Family Day Care

About the Educators

Family day care educators are early childhood education and care professionals who engage in the principles and practices of the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) and work within the requirements of the National Quality Framework.

To ensure a safe educational environment for children, educators must:

• Register with an Approved Provider.
• Hold an approved Certificate Ill or Diploma in Early Childhood Education and Care qualification.
• Meet the National Quality Standard (NQS), which includes maintaining quality individualised learning programs, safe and hygienic learning environments, record keeping and qualifications.
• Maintain current first aid and CPR certificates and training in the emergency management of asthma and anaphylaxis.
• Complete annual child protection awareness training.
• Maintain a current Working With Children Check (WWCC)
• Participate in regular support and monitoring visits conducted by the Family Day Care Fieldworker, including comprehensive safety risk assessments of the Family Day Care environment.
• Participate in professional development training, meetings and workshops periodically to maintain currency of skills and knowledge.
• Maintain current public liability insurance.

About the Coordination Unit

The Coordination Unit refers to the Family Day Care Team, who provide support and guidance in accordance with Government legislation to ensure our family day care educators remain compliant to current policies, laws and regulations.

The Coordination Unit consists of qualified, early childhood professionals.

The role of the Coordination Unit team is to:

• Recruit, monitor and support educators.
• Provide educational leadership.
• Provide information and guidance to educators to ensure compliance.
• Process Record of Hours forms, including government subsidies and children’s attendance records.
• Provide administrative support, including maintenance of accurate documentation and confidential record keeping.
• Promote the service as a valuable child care option.
• Assist families to access education and care options that suits the individualised requirements of each child and family.
• Provide information on family and child services within the Southern Grampians Shire.
• Advocate for children, families and early years services.

The Coordination Unit is available:

Monday                       8:30am – 5:00pm
Tuesday                      8:30am – 5:00pm
Wednesday                 9:00am – 4:00pm
Thursday                     9:00am – 5:00pm
Friday                          8:30am – 5:00pm
Saturday                     CLOSED
Sunday                       CLOSED

Visit Family Day Care Australia for further information.

Are you passionate about working with children and want to play a part in shaping their futures while running your own business from home? Why not combine your passion for children with the opportunity to create a rewarding and flexible career as a professional family day care educator.

Advantages of setting up your own Family Day Care Service

• Meet new people and have a positive impact on their lives.
• Play and have fun while you work.
• Enjoy the challenge of running your own small business while you work from home (or an approved venue in certain circumstances).
• Become a member of a supportive and passionate team of educators.
• Feel at ease with the support and guidance from our friendly Coordination Unit team.
• Be available for your own children (if applicable) while building a rewarding career.
• Flexibility to determine your own hours of work and number of children you care for.
• Set your own fee structure within the parameters of a set fee range.
• Freedom to develop tailored educational programs for children based on their individual developmental needs, interests and experiences.
• Make a larger impact with the low educator to child ratios, which increase your ability to form meaningful relationships with children and families.
• Access to ongoing low-cost professional development opportunities.
• Apply for GST and receive tax deductions on all costs related to running your family day care business (please seek advice from a registered tax professional).
• Opportunity to apply for an interest-free loan to assist with the establishment of your business.

What we offer

• Access to our qualified, experienced and local Coordination Unit team.
• Comprehensive induction and orientation training.
• Training resources including access to all current compliance documentation, frameworks and regulations.
• Templates and documents required for programming and compliance.
• Regular face-to-face face support visits.
• Ongoing access to mentoring, support, and advice.
• Collaborative guidance from Educational Leader to support the deliverance of engaging educational programs which focus on each individual child.
• Regular professional development opportunities.
• Networking opportunities and ongoing connections with other family day care educators.
• Coordination Unit team annually organises First Aid, CPR, Asthma and Anaphylaxis Updates.
• Regular access to industry news, updates, and service communications.
• Information and connections with relevant agencies.
• Coordination of family waiting list, child enrolments and placements.
• Full educator payment each fortnight for education and care provided.
• Invoicing of families and collection of any fees owing.
• Educator support to implement quality improvement practices and participation in the Quality Assessment and Rating process. 

