Nurture Nook Issue 5 - Winter 2015

Issue 5 • Winter 2015

Nurture Nook

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A summary of the Australian Childcare Alliance New South Wales’ Weekly Updates and events from the second quarter of 2015, in addition to all the other news relevant to our sector.

Farewell Rhonda!

• Federal Budget In Depth • PM Visits Mulgoa Preschool • Bus Tour

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www.nsw.childcarealliance.org.au

Contents T: 1300 556 330 F: 1300 557 228 nsw@childcarealliance.org.au http://www.nsw.childcarealliance.org.au PO Box 660 Parramatta NSW 2124 facebook.com/ChildCareNSW @ChildCareNSW

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Child Care New South Wales gratefully acknowledges the support of our partners:

President’s Letter 4 New South Wales Election

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2015 Federal Budget

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National Issues 10 State Issues 13 Sector Update 14 Industrial Relations 19 Achievements and Accolades

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ACA NSW News 20 http://guildinsurance.com.au/ business-insurance/childcare

http://childcaresuper.com.au

Training and Professional Development

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Australian Child Care Week 2015

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Supplier Member Directory

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http://bit.ly/ ACANSWnn5_officeworks

Gold Sponsors

http://childcareconcepts.com.au

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Prime Minister Visits Mulgoa Preschool

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Farewell Rhonda!

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Bus Tour – Southern Sydney, 2 May

http://buzzrecruitment.com.au

http://www.mcarthur.com.au/

Bronze Sponsor

http://www2.qktech.com.au/ACANSW

Advertisements in The Nurture Nook are accepted by Child Care New South Wales in good faith; liability for advertising content, goods and services supplied is the responsibility of the advertiser.

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President’s Letter

President’s Letter From Nesha O’Neil, President of Australian Childcare Alliance New South Wales

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ow that we’re six months through the year, in the midst of end of financial year reporting and in a whirlwind of excited chatter as our preschoolers start the countdown to big school next year, you’re probably feeling a bit exhausted at the moment, and justifiably so! Outside of the four walls of your service/s, there has also been a great deal happening, as you’ll see from even the quickest glance through this latest edition of Nurture Nook.

We now have our very own Minister for Early Childhood following the re-election of the Baird Government in March. We have met with Minister Williams a few times now, and we are delighted with her approachability and keenness to better understand our sector.

At the time of writing, we are optimistic that Minister Williams will soon be making an exciting announcement about Universal Access funding for privately owned long day care services, which would be an incredibly positive move only a few months after being appointed Early Childhood Minister. We are also continuing to work closely with the NSW Minister for Small Business and NSW

Small Business Commissioner on a range of issues affecting your service/s, from local government planning restrictions to ratios.

We have also finally seen the Federal Government’s Childcare Package released, with details now available on the Nanny Pilot Programme, Early Childhood Safety Net and new Child Care Subsidy, which range in proposed commencement date from January 2016 (in the case of ‘No Jab No Pay’) to July 2017 (in the case of the new Child Care Subsidy). It is important to note that these changes have not yet been approved by the Senate, so you can expect to hear plenty from us over the next few months as we continue our negotiations in Canberra, both directly and through our national body, the Australian Childcare Alliance.

Closer to home, we have also seen a few changes in our office over the last few months, with Rhonda Davis retiring after more than 20 years of dedicated service, and Teena Barlow joining us as our new Membership and Training Coordinator. You can read more about these changes in the pages ahead.

With so much happening in early

childhood education and care at the moment, we know many of you are feeling a bit overwhelmed, but we are here to make life easier by keeping you up to date on all of the changes and answering your questions about how they may affect your service/s. Our brand new website also provides a wealth of easy-tofind information, so we encourage you to take a look over the weeks ahead and let us know what you think.

Finally, may I bring to your attention our Annual General Meeting, which will be held in September. For members interested in having more of a say in the future direction of ACA NSW, and indeed, early childhood education and care in NSW, please consider nominating for Executive Committee We hope you enjoy this edition of Nurture Nook, and look forward to your feedback.

Nesha O’Neil, PRESIDENT

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Please Update Your Contact Details

ust a friendly reminder to ensure you let us know if you have any change to your contact details, particularly if you sell or purchase a service, so that we can ensure you are not missing out on important information or member benefits.

As we have advised previously, if there are members of your team that you would

like to be able to contact our office for advice and assistance on your behalf, please ensure you have advised us in writing that they are to be listed as an authorised contact.

To update your contact details, please call our office on 1300 556 330 or email us at nsw@childcarealliance.org.au (use

the subject heading ‘Contact Details’).

To advise us of an authorised contact, please email us at the same address, nsw@ childcarealliance.org.au, with the subject heading ‘Authorised Contact’. Please note that we are not able to answer queries about your service from anyone other than your authorised contact/s.

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Free Legal Advice for Guild Clients

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s members would be aware, Guild Insurance is one of our strongest supporters, and we know many of you insure with Guild.

What you may not know is that if you are a Guild client, you can be provided with free legal advice by telephone if an incident occurs that may lead to a liability claim being made against you or your service. On top of this, you also receive two hours’ free legal support and advice on matters regarding employment related liability or regulatory matters.

For more information, please visit: http://bit.ly/ACANSW_guild_legal.

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ur last issue of The Nurture Nook went to press days before the NSW State Election – Saturday 28 March. The Baird Government was re-elected with 54 of the 93 seats in the Legislative Assembly. There was a swing of 3.3 per cent against the Liberal Party; 1.8 per cent against the National Party; and 0.4 per cent against the Greens, and an 8.6 per cent swing to the Labor Party.

The NSW Premier, the Hon Mike Baird MP and Deputy Premier, the Hon Troy Grant MP announced the new Cabinet on 1 April 2015. (You can access their media release, listing new cabinet appointments, by visiting http://bit.ly/ACANSWnn5_BairdGrant.)

