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For Moranbah family day care educator Jade, attending the Family Day Care Australia (FDCA) 2025 National Conference in Melbourne was more than a professional development opportunity - it was a unique chance to learn, connect and be inspired alongside other educators from across the country, something that isn’t easily accessible in rural and remote communities.
Jade operates Empowered Early Learning, a family day care service in Moranbah, a mining town in regional central Queensland. Jade’s experience includes progressing from trainee all the way to Assistant Director in long day care settings and roles as a teacher’s aide in schools. In 2023, after ten years in long day care and schools, she transitioned to family day care, seeking a better balance between work and home life. She was also drawn to the close relationships and individualised learning environments that the family day care model facilitates, something she felt aligned more closely with her values and approach as an educator.
In Jade’s mining community, early childhood education and care demand can vary based on family needs, work patterns and the regional workforce context. Many families in the area express the importance of securing care early, particularly where rosters, shift work or non-standard hours are part of family routines. Jade’s practice plays an important role in supporting local families to participate in work and study, and she values being able to offer a personalised approach that reflects the needs of her community.
While Jade is deeply committed to ongoing professional learning, accessing face-to-face opportunities can be challenging in regional and remote areas due to distance, accommodation costs and having time away from her practice. As Jade explains, “We don’t get many opportunities out here. Most training is online, and it’s not the same, you miss that connection and inspiration that comes from being in a room with other educators.”
Jade is registered with Bowen/Collinsville Family Day Care, which supports educators across regional and remote Queensland. The service encourages ongoing professional development, and like many services supporting geographically dispersed educators, offers much of their training online to accommodate travel limitations.
To help address some of the common barriers faced by regional educators, FDCA and BHP Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA) provided support through their partnership to enable access for regional family day care educators to the only national conference dedicated solely to the family day care sector. Through this initiative, Jade was invited to receive support for her conference registration, accommodation and flights.
Jade said she felt surprised and deeply grateful when she learned she had been invited.
“Honestly, I was very shocked. I didn't think anything like this was possible and didn't realise that family day care had opportunities like this. It makes you realise just how much of an impact you have, that people see what you're doing and want to support you.”
For Jade, the opportunity represented more than financial assistance, it was recognition of her work, her community and the essential role she plays. “It means a lot that organisations like FDCA and BMA are thinking about people in non-mining roles in Moranbah,” she said. “It shows they see us and the difference we make for families.”
With the support of her families and a relief educator maintaining continuity of care in her absence, Jade made the long journey from Moranbah to Melbourne. Her families rallied to support her, and their children eagerly awaited her return. “They apparently waved to the plane that came over,” she laughed. “And then of course when I got back, they wanted to see photos of the plane and where I had been and what I was doing.”
The conference itself exceeded Jade’s expectations. Attending the conference gave Jade a rare opportunity to hear from sector leaders, learn from inspiring speakers, and connect with educators from across Australia, which is often difficult for educators in regional and remote communities.
Jade explained, “it was good to connect with the other educators because they're all walking the same path. You realise that people out there have similar challenges, but everyone has different ways of working through them.”
Jade returned home with a wide range of practical strategies that she’s inspired to put into practice. Describing the abundance of ideas to implement, Jade talks about the changes to her environment, different ways to assist children with their self-regulation and the importance of self-care as an educator, that she needs to look after herself to do such an important role.
One key theme resonated deeply: “The main thing I’ve taken away is that I need to get out into the community more and embed more cultural perspectives within my practice. I've been talking with families who can potentially contribute, and they’ve been very responsive and supportive.”
For educators in regional and remote areas, working alone can feel isolating and professional learning can feel unreachable. Jade believes initiatives like the FDCA/BMA partnership are critical in ensuring regional educators, and their communities, are not left behind.
“Having the opportunity to attend the conference, with the help of FDCA and BMA has made a huge difference and given me the change to develop my business,” she said. “It shows that people care about regional educators and the families we support.”
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