Southern Grampians Shire Council Family Day Care has a zero-tolerance approach to child abuse and is committed to creating and maintaining a child safe and child friendly organisation where all children are valued and protected from abuse.

Our service will demonstrate this commitment by:

• Providing clear standards to staff, educators and their family members, students and volunteers.
• Embedding child safety and wellbeing in our service’s leadership, governance, and culture.
• Empowering children through engagement and involvement when making decisions.
• Advocating for children to understand personal safety, take action and speak out when they feel unsafe.
• Informing and involving families in promoting child safety and wellbeing.
• Adhering to information sharing and record keeping requirements.
• Establishing a culturally safe environment in which the diverse and unique identities of children and young people from a culturally diverse, linguistically diverse, and/or LBGTQI+ background are respected and valued.
• Having a zero-tolerance approach to racism and identifying and addressing any instances of racism.
• Providing a safe and welcoming environment for children living with a disability.
• Inclusion of child safe practices during recruitment processes.
• Regular review and auditing of child safe practices.
• Providing physical and online environments, which promote safety and wellbeing and minimise the risk of harm.

Our service recognises that all stakeholders have a shared responsibility to accept the Child Safety and Wellbeing policy as a high priority.  All stakeholders are required to observe child safe principles and expectations for appropriate behaviour towards and in the company of children, as noted in our Child Safe Code of Conduct. 

Child protection contacts

Department of Families, Fairness and Housing Child Protection 

Western Intake Unit (regional and rural only) - Phone: 1800 075 599 

After Hours Emergency Line (5:00pm – 9:00pm Monday – Friday | 24 hours on weekends and public holidays) - Phone: 13 12 78

Child protection - DFFH Services

The Orange Door (South West)
571-575 Raglan Parade
Warrnambool VIC 3280

Phone: 1800 271 180

Email: southwest@orangedoor.vic.gov.au

Victoria Police
Phone: 000

Hamilton Police
Phone: (03) 5551 9100

Acknowledgement of Country

"Southern Grampians Shire Council Family Day Care acknowledges the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of this nation. We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the lands on which our organisation is located and where we conduct our business. We pay our respects to ancestors and Elders, past and present and future emerging leaders. Southern Grampians Shire Council Family Day Care is committed to honouring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s unique cultural and spiritual relationships to the land, waters and seas and their rich contribution to society."

The Coordination Unit is the initial contact point for advice and information about family day care.

Our friendly Coordination Unit team will work with you to match your child care needs with the best care environment for your child taking account of diversity of language, culture and ability to ensure the right fit between children, educators and their respective families.

Pending availability, you may have opportunity to meet with several educators in selecting the service that best meets your needs.

Under the Australian and Victorian government’s No Jab, No Pay and No Jab, No Play legislation, children who attend a child care service must be fully immunised or have an approved exemption.

To enable us to confirm your child’s enrolment, you must provide a current Immunisation History Statement from the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR), showing that your child is up to date will all vaccinations sue for their age, or that they are able to receive.

A copy of your child’s Immunisation History Statement can be obtained anytime by logging onto your online myGov or Express Plus Medicare account, visiting the Medicare office, or by phoning the Australian Childhood Immunisation Register on 1800 653 809.

For further information about No Jab, No Play, visit the Better Health website.

To join the waiting list, please complete our digital Family Day Care Waiting List Application form or contact the Coordination Unit.

National Quality Framework

The National Quality Framework (NQF) provides a national approach to regulation, assessment and quality improvement for early childhood education and care and outside school hours care services across Australia.

The National Quality Framework includes:

• National Law and Regulations
• National Quality Standard
• Assessment and Quality Rating Process
• Approved National Learning Frameworks

Further information about the National Quality Framework can be accessed via the Starting Blocks and ACECQA websites.

Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority (ACCECQA)

The Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA - pronounced a-see-kwa) is an independent national authority that assists governments in administering the National Quality Framework for children's education and care.

ACECQA works with the Australian and state/territory governments to:

• Implement changes that benefit children birth to 13 years of age and their families.
• Monitor and promote the consistent application of the Education and Care Services National Law across all states and territories.
• Support the children's education and care sector to improve quality outcomes for children.

Further information can be accessed on the ACECQA website.