There were widespread changes to Ministerial portfolios, including a new Treasurer, the Hon Gladys

Berejiklian MP; new Early Childhood Minister, the Hon Leslie Williams MP; new Minister for Family and Community Services, the Hon Brad Hazzard MP; and new Minister for Planning, the Hon Rob Stokes MP, to name a few.

To see a full list of Cabinet Ministers, please visit: http://bit.ly/ACANSWnn5_NSWcab; to access the list of Parliamentary Secretaries, please visit: http://bit.ly/ ACANSWnn5_NSWsec.

ACA NSW looks forward to continuing to work constructively with the Baird Government on a number of important issues facing our sector in the months ahead, from scheduled changes to educator:child ratios to improved planning to Universal Access funding.

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Dedicated Minister for Early Childhood Education

he new Cabinet includes a dedicated Minister for Early Childhood Education.

The Hon Leslie Williams MP, Member for Port Macquarie, was appointed Minister for Early Childhood Education, as well as Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Assistant Minister for Education.

Australian Childcare Alliance New South Wales is delighted to have a Minister dedicated to the early childhood education and care sector, having long been advocating for early childhood education and

care to have its own minister. We are thrilled that the Baird Government has listened.

As the Member for Port Macquarie, Minister Williams will have a unique perspective on the challenges facing services in regional areas. She is also a former teacher, nurse and small business owner, so brings a wealth of experience to the role.

You can read more about Minister Williams here: http://bit.ly/ACANSWnn5_LeslieWilliams. We look forward to working with Minister Williams over the weeks, months and years ahead.

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ur thanks again to those members who actively engaged in the election process by raising early childhood education and care with the candidates in their area.

The election may have been and gone, but

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Thank You

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rest assured, our advocacy efforts do not stop here! We will continue to work closely with Ministers and Departments alike to advocate for the best possible outcomes for our sector over the years ahead.

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2015 NSW Cabinet:

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1) The Hon Michael Bruce Baird MP - Premier, and Minister for Western Sydney; 2) The Hon Troy Wayne Grant MP - Deputy Premier, Minister for Justice and Police, Minister for the Arts, and Minister for Racing; 3) The Hon Gladys Berejiklian MP - Treasurer, and Minister for Industrial Relations; 4) The Hon Adrian Piccoli MP - Minister for Education; 5) The Hon Duncan John Gay MLC - Minister for Roads, Maritime and Freight, and VicePresident of the Executive Council; 6) The Hon Anthony John Roberts MP - Minister for Industry, Resources and Energy; 7) The Hon Jillian Gell Skinner MP - Minister for Health; 8) The Hon Andrew James Constance MP - Minister for Transport and Infrastructure; 9) The Hon Bradley Ronald Hazzard MP - Minister for Family and Community Services, and Minister for Social Housing; 10) The Hon Robert Gordon Stokes MP - Minister for Planning; 11) The Hon Dominic Francis Perrottet MP - Minister for Finance, Services and Property; 12) The Hon Gabrielle Cecelia Upton MP - Attorney General; 13) The Hon Prudence Jane Goward MP - Minister for Mental Health, Minister for Medical Research, Assistant Minister for Health, Minister for Women, and Minister for the Prevention of Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault; 14) The Hon John George Ajaka MLC - Minister for Ageing, Minister for Disability Services, and Minister for Multiculturalism; 15) The Hon Stuart Laurence Ayres MP - Minister for Trade, Tourism and Major Events, and Minister for Sport; 16) The Hon Victor Michael Dominello MP - Minister for Innovation and Better Regulation; 17) The Hon (John) Giovanni Domenic Barilaro MP - Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Skills, and Minister for Small Business; 18) The Hon Paul Lawrence Toole MP - Minister for Local Government; 19) The Hon Niall Blair MLC - Minister for Primary Industries, and Minister for Lands and Water; 20) The Hon Mark Raymond Speakman SC MP - Minister for the Environment, Minister for Heritage, and Assistant Minister for Planning; 21) The Hon David Andrew Elliott MP - Minister for Corrections, Minister for Emergency Services, and Minister for Veterans Affairs; 22) The Hon Leslie Gladys Williams MP - Minister for Early Childhood Education, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, and Assistant Minister for Education

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NSW Election

NSW Election

2015 Federal Budget

2015 Federal Budget Part of the Federal Budget, handed down 12 May 2015, was the Child Care Assistance Package. Worth $40 billion and intended to be implemented over the next four years, the package consists of several elements including the Nanny Pilot Programme; the Early Childhood Safety Net; and the Child Care Subsidy. These elements were unveiled one by one in the lead up to the Budget.

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Nanny Pilot Programme

he Federal Minister for Social Services, the Hon Scott Morrison, announced 28 April 2015 the establishment by the Abbott Government of a $246 million, two-year pilot programme to extend subsidy support to home care services provided by nannies. The Interim Home Based Carer Subsidy Programme was the first element of the Abbott Government’s Child Care Assistance Package to be announced.

The programme is set to be aimed at shift workers, families in rural and regional areas and those who have children with additional needs for whom mainstream early childhood education and care services are often inaccessible. Families and service providers will be able to apply for the pilot later this year and must meet approved guidelines. Only families on incomes below $250,000 per year will be eligible for support. To be eligible for subsidy, nannies will be required to be attached to an approved service, with service providers to be selected through an open tender process.

Interestingly, the National Quality Framework will

NOT be a requirement for the pilot programme, and nannies will NOT be required to hold a minimum early childhood qualification. They will only be required to be 18 years of age and have a current Working with Children Check and first aid qualification.

This suggests strongly that this initiative is aimed at workforce participation and not at all at early childhood education. Indeed, the Hon Scott Morrison MP made it clear that this will not a “mainstream” funding program, rather it is “intended to address quite specific needs”.

