Sue Parker from Midcoast Family Day Care speaks about ECEC access challenges 

Sue Parker of Midcoast Family Day Care (MFDC) showcased the challenges families on the New South Wales Mid North Coast face when accessing early childhood education and care (ECEC) in a recent interview with News of the Area.

Ms Parker began her conversation by outlining the changes impacting ECEC as a sector over the past few years, and speaking specifically about FDC, she noted that most landlords do not allow tenants to open their homes for family daycare, and there are many costly legislated requirements for homes offering the service, such as a requirement for having safety glass.

Other costs for educators include training courses in child protection, first aid and safe sleeping as well as working with children checks and insurance.

“Many educators are frightened to take babies because of the risk of SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome) and restrictions in place to ensure their safety,” Ms Parker said, noting that while she was not advocating for the safety regulations to be dropped, she would like to see regulations change to reflect the specifics of either home daycare or centre-based care.

As Australia heads to a Federal election, she noted that advocacy specifically for FDC providers had diminished over the years, and that ECEC more broadly was an area which was under-recognised.

“We used to have our own department within government with great support for the sector but over the years this has been eroded by all sides of government,” she said.

Ms Parker said she believes that services should return to a more community focused approach, and that the current focus on setting up large commercial centres “is unfair.”

Speaking specifically about FDC, she would like to see greater access to Inclusion Support Funding for educators, as well as having compulsory units of study about FDC included in the Certificate III of Early Childhood Education. 

To prompt greater oversight of FDC services she would like to see travel grants restored to support providers who must travel many kilometres to visit educators.

Her service is a popular one, with MFDC having more than 90 educators providing care for close to 1000 children across the region.

“I can tell you we will not have a vacancy in our service until at least 2027 and this means the urgent reform of the system needs to start now,” Ms Parker said.

“The demand is so high and I feel terrible when I have to tell parents that I have no places available.” 

To access the original coverage of this story please see here.