Part 2: Achievements and challenges–performance insights
- Building the evidence base
- Partnerships
- Volunteering
- Indigenous communities
- Stronger Families and Communities Strategy
- More help for families
- Helping prevent homelessness
- Giving children the best possible start in life
- The new Child Care Support Program
- Helping parents support their children—the Child Support Agency
- Work and family
- Encouraging participation
- Reforms to support people with disabilities
- FaCS–Centrelink Business Alliance
- People are a priority in FaCS
- FaCS triple bottom line reporting
The new Child Care Support Program
Key points
- A new Child Care Support Program was launched in June 2004.
- The program includes new measures to ensure access to quality child care for all children, whatever their circumstances
In September 2002, the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, the Hon. Larry Anthony, MP, announced a consultative redevelopment of what was then known as the Child Care Support Broadband.
Community Link Australia was contracted to undertake national consultations to inform the redevelopment. More than 1200 people attended consultation meetings and some 560 written contributions were received. The report prepared by Community Link Australia identified a number of gaps in child care provision, particularly for families in rural and remote Australia, children with disabilities, Indigenous families, and families from diverse backgrounds.
On 2 June 2004, Minister Anthony announced the outcomes of the redevelopment and launched the new Child Care Support Program. The new program has clear objectives and principles to ensure resources are used efficiently to benefit families and children. Funding arrangements have been simplified, are better targeted and transparent, and there is an improved focus on providing access to quality child care for all children, regardless of their circumstances.
Funding under the program is targeted to support child care services, particularly in high-need rural, regional and Indigenous communities, and to ensure that children with additional needs can be provided with quality child care. The result will be improved outcomes for families and children who access child care services funded by the Australian Government.
Following the redevelopment there has been an overall increase of $25 million in funding for child care support, bringing the total funding for the new Child Care Support Program to $226 million for 2004–05.
The new program will start to be implemented from 1 July 2004, together with increased hourly rates for inclusion support workers. Other changes will take effect over the following 18 months, and the new Child Care Support Program will be fully implemented by 1 January 2006.
The successful redevelopment has been largely due to the enormous contribution to the consultations by child care services, families and individuals with an interest in child care. FaCS acknowledges the assistance of all those people within the child care sector who shared their time and knowledge during this process.
making a difference
Spotlight on Indigenous child care support
Child care services may not always be set up to meet the needs of Indigenous children and families. As part of recognising and supporting these special needs, FaCS manages a range of child care service initiatives specifically for Indigenous people. These include:
- Multifunctional Aboriginal Children's Services (MACS)
- Indigenous playgroups
- enrichment programs
- before school, after school, outside school hours care and vacation care services
- toy library services
- flexible Indigenous services.
Profiles of two successful flexible Indigenous services– one from the bush and one from the city
Galiwin'ku Child Care Centre
The Galiwin'ku Child Care Centre in the Northern Territory has been operating successfully since April 2000. It is one of eleven innovative children's services established in Indigenous communities in the territory. The centre is funded by FaCS and Territory Health Services and cares for up to 30 children a day. It is fully staffed by people from the community and many have successfully completed Certificate 3 in Early Childhood through Batchelor Indigenous Institute of Technology and Education.
Dawn Casey, Assistant Secretary, Child Care Services Branch, says, "Galiwin'ku is successful because it is "owned" and managed by the community. The child care provided has been specifically designed to meet their cultural needs. It provides a mixture of Yolngu and Balanda (whitefella) activities for the children who attend. The focus of the service is on all children who live in the community and as a result, strong links with other services have also been formed".
Yappera Multifunctional Aboriginal Children's Service (MACS), Melbourne, Victoria
Yappera is a Multifunctional Aboriginal Children's Service located in Thornbury, an urban area in Melbourne. It assists Koori families in the surrounding area and cares for up to 35 children a day. Non-Koori children can attend the service but Koori children are the priority.
Yappera was developed in the early 1980s. It is run by an all-Koori committee of management and has between 20 and 30 staff, most of them Indigenous. The service has completed a planning process to develop a five-year plan for services to children and parents. The vision for Yappera is one that is not only about caring for the children, but also includes the parents–for example, by offering education programs after hours.
'Yappera promotes a philosophy of strengthening culture. The service takes the children on cultural and bush excursions and also teaches how to give non-Koori children an understanding of Koori culture. In addition to the provision of child care services, the centre also provides a range of additional services for the children including dental care, immunisation, eye and ear tests. Parents are put in touch with other services such as housing, health, neonatal care and with each other,' says Dawn.
making a difference
Creative local approaches to early childhood and parenting
Child care services in rural Victoria
FaCS staff work hard to build capacity in small rural communities and find ways of creating child care services that suit local needs.
In 1999, in conjunction with Kilmany Family Care, an innovative pilot service was established in three towns in East Gippsland–Omeo, Buchan and Orbost. The service model, which we called 'in-venue family day care', involves caring for a small number of children (up to four at any one time) in a community venue–rather than in a carer's home (the standard family day care model) or the parent's home (in-home care, available in certain circumstances).
This approach, developed in the Victorian STO, is allowed under the Victorian Government's licensing regulations. In Victoria a venue that takes no more than four children does not need to be licensed as a child care centre. The model, unique to Victoria, would not be possible in other states or territories that regulate family day care.
Following the success of the three pilots, the program has been replicated, with around 66 of these services now operating throughout Victoria.
On-site classroom child care on Elcho Island
While visiting the Child Care Centre in Galiwin'ku, Elcho Island (Northern Territory), a FaCS project officer was approached to discuss possible child care at Shepherdson College for the new Year 11 students. The school had started two new Year 11 classes and there were 97 enrolments. One class had many young mothers attending who were breastfeeding and needed on-site child care.
Discussions were held with the director of the child care centre and the assistant principal of the school. A meeting was scheduled to include the young mothers and other relevant community members. A follow-up teleconference meeting with all parties, the Jobs, Education and Training (JET) resource worker and a project officer from the Northern Territory Department of Employment, Education and Training was arranged to discuss the possibility of a JET on-site creche at the school.
The outcome was that a JET creche was to be set up as soon as possible at the back of the classroom for young mothers. The creche would be sponsored by the school; it would operate in conjunction with the child care centre, which would offer support and training to the mothers and the new JET creche staff. The FaCS project officer was also able to propose Indigenous Minor Capital Funding to make the necessary alterations to the classroom.