The full statement is available online at http://bit. ly/ACANSWnn5_DSSnanny. You can access a fact sheet on the Nanny Pilot Programme from the Department of Social Services: http://bit.ly/ACANSWnn5_ DSSnannyFS. Our President, Nesha O’Neil, discussed the issue on ABC NewsRadio. You can listen to her online at http://bit.ly/ACANSWnn5_presABCNR. You can see some of the many media articles covering it here http:// bit.ly/ACANSWnn5_SMHnanny and here http://bit.ly/ ACANSWnn5_Oznanny.

BELOW LEFT: The Hon Scott Morrison MP’s statement regarding the Pilot Nanny Programme; BELOW: Pilot Nanny Programme fact sheet; RIGHT: SMH article on the Pilot Nanny Programme; FAR RIGHT: Australian article on the Pilot Nanny Programme.

Links to all documents included in the main text on this page.

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he Department of Social Services website has a page with links to papers and fact sheets on the key elements of the Childcare Package: http:// bit.ly/ACANSWnn5_DSSbudget2015 The ACA Member Alert regarding the Federal Budget may be accessed at http:// bit.ly/ACANSWnn5_ACAbudgetMU The ACA Media Release in response to the Federal Budget is available at http://bit. ly/ACANSWnn5_ACAbudgetPR.

2015 Federal Budget

Budget Documents

Universal Access

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he Prime Minister announced 3 May 2015 that the Federal Government will provide $840 million over two years for preschool programmes across Australia by extending funding to the States and Territories under the National Partnership Agreement on Universal Access to Early Childhood Education (Universal Access Agreement). For the first time, the new funding will be indexed against the Consumer Price Index (CPI) to make sure families do not lose an extra $30 million

over the 2016 and 2017 calendar years.

As members would be aware, we have been fighting for years for a more equitable approach to Universal Access funding, which the NSW Government has not made available to privately owned long day care services in NSW, despite other states making it available regardless of service type.

This was high on our list of issues raised with the NSW Early Childhood Minister, the Hon Leslie Williams MP, when we met with her 5 June 2015 (see page 13).

LEFT: The Australian Childcare Alliance’s Member Alert and media release regarding the 2015 Federal Budget.

ABOVE and RIGHT: Federal Social Services Minister, the Hon Scott Morrison MP’s media release regarding the Child Care Safety Net; the Department of Social Services’ Child Care Safety Net fact sheet; and the Australian Childcare Alliance’s media release regarding the Child Care Safety Net. Download links to all documents are in the main text on this page.

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n 8 May the Federal Government announced another element of the Childcare Package. The Child Care Safety Net will overlay the ‘mainstream’ elements of the broader package, and will provide support for vulnerable and disadvantaged children, children in rural/remote/Indigenous communities, services experiencing viability problems and so on. You can read Federal Social Services Minister, the Hon Scott Morrison MP’s media release here: http://bit.ly/ ACANSWnn5_DSSsafetyPR. To read the Department of Social Services’ Child Care Safety Net fact sheet, please visit: http://bit. ly/ACANSWnn5_DSSsafetyFS. The Safety Net comprises three main elements: 1) Additional Childcare Subsidy • Scheduled to commence 1 July 2017 • Will provide subsidy support for children at risk of serious abuse or neglect; families experiencing temporary financial hardship; and those transitioning from income support to work

Child Care Safety Net 2) Inclusion Support Program • Scheduled to commence 1 July 2016 • Will provide funding for Inclusion Support, with changes to the existing Inclusion Support Program 3) Community Child Care Fund • Scheduled to commence 1 July 2017 • Will include: ӹӹ community support (e.g. outreach and transport assistance in remote areas; provision for integration of services in remote/Indigenous areas etc) ӹӹ sustainability support (e.g. business development advice for services experiencing viability problems) ӹӹ access and affordability support (e.g. measures to assist low income families in high cost areas) ӹӹ capital support (capital expenditure for new developments/modifications etc in specific circumstances) Whilst we welcome Government’s acknowledgement that increased investment is required for vulnerable and disadvantaged children; in rural/remote/Indigenous

communities; and for services experiencing viability problems, it is not yet clear whether the Early Childhood Safety Net measures will leave any families worse off. It is also not yet clear the role that State/Territory regulators will play in terms of the Additional Child Care Subsidy for “at risk” children, nor how “at risk” will be defined.

Our national body, the Australian Childcare Alliance (ACA), issued a media release in response to the announcement, which you can access by visiting http:// bit.ly/ACANSWnn5_ACAsafetyPR. We are continuing to work closely with the Alliance, and are continuing to raise your concerns directly with the Federal Government, including the massive financial impost that the changes to educator:child ratios, scheduled to commence 1 January 2016, will have.

Rest assured, we are working very hard to ensure your voice is heard and that government understands the vitally important role we play in delivering high quality early childhood education and care to children right across the country.

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2015 Federal Budget

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Child Care Assistance Package

n Sunday 10 May (Mother’s Day) the Federal Government released the details of the much-anticipated Child Care Assistance Package. As anticipated, and outlined in Member Alerts issued by our national body, the Australian Childcare Alliance (ACA), the Child Care Assistance Package outlines the new, single, streamlined subsidy and related activity test that is intended to take effect from 1 July 2017, subject to the Senate supporting the package.

Both ACA and Australian Childcare Alliance New South Wales (ACA NSW) were involved in in-confidence targeted consultation sessions with the Federal Government over the months leading up to the announcement of the Child Care Assistance Package, advocating on your behalf to ensure the best possible outcomes for members, and of course the children and families at your service.

As you may recall, the Productivity Commission recommended a national, benchmark rate of $7.20 per hour for long day care. We fought to have this figure increased, as it simply does not come close to reflecting current operating costs and fees, and would have left at least 50 per cent of families worse off if used as the basis for subsidised care. We didn’t back down, and we are pleased that the 10 May announcement confirmed a new hourly cap of $11.55 per hour. We are conscious that this may still leave some families worse off, but it’s a massive improvement on what the Productivity Commission recommended.

