Picnics showcase the value of FDC as 9th annual National FDC Week is celebrated

Each year National Family Day Care (FDC) Week showcases the important role that more than 11,000 family day care (FDC) educators and 470 FDC services play in the development and wellbeing of over 107,000 children across the country.

2021 was no exception, with a variety of events held across Australia in honour of the ninth annual commemoration of the value of FDC, a long-standing form of approved early childhood education and care operating under the National Quality Framework.

National FDC week celebrates the unique benefits of the nurturing home environments, small group settings and flexible hours of care that family day care provides to Australian families. 

A unique element of the Australian early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector, the majority of FDC settings are run by women working as sole traders, delivering quality approved childcare in their own home, and representing one of the largest networks of women in small business in the country.

National FDC Week also offers an opportunity to celebrate a theme. In 2021, the theme “every child is a star” was front and centre of celebrations, which were held from the 3 May to 9 May.

Research conducted by Family Day Care Australia (FDCA) has shown that for the majority of parents, small group settings and natural home environments were a deciding factor in selecting family day care as their child care option of choice.

“Small groups allow educators to create meaningful and long-lasting one on one relationships with the children in their care, something that cannot always be replicated in larger settings,” FDCA CEO Andrew Paterson said. 

“Family day care also offers not only the flexibility of individualised programming for children in mixed age settings, but also flexibility to support shift workers, essential workers, and families requiring care outside of the usual 9 to 5. Every child and every family are unique. Our educators and services are proud to be able to offer high quality care for some of Australia’s hardest working parents, at times when they need it most.”

FDCA has been the national peak body for family day care across Australia for more than 30 years. To learn more about its work, please see here.