs services incur when monitoring, mentoring and supporting educators across geographically dispersed communities.
5. Establish clearer nationally pathways for appropriate flexible family day care models
Develop clearer national pathways for in-venue family day care and appropriate two-educator or shared-premises arrangements while maintaining strong child safety, quality, governance and educator-to-child ratio requirements.
6. Strengthen evaluation of Commonwealth investment against access, workforce and sustainability outcomes
Evaluate regional ECEC programs against actual access, workforce and sustainability outcomes, including educator commencements and retention, additional care capacity, operating hours, geographic reach and viability after funding ends. Regional data should also reflect where family day care educators operate, not only the administrative address of their approved service.
These recommendations reflect FDCA’s continued advocacy for regional ECEC policy that recognises the flexibility and small-scale delivery family day care can offer, particularly in communities where demand is low, variable or geographically dispersed.
Family day care educators, coordinators and service teams are managing significant demands, including ongoing changes to child safety requirements. Supporting children and families through these changes also means recognising the mental health and wellbeing of the people providing and supporting their education and care.
Throughout the year, FDCM will feature short, practical items on mental health and wellbeing items drawing on resources selected by Be You for Family Day Care Australia. The series will explore educator and coordinator wellbeing, managing change and work-related pressures, strengthening supportive relationships, responding to difficult professional experiences and supporting the mental health and wellbeing of children and families.
Some items will align with particular moments in the family day care year, while others will respond to experiences that can arise at any time, such as a challenging conversation, critical incident, regulatory visit or period of increased stress.
Each item will include a brief reflection and a relevant Be You resource. Fact sheets and micro-learnings will provide an accessible starting point, with tools, guides, professional learning, stories and recorded webinars available for those who would like to explore selected topics further.
These items are intended to offer useful support, not add to an already busy workload. Whether you are an educator, coordinator or part of a service team, you can choose what is relevant to your circumstances and the time you have available.
New to Be You?
Be You provides free professional learning, micro-learnings, tools and resources for educators and learning communities.
ACECQA has published new guidance and practical resources specifically for family day care services and educators on finding the right balance when using digital devices.
Digital devices can support documentation, communication, planning and the sharing of children’s learning with families. However, ACECQA reminds services and educators that children’s safety, privacy, rights and best interests must always come first.
Before capturing, storing or sharing an image, ACECQA suggests educators consider:
Personal devices must not be used to capture, store or transmit images or videos of children.
In family day care, where educators are often supporting children of different ages, interests and needs at the same time, finding the right balance is particularly important. A photograph or short observation can help make learning visible, but it should support, and not replace, being present, responsive and engaged with children.
ACECQA has also released:
For further information, read ACECQA’s guidance and access the new family day care resources.
World Space Week is a great opportunity for family day care services and educators to encourage children’s curiosity and sense of wonder about the world beyond us.
Space naturally invites children to ask questions, make predictions and investigate how things work. From observing the moons and stars to exploring planets, rockets and astronauts, space-themed experiences can provide meaningful opportunities for children to engage with science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
Educators can support children to:
Services can support educators by sharing ideas and resources, encouraging discussion across their educator network and helping educators reflect on how children’s questions and interests can be extended through their educational programs.
These experiences can help children develop curiosity, creativity, critical thinking, problem-solving and a love of learning, while supporting their confidence to explore and investigate the world around them.
This World Space Week, why not look up, get curious and see where the children’s questions take you?
Learn more about STEM in early childhood, or visit the World Space Week website for activity ideas and resources.
Free online training is available to help family day care services and educators understand the Disability Standards for Education 2005.
The Standards explain the responsibilities of education providers under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and help make existing responsibilities to children with disability clearer.
The training uses practical examples to help participants understand how the Standards apply in early childhood education and care, including:
Courses are available for different roles, including service leaders and family day care educators.
To access the training, visit the NCCD Professional Learning page. You will need to register or sign in to the NCCD Portal account to access the courses.
The Australian Government’s Thriving Kids program has begun rolling out, providing information and early support for children aged eight and under who may need extra help to develop, learn and grow.
There will be a gradual rollout of Thriving Kids supports both nationally and across states and territories, with all supports to be in place by 1 January 2028.
National supports now available include:
Family day care services and educators may wish to familiarise themselves with these supports so they can direct families to reliable information if questions or concerns about a child’s development arise.
Further information about Thriving Kids can be found on the Department of Health’s website.
.svg)