The Productivity Commission also recommended a quite savage approach to what has been called the “activity test”. The Productivity Commission felt strongly that families who did not work, or had limited employment, should not have access to any hours of subsidised early childhood education and care per fortnight, and advocated an ‘earn or learn’ philosophy, which would have seen many children miss out. We argued consistently that children should not be disadvantaged because of their parents’ circumstances, and this was the genesis of not only the Child Care Safety Net package, released 9 May, but also the new activity test thresholds announced with the Child Care Assistance Package, which will result in a much more inclusive outcome for families, with families earning less than $65,000 per annum able to access 12 hours of early childhood education and care per week. Families will receive increased subsidy hours according to their workforce participation. Families earning $65,000 per year and not meeting the work test will receive no subsidy.

It is important to note that the Federal Government has suggested that the success or otherwise of this package is contingent upon previously announced changes to Family Tax Benefit, which have previously been blocked in the Senate, so we anticipate serious, intense negotiations over the coming months as we brief Senators from the major and minor parties, as well as the CrossBench, on our thoughts on the package.

We are continuing to be involved in high level

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negotiations about the detail underpinning the package, such as how volunteering will be defined (for the purposes of the activity test); the interaction between the new package and Universal Access; eligibility criteria for capital grants and so on.

We have also expressed our strong concern about the failure of this year’s Budget to provide meaningful relief in the short-term, noting that most elements of the package are at least two years away. We have also stressed that one of the simplest, zero-cost decisions governments could make right now is to delay the proposed implementation of the 1 January 2016 ratio changes in NSW, which we know will have massive impacts on families.

(You can visit http://bit.ly/ACANSWnn5_ NEWSratios to read one of the reports on this issue in which ACA has been quoted.)

The Department of Social Services website includes a Child Care Assistance Package page: http://bit.ly/ACANSWnn5_DSSpackage. We strongly recommend you bookmark this page as we understand it will be updated regularly. The website also offers an A3 overview on the Package that includes case studies and implementation time lines: http://bit.ly/ACANSWnn5_DSSpackageOVERVIEW. You can access the Child Care Assistance Package fact sheet: http://bit.ly/ACANSWnn5_DSSpackageFS. You can access the ACA Member Alert regarding the Package here, http://bit.ly/ACANSWnn5_ ACApackageMA, and the ACA’s media release in response to the package here: http://bit.ly/ ACANSWnn5_ACApackagePR.

RIGHT: Media story regarding the proposed implementation of ration changes, due 1 January 2016.

BELOW: Department of Social Services’ Child Care Assistance Package webpage and fact sheet; Australian Childcare Alliance’s media release regarding the Child Care Assistance Package.

Links to all documents are in the main text on this page.

2015 Federal Budget

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Immunisation Changes

n 12 April the Prime Minister and Federal Social Services Minister announced that the Commonwealth Government will end the conscientious objector exemption on children’s vaccination for access to taxpayer funded Child Care Benefits, the Child Care Rebate and the Family Tax Benefit Part A end of year supplement.

A week later the Federal Government announced a further change – that the religious exemption on children’s

vaccinations for access to Child Care benefit, Child Care Rebate and Family Tax Benefit Part A would also end.

THESE CHANGES WILL NOT TAKE EFFECT UNTIL 1 JANUARY 2016.

Existing exemptions on medical grounds will continue.

To read the official statements in full, please visit http://bit.ly/ACANSWnn5_ DSSimmunisation (for the 12 April release) and http://bit.ly/ACANSWnn5_ DSSimmunisation02 (for the 19 April release).

A Reminder The NSW Immunisation Enrolment changes that took effect 1 January 2014 are still in place, regardless of the Federal changes not taking effect until 1 January 2016. Every service should have received a hard copy of the Immunisation Enrolment Toolkit from NSW Health 18 months ago, but you can also download a copy from http://www.health. nsw.gov.au/immunisation/Documents/ImmunisationEnrolment-Toolkit.pdf or visit http://www.health.nsw.gov. au/immunisation/pages/vaccination_enrolment.aspx for further information about the changes that were made in NSW to strengthen immunisation requirements for early childhood education and care.

ABOVE: The Hon Scott Morrison MP’s immunisation media releases BELOW: Child Care Assistance Package overview; (see page 8 for details).

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National Issues

National Issues ACA Hits Parliament House

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ur Chief Executive Officer, Brianna Casey, was in Canberra Monday 23 and Tuesday 24 March 2015 as part of an Australian Childcare Alliance (ACA) delegation comprising the Presidents and Executive Officers from ACA New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia. It was a very busy but extremely successful couple of days, meeting with 15 Ministers, Senators and Members of Parliament.

The Productivity Commission Report on Childcare and Early Childhood Learning was the focus of discussions, in particular our views on the proposed benchmark price, the proposed activity test; Universal Access funding; nannies; vulnerable, at-risk and additional needs children; planning; fringe benefits tax; and proposed changes to the National Quality Framework, including changes to educator:child ratios taking effect 1 January 2016.

Our thanks to the following Senators, Ministers, MPs and Chiefs of Staff who made the time to meet with us.