Education and Care Services National Regulations

All early childhood education and care services must comply with the Education and Care Services National Regulations.  The Education and Care Services National Regulations can be accessed online via the ACECQA website or at the Coordination Unit office or their educator’s residence or approved venue.

Please contact the Coordination Unit if you would like the Education and Care Service National Regulations emailed directly to your inbox.

National Quality Standard 

The National Quality Standard (NQS) sets a high national benchmark for Australian early childhood education and care and outside school hours care services.

The National Quality Standard includes 7 quality areas, which support important outcomes for children.

The regulatory authority assesses and rates each service against the National Quality Standard, and gives a rating for each of the 7 quality areas before providing an overall rating based on these results.

Further information about the National Quality Standard can be accessed via the Starting Blocks and ACECQA websites.

Visit ACECQA to learn more about the role of the Regulatory Authority.

Approved Learning Frameworks

Educators observe children in care, document and plan individual learning outcomes for each child in accordance with the two nationally approved learning frameworks:

• Being, Belonging, Becoming The Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) (0-5 years)
• My Time Our Place (MTOP) (School age children)

Educators may also use the Victorian approved learning framework:

• Victorian Early Years Learning & Development Framework (VEYLDF) (0-8 years)

The educational program focuses on addressing the developmental needs, interests and experiences of each child, while taking into account individual differences.

Educator Fees

Educators set their own fees within the fee range specified in the service’s Schedule of Fees and Charges, which are reviewed annually. 

Fees are payable for each session of care, as per the Educator Schedule of Fees and Charges and Complying Written Agreement between the family and the service.   

Family Administration Levy

To assist with the administration costs of the service, Council charges families an administration levy, calculated per hour per child.

The family administration levy applies to the first two children in each family.  Third and subsequent children are not charged the administration levy.

The family administration levy is reviewed annually within the guidelines of the annual Council budget process and Services and Pricing Policy.

Child Care Subsidy

The child care subsidy (CSS) is an Australian Government payment which assists families with the cost of childcare. Child care subsidy is paid directly to Approved Providers to pass onto families as fee reductions. The level of child care subsidy received depends on each family’s individual circumstances.

Family’s must apply for child care subsidy prior to commencement, otherwise full fees will be charged. Families can access the Child Care Subsidy Assessment by logging onto their online myGov account.

A guide to completing the Child Care Subsidy Assessment can be accessed at: www.humanservices.gov.au/individuals/services/centrelink/child-care-subsidy/how-claim.

Visit Starting Blocks Child Care Subsidy Estimator to find out what your family might pay for care.

How to Pay 

All fees, charges and child care subsidy payments are processed and invoices issued fortnightly. All resultant fees charged are owed to the Southern Grampians Shire Council and will be collected by them. Terms of payment is 14 days.

In accordance with fee payment and regulatory requirements, no cash payments can be accepted.  Families must pay the gap fee using electronic funds transfer (EFT).  Direct debit payments can be set up upon request.

Families will be issued a Statement of Entitlement each fortnight.

Families experiencing financial difficulties are encouraged to contact the Coordination Unit to discuss. 

Southern Grampians Shire Council also has it's own Facebook page. Follow for updates and information related to the service at www.facebook.com/sgscfamilydaycare

Department of Education & Training (South Western Victoria Region)
Quality Assessment & Regulation Division
Geelong Office – Barwon South West Area Team
75 High Street
BELMONT Vic 3216

Phone: (03) 52155136
Email: bsw.qar@edumail.vic.gov.au

Family Assistance Office
Website: www.familyassist.gov.au
Phone: 136 150

Centrelink
Website: www.centrelink.gov.au

MyGov
Website: www.my.gov.au

Family Day Care Australia (FDCA)
Website: www.fdca.com.au

Australian Children’s Education & Care Quality Authority
Website: www.acecqa.gov.au

Commission for Children and Young People
Website: https://ccyp.vic.gov.au/

USEFUL WEBSITES

The links below will direct you to organisations who will be able to provide you with additional information regarding family day care and the early childhood education and care sector:

Department of Education

Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA)

Starting Blocks

Australian Institute of Family Studies

Early Childhood Australia

Australian Government Department of Education