Judge us on what we deliver for children, not on who owns us, says independent provider

Independent early learning providers should be measured on the quality of their practice and their outcomes for children and families, not on their ownership model, says Sheela Edwards, founder of Aurora Early Education.

As the Australian Childcare Alliance (ACA) Proudly Independent, Proudly Local campaign brings independent providers into the conversation, Ms Edwards says the debate about profit has drifted away from the question that matters most.

“A child doesn’t experience an ownership structure. A child experiences the educator who knows their name, the room that feels safe, the family who is welcomed at the door each morning. That is what we should be held to account for, and I welcome being held to it,” Ms Edwards said.

“Much of what is called the for-profit sector is really independent families who are present in their services every single day. We are not a line in a portfolio. We are part of the community we serve.”

A responsibility that goes far beyond business hours

Ms Edwards came to early childhood education after nearly two decades in corporate finance in London, moving to Australia in 2005. She worked in property development and then advised an aged care provider on compliance and commercial strategy, before a conversation with a friend turned her attention to the early years.

“I felt that if I could make a difference anywhere, it was here, in the first five years, when so much of who we become is quietly taking shape,” she said.

After exploring the operation of council-owned services in Melbourne, she opened Aurora’s first service in Rowville in 2012. Aurora remains family-run, with her daughter Simone as part of her executive team.

Nothing in her corporate career, she says, prepared her for how completely a service asks of her.

“In a large company, responsibility is spread across many people and desks. Here it comes home with you. When an educator is unwell at six in the morning, when a family is struggling, when a regulatory question needs answering, there is no one further up the line. I am responsible for everything in our services, from the smallest thing to the largest. We should not lose sight of this in our conversations, we need to deeply understand what this means, and I would not want it any other way.”

Her involvement reaches into the detail of practice. Ms Edwards recently worked line by line with her team on one service’s Quality Improvement Plan, so that it mirrors what educators do in the rooms each day. She also built Aurora’s operational assurance framework, which tracks every service across six domains against red, amber and green thresholds, alongside a KPI scorecard for each centre manager. This month Aurora completed the installation of CCTV at her oldest service and now has CCTV across all three services, a decision shaped by parent surveys and its Children’s Advisory Board.

“Quality is not a document you prepare for a visit. It is something you tend, a little every day, the way you tend a garden,” she said.

Three communities, three ways of caring

Aurora runs three services across Melbourne, in Rowville, Doncaster and the CBD, and Ms Edwards says each asks for something different.

Many Rowville families have deep local roots and grandparents close by. Doncaster has a large migrant community, and during the pandemic many families there were managing alone, with relatives unable to travel to Australia.

“We were, and continue to be, the village when they needed us most, going above and beyond what is expected of us,” Ms Edwards said.

The CBD service often welcomes families who are new to Melbourne, sometimes new to the country. Educators help them find a doctor, learn the local services and meet other parents.

On Saturdays, a Filipino mothers’ group gathers at Aurora at little or no cost beyond refreshments.

“A service is not only a building that opens at seven and closes at six. When you truly know your community, you begin to see what it needs, and you become integral to their needs well beyond the hours of care,” Ms Edwards said.

Where policy misses the gap

Ms Edwards agrees that high-quality early learning can be delivered under any ownership model. Her concern is that policy often treats providers as if they all start from the same place.

She points to differences in how costs fall across the sector. Council and not-for-profit services can be eligible for payroll tax exemptions, subsidised premises and capital grants that independent providers cannot access. This creates differences at a structural level and an inequitable playing field. Understanding this will give us better insights into solutions, keeping all children at the center of these discussions. 

The families in her CBD service show where the system leaves gaps. Some are new arrivals whose visa status means they cannot receive the Child Care Subsidy, and they pay the full fee or go without.

“We keep our CBD service open purely to provide essential care, without compromising on quality for our families, despite a changed market environment. We continue to subsidize this from our own funds,” Ms Edwards said.

“If we want a fair conversation about public money, let us begin with the true cost of providing care, and where the funding actually goes. A debate focused only on profit negates the people doing the work, and the families and children we hold.”

Speaking up, and being seen

Ms Edwards acknowledges that the sector is under closer scrutiny, and says that scrutiny is right, because children’s safety and wellbeing must come before everything else.

She also knows that some independent owners have become hesitant to speak publicly. She hopes the Proudly Independent, Proudly Local campaign will give them the confidence to do so, and that policymakers will take the time to see how their services actually work.

“Silence is not humility. If we do not speak, others will describe us, and the families we serve will not recognise the picture,” she said.

“Measure us on the quality of our practice, on our accountability and on what children and families take with them when they leave. That is a standard I am glad to meet, every day.”

Read more about the Proudly Independent, Proudly Local campaign, and about why Aurora’s family ownership matters.