• The Hon Scott Morrison MP, Minister for Social Services (NSW) • Senator the Hon Scott Ryan, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Education

(with responsibility for Universal Access) (Vic) • Senator the Hon Marise Payne, Minister for Human Services • Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, Senator for South Australia • Senator Zhenya Wang, Senator for Western Australia (Palmer United Party) • Senator Ricky Muir, Senator for Victoria (Australian Motoring Enthusiast) • The Hon Kate Ellis MP, Shadow Minister for Education; Shadow Minister for Early Childhood (SA) • The Hon Jenny Macklin MP, Shadow Minister for Families and Payments, Shadow Minister for Disability Reform (Vic) • The Hon Sharon Bird MP, Shadow Minister for Vocational Education (NSW) • The Hon Alannah MacTiernan MP, Deputy Chair of the Standing Committee on Education and Employment (WA) • Ken O’Dowd MP, Member for Flynn (Qld) • Tony Pasin MP, Member for Barker (SA) • Andrew Laming MP, Member for Bowman (Qld) • Chief of Staff to the Hon Josh Frydenberg MP, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister (Vic)

LEFT to RIGHT: ACA NSW CEO Brianna Casey, ACA WA Executive Officer Rachelle Tucker and ACA Qld President Jae Fraser, outside Parliament House.

• Chief of Staff to Clive Palmer MP, Member for Fairfax (Qld) Keep an eye out in the next Nurture Nook for a full report on the meetings we have scheduled at Parliament House, 22 and 23 June 2015.

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T RIGHT and BELOW: Images from the http:// bettertax.gov.au website.

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Tax Reforms

he Federal Government released a Tax Discussion Paper on Monday 30 March 2015, raising the possibility of a reformed tax system to support higher economic growth and living standards; improve our international competitiveness; and adjust to a changing economy and new opportunities. The discussion paper addresses a number of taxation issues of relevance to our sector, from the impacts of taxation on workforce participation; to inequities brought about by Fringe Benefits Tax exemptions for not-for-profit early childhood education and care services; to payroll tax exemptions and efficiencies. We held discussions with our national body, the Australian Childcare Alliance, as to how best to respond on behalf of members nationally, noting that submissions closed 1 June 2015.

For further information on the Re:think Better tax, better Australia tax reforms, please visit: http://bettertax.gov.au.

National Issues

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Education Ministers Meeting

he Education Council convened in Brisbane on Friday 29 May for its second meeting of the year. Ministers were updated on recent budget announcements regarding Universal Access, with programs to be delivered by a degree-qualified Early Childhood Teacher, with a particular focus on participation by vulnerable and disadvantaged children. Senior officials were directed to work together to finalise arrangements on the National Partnership, which is a particularly pressing issue in NSW, as the implementation plan that will determine how privately owned long day care services will be included in the agreement has not yet been settled.

Ministers also discussed the National Quality Agenda for Early Childhood

Education and Care by agreeing to “further work on potential amendments to the Education and Care Services National Law and National Regulations”, with proposed changes to help simplify and streamline a number of the processes contained in the National Quality Framework, “reducing regulatory burden for early childhood service providers, while maintaining the high quality standards in the sector”.

Officials have been asked to finalise the Review and bring a final package, including the Decision Regulation Impact Statement for future consideration by the Council later in 2015.

To read the full communique, please visit http://bit.ly/ACANSWnn5_EDCOUNcomm.

ABOVE: Communique of the Fifth Education Council Meeting, 29 May 2015

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ABOVE: Australian Childcare Alliance Report on the 2015 Member Survey; BELOW: Australian Childcare Alliance Response to Productivity Commission Report into Childcare and Early Childhood Learning

ACA Survey Results

e would like to thank members who participated in the April survey that provided ACA with firm demographic data regarding the status of long day care in Australia as well as providing strong opinion on reactions to some of the key recommendations from the Productivity Commission’s report into Childcare and Early Childhood Learning. We are pleased to release the results from this survey to you.

A key finding from ACA’s survey highlights the issue of affordability. Eightythree per cent of respondents showed that families are reducing days for early education and care for their children due to service costs.

ACA has explained this to government and highlighted that this is a real issue for families.

ACA has also confirmed that any proposed changes must consider the needs of all families, their children’s future and parents’ ability to return to the workforce.

Affordability is even more critical in view of the changes to child to educator ratios in 2016, which would see an increase in fees (across most States) of up to $10 per day, per child (as reported in the news story that can be accessed at http://bit.ly/ACANSWnn5_ NEWSratios). ACA has been advocating that the ratio changes need to be delayed to allow government assistance to catch up with the true cost of childcare and education.

Importantly, the implementation of new ratios is the responsibility of State/Territory Ministers under the National Partnership Agreement and we urge members to take the issue up locally.

The Commission’s recommendation to set a national Benchmark price of $7.41 (0-3 year olds) and $7.20 (3 years and older) per hour for 100 hours per fortnight of long day care was not supported by 65 per cent of respondents. Costs for childcare vary due to location and service delivery model. A benchmark price does not take into account these differences, and may not be sustainable for many services.

The survey also showed that members strongly indicated their support for a nationally consistent approach to planning to ensure that new services are built in areas of high demand.

The Commission recommended that nannies be subsidised at just $0.26 per hour less than the subsidy for long day care services. Overwhelmingly our respondents do not agree with this and consider this recommendation to be unfair and unreasonable, especially considering the strict regulatory framework under which long day care centres operate.

The ACA survey results also found that there is a slowing demand regarding places for babies. Results also indicated that accessibility was not an issue nationally. Of the services who indicated that accessibility was of concern, 52 per cent indicated that it was due to parents seeking specific days.

A copy of the full report is available at http://bit.ly/ACANSWnn5_ACApcsurvey.

You can read the ACA’s response to the Productivity Commission at http://bit.ly/ ACANSWnn5_ACAprresponse.

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Prime Minister Visits Mulgoa Preschool

Prime Minister Visits Mulgoa Preschool

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BELOW: Federal Minister for Social Services, the Hon Scott Morrison MP; the Prime Minister, the Hon Tony Abbott MP; Vicki Skoulogenis; Spyro Skoulogenis; the Federal Member for Lindsay, the Hon Fiona Scott.

Images from the Hon Fiona Scott’s Facebook page.

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ur immediate past President, Vicki Skoulogenis and her team hosted the Prime Minister, the Hon Tony Abbott MP, the Federal Minister for Social Services, the Hon Scott Morrison and the Federal Member for Lindsay, the Hon Fiona Scott at Mulgoa Preschool on the morning of Friday 15 May. The Prime Minister, Minister Morrison and Ms Scott spoke to Vicki, her team and parents at the service about their thoughts on the recently launched Childcare Package, as well as other issues affecting services in NSW, such as the changes to educator:child ratios scheduled to take effect 1 January 2016.

We know that a number of you have excellent working relationships with your local Federal Member of Parliament, and we are grateful to members who contact us for advice and assistance before, during and after visits from Ministers and Members of Parliament. It is a wonderful opportunity to be advocates on behalf of all members, highlighting concerns and proposing solutions. If a similar opportunity arises for you to host a visit, please do not hesitate to contact us for assistance with any briefing materials you may require on key issues (such as the Childcare Package). If you would like assistance in making contact with your State or Federal Member of Parliament, similarly, do not hesitate to contact our office.

Meeting with Minister Williams

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CA NSW President Nesha O’Neil met with the NSW Early Childhood Minister, the Hon Leslie Williams MP, on Sydney 22 May 2015. This was the Minister’s first sector meeting, as she had spent much of her first few weeks as Minister focused on her Aboriginal Affairs portfolio.

Nesha took the opportunity to discuss our initial feedback on the Federal Government’s Child Care Assistance Package, as well as other issues high on members’ radars, including the 2016 changes to educator:child ratios.

ACA NSW Chief Executive Officer Brianna Casey met separately with the Minister’s Deputy Chief of Staff and Policy Advisor on 25 May to discuss these issues in more detail.

Nesha and Brianna met with the Hon Leslie Williams MP again in Sydney on 5 June. This was our first opportunity to meet

separately with the Minister to discuss key issues affecting members.

We discussed the Federal Government’s Childcare Package in detail, in particular the potential impacts of the package on vulnerable and disadvantaged children, as well as what will happen between now and July 2017 when the bulk of changes take effect. We also discussed our concerns about the impact of the changes to educator:child ratios for 2-yearolds, which are scheduled to take effect 1 January 2016, as well as our ongoing concerns about access to Universal Access funding.

We encouraged the Minister to expedite the NSW Government’s election commitment to address red tape and planning issues within our sector. We look forward to working closely with Minister Williams on these issues over the coming months.

g NSW Early Childhood Directorate Meeting

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CA NSW Chief Executive Officer Brianna Casey attended a meeting of the NSW Department of Education and Communities Early Childhood Education and Care Reference Group in Parramatta 29 May. Key items of discussion included the Federal Budget and Childcare Package; the National Quality Framework review; NSW Office of the Children’s Guardian Child Safe implementation; risk management and natural disasters.

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Preschool Funding

t wasn’t long after the Hon Leslie Williams MP was appointed as NSW Early Childhood Minister that her first interview for mainstream media was undertaken, with the Universal Access Agreement clearly requiring her urgent attention.

ACA NSW CEO Brianna Casey was also interviewed and is continuing to advocate for a more equitable approach to Universal Access funding that would see our members finally included.

To read the article, please visit http://bit.ly/ ACANSWnn5_AGEoped.

ABOVE: The Hon Leslie Gladys Williams MP - Minister for Early Childhood Education, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, and Assistant Minister for Education; RIGHT: ACA NSW President Nesha O’Neil prepares to be interviewed regarding 2016 ratios; BELOW: ACA NSW President Nesha O’Neil with Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Skills, and Minister for Small Business, the Hon John Barilaro, MP; and NSW Small Business Commissioner, Robyn Hobbs OAM.

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Small Business Roundtable

ur President, Nesha O’Neil, had an excellent meeting with the NSW Minister for Small Business, the Hon John Barilaro MP, and NSW Small Business Commissioner, Robyn Hobbs OAM, in Sydney 10 June 2015. Key items of discussion included the Federal Government’s Childcare Package, educator:child ratios and the impacts of local government planning restrictions on our members’ services. Our thanks to both Minister Barilaro and Ms Hobbs for taking the time to understand our issues, and more importantly, assist us in progressing them.

The Minister and the Commissioner for Small Business are both fantastic advocates for our members. They are both active on behalf of our sector from a ‘being small business’ as well as ‘supporting small business’ point of view. Minister Barilaro and Commissioner Hobbs have been quite vocal – and practical – in their support of our members.

Many thanks on behalf of our members, and the children, families and small businesses of NSW.

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State Issues

State Issues

Sector Update

Sector Update

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Child Protection Reminder

e have had a number of calls from members with inquiries about their child protection obligations as mandatory reporters. As you would already be aware, every paid childcare worker and teacher in an early childhood education and care service in NSW is a mandatory reporter. Every ACA NSW member was sent a copy of a Keep Them Safe and A Shared Approach to Child Wellbeing in NSW DVDs (pictured below) with your membership renewal packs over a 12-month period from 2013.

If you have not yet reviewed these resources with your staff, please ensure you do so as a matter of urgency. You can also find a range of helpful resources at the Keep Them Safe website – http://www.keepthemsafe.nsw.gov.au/ – and a fantastic summary document prepared by Meridian Lawyers – http://bit.ly/ACANSWnn5_ MLchildsafe – regarding your obligations in each jurisdiction across Australia (noting that reporting requirements differ). Please refer to page 2 for NSW requirements, including advice on how to make a report.

The importance of meeting child protection obligations was raised more recently, in a Daily Telegraph article on Sunday 7 June (http://bit.ly/ACANSWnn5_STwwcc) noting apparent failings of appeals against disqualified Working With Children Checks

(WWCC). In some cases, the Telegraph reports, the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) has overturned the Office of the Children’s Guardian’s decision to disqualify applicants deemed unsafe to work with children.

Sought for comment by Network Ten’s Eyewitness News, ACA NSW CEO Brianna Casey pointed out that the Working With Children Checks are not the only safeguards protecting children, welcoming swift government action.

“Families need to have every confidence that what we are providing in terms of high quality education and care meets all the checks that they would expect,” Brianna said. (You can view the report online by visiting http://bit.ly/ ACANSWnn5_TENwwcc.)

We are in discussions with the Office of the Children’s Guardian about additional workshops, webinars and online resources that can be made available to members.

TOP: ACA NSW CEO Brianna Casey on Network Ten’s Eyewitnesss News; LEFT: Children playing in the park, also from Eyewitnesss News; FAR LEFT: The Telegraph report; BELOW LEFT: Keep Them Safe and A Shared Approach to Child Wellbeing in NSW DVDs. BELOW: Meridian’s Guide to Mandatory Reporting in Child Care summary.

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www.nsw.childcarealliance.org.au

Sector Update

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LDCPDP Funding

e have been receiving a large number of inquiries about the Long Day Care Professional Development Programme (LDCPDP), from inquiries about the type of training that is eligible, to what the reporting requirements are. This programme is solely administered by the Federal Government and any inquiries should be directed to the Department of Social Services on 1800 020 212 (9am - 5pm Monday to Friday) or via email (ldcpdp@dss.

gov.au with the subject heading ‘Inquiry’).

There is also detailed information available at the Department of Social Services website (http://bit.ly/ACANSWnn5_ DSSldcpdp), as well as a very handy Frequently Asked Questions document (http://bit.ly/ACANSWnn5_LDCPDPfaq), which answers questions on reporting periods, what the funds can be spent on, backfilling staff, what happens if a service is sold during the funding period and so on.

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Meeting Your Super Obligations

e have been advised that the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is focusing on employers meeting their superannuation obligations in the child care services industry this financial year, with audits to take place from 1 July 2015.

The ATO has advised that childcare is one of the industries where employers have been identified as being at greater risk of

not complying with their Super Guarantee obligations and the ATO is urging employers to take advantage of the information and support available online at https://www.ato.gov. au/Business/Super-for-employers.

The ATO has some basic building blocks to help you get your super guarantee affairs in order. To ensure you meet your super guarantee obligations, pay a minimum of

9.5% of each employee’s earnings; make contributions for each employee at least four times a year, by the quarterly cut-off dates; pass on employee’ tax file number to their chosen super fund within 14 days; and keep records of super payments.

Visit http://bit.ly/ACANSWnn5_ATOsuper for further information and useful tools and calculators.

No more cheques?

Don’t panic!

Time is running out for your business to arrange a clearing house and comply with the law.

We can help you with simple administration and payment solutions, designed for your industry.

We’ll make super simpler so you have more time to manage your business.

The 30 June deadline is fast approaching Let us help you avoid any ATO administrative penalties

1300 365 899 corporatesupport@guildsuperservices.com.au

Guild Trustee Services Pty Limited. ABN 068 826 728. AFS Licence No. 233815. RSE Licence No. L0000611 as Trustee for Child Care Super. Fund Registartion No. R1000030 ABN 22 599 554 834, Child Care Super’s Clearing House solution is provided by MercerSpectrum. MercerSpectrum and the online service are products issued by Mercer Outsourcing (Australia) Pty Ltd ABN 83 068 908 912 AFSL 411980. Before deciding about any financial product you should consider the relevant PDS obtainable by calling Child Care Super on 1300 365 899. Trustee for Child Care Super (part of the Guild Retirement Fund) ABN 22 599 554 834 is Guild Trustee Services Pty Ltd. ABN 84 068 826 728. AFSL 233815.

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Sector Updates

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Voting in the Quality Teaching Council Election

lease ensure you share this information with the Early Childhood Teacher/s at your service.

The Board of Studies, Teaching and Educational Standards NSW (BOSTES) is currently working with the NSW Government and the early childhood education and care sector to bring Early Childhood Teachers (ECTs) into the NSW teachers accreditation system.

All policy developments to

support the accreditation of teachers are made by the Quality Teaching Council (QTC), which advises BOSTES about quality teaching initiatives and accreditation policy.

The QTC is elected each year and the election for the 11 teaching positions on the Council will be held later this year.

For the first time, an ECT will be elected to the Council.

To be eligible to vote, ECTs will be required to be currently employed

as an ECT in a NSW early childhood education and care service; have an approved teaching qualification for the purposes of Education and Care Services National Law and Regulations; and agree to have their eligibility confirmed by their employer.

For further information about the Quality Teaching Council, please visit http://bit.ly/ACANSWnn5_QTC. To register to vote, please visit http://bit.ly/ ACANSWnn5_BOSTES.

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embers should keep an eye out for hard copies of Leading Learning Circles for Educators Engaged in Study, which were sent to services recently.

The resource, developed by the Child and Family Studies Team at Griffith University, is a practical tool for early childhood educators who work with children from birth to eight years in a range of settings, including long day care. It outlines a process of guided conversations in the form of learning circles and explains how to facilitate learning circles.

Although it has particular relevance for lead educators working with their staff undertaking study, Electronic copies are also available it should be useful for all early by visiting http://bit.ly/ACANSWnn5_ childhood educators.

EDUcircles).

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Healthy Eating Pyramid Update

utrition Australia has updated the Healthy Eating Pyramid (pictured above) for the first time in 15 years.

You can find it – and links to other resources such as posters and magnets – at http://bit.ly/ ACANSWnn5_pyramid.

The FAQ and the history of the pyramid are interesting. As is the detail: you may notice grains have their own level, whereas they once occupied the same tier as fruit and vegetables.

You may also notice, like we did, that beans and legumes are on the foundation layer with fruit and veg, as well as the level with meat, egg and dairy. That’s because, we worked out in our discussion, they are high in protein, as well as being part of the fruit and veg category.

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Starting Blocks

brand new website has been launched by the government to help families, particularly new parents, make decisions about quality children’s education and care.

The website is called Starting Blocks (http://www.startingblocks.gov.au/) and is aimed at assisting new parents who may want to better understand the many early education and care options available for their child or what they can do to assist their child’s development.

Research undertaken by the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority has highlighted that there continues to be a lack of understanding in the broader community about the benefits of early learning for children under five years of age, and parents also have limited understanding of the quality standards.

Starting Blocks also has its own Facebook page, http://bit.ly/ACANSWnn5_ startingblocksFB; and a YouTube channel, http://bit.ly/ACANSWnn5_startingblocksYT.

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he United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) released its Education for All 2000-2015 report – http://bit.ly/ACANSWnn5_ UNESCOedu2000-15report – in April 2015, announcing that only one third of countries have achieved all of the measurable Education for All goals set in 2000.

Reporting on its first goal to expand early childhood care and education, especially for the most vulnerable children, only 47 per cent of countries reached the goal; 8 per cent were “close”, and 20 per cent were “very far” from the goal. However, in 2012, nearly 2/3 more children were enrolled in early childhood education than in 1999, with 184m children enrolled in pre-primary education worldwide (see below). Figure 1.9 highlights the growth

in private provision of early childhood education and care in Australia between 1999 and 2012.

Table 7.1 highlights that Australia has a low level likelihood of achieving a pre-primary gross enrolment ratio of at least 80 per cent by 2015, again highlighting the need for a more equitable approach to Universal Access funding in Australia, and INCREASED investment in the sector, which is appearing less and less likely following the Prime Minister’s speech to the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry – http://bit.ly/ACANSWnn5_PMacci – on Wednesday 15 April, in which he made it clear that a small business tax cut will be paid for by not proceeding with the Paid Parental Leave scheme, despite our sector’s united recommendation to have those funds

re-directed to early childhood education and care. He stressed that “there will be no new spending that’s not offset against savings”.

Funding and political will were found to be one of the most significant barriers to achieving UNESCO’s goals on education, with UNESCO recommending that governments find ways to mobilise new resources for education.

You can visit http://bit.ly/ACANSWnn5_ UNESCOedu2000-15goal1 to view a great infographic on the early childhood care and education goal. You can visit http://bit. ly/ACAMSWnn5_UNESCOedu2000-15MR to view the media release; http://bit.ly/ ACANSWnn5_UNESCOedu2000-15sumrep to view the summary report; and http://bit.ly/ ACANSWnn5_UNESCOedu2000-15fullrep to view the report in full.

RIGHT: Report Card 2000-2015 – Goal 1: Early childhood care and education from the UNESCO Education For All 2000-2015 report.

BELOW: Cover of the report.

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Sector Update

UNESCO Education Report

Sector Updates

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Latest ACECQA Snapshot Released

he latest ACECQA Snapshot report for Q1 2015 has been released, highlighting that the number of early childhood education and care services has grown to 14,827 across Australia, operated by 7274 approved providers. The report highlights that 83 per cent of approved providers operate only one service. The report shows that 66 per cent of assessed services (noting that only 8287 of the 14,827 services across the country have been assessed to date) are meeting or exceeding the National Quality Standard,

and only 5 per cent of approved services are currently operating with a waiver.

Looking at NSW specifically, as at 31 March 2015 there were 5061 approved services across the state, 4758 of which are centre-based services, and 303 of which are family day care. Only 61 per cent of services have been assessed and rated, with 56 per cent of assessed services meeting or exceeding the NQS. You can access the full report by visiting http://bit.ly/ACANSWnn5_ ACECQA2015Q1.

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ACECQA Newsletter

he latest newsletter from the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) has been released. This edition contains information on the new Starting Blocks website, sharing information with families about the National Quality Framework, record-keeping, having your service’s rating reviewed, annual fees and more. To read the latest newsletter please visit http://bit.ly/ACANSWnn5_ACECQA2015nl5.

ABOVE RIGHT: NQF Snapshot Q1 2015 (full report: http://bit.ly/ACANSWnn5_ACECQA2015Q1) ; ABOVE: Percentage of NSW approved services with finalised quality rating, and percentages by quality area at 31 March 2015, from ACECQA’s NQF Snapshot Q1 2015 (full report: http://bit.ly/ACANSWnn5_ACECQA2015Q1); RIGHT: ACECQA Newsletter Issue 5 2015 (access it: http://bit.ly/ACANSWnn5_ACECQA2015nl5); BELOW: Early Childhood Extra May edition (access it: http://bit.ly/ACANSWnn5_ECEX2015may).

Early Childhood Extra

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he latest edition of the Department of Education and Communities’ newsletter, Early Childhood Extra, is out, featuring an interview with the new Minister for Early Childhood, the Hon Leslie Williams MP. The newsletter also includes updates on the Operational Support

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Program, Bi-Annual Preschool Census, advice for services affected by the recent severe weather, information on upcoming NQS workshops, and NSW vaccination requirements.

To access the latest edition please visit http://bit.ly/ACANSWnn5_ECEX2015may.

www.nsw.childcarealliance.org.au

Union Visits

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Updated Pay Summaries

s we go to press, our industrial experts are in the process of finalising the pay summaries (wage rates) for 2015/16, following the Fair Work Commission handing down its annual wage

review decision 2 June 2015.

The updated rates, which take effect on the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2015, will be available in the Members Only section of our website.

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embers from a number of parts of the state have received calls from United Voice in recent months, requesting an opportunity to meet with their staff. As we explained in our Member Alert – http://bit.ly/ACANSWnn5_unionMA – under the Federal system, an authorised union representative has the right to enter a workplace to “look into” a suspected breach of the award or a suspected breach of the Federal workplace relations laws, or a suspected breach of work, health and safety laws, and to hold discussions with employees who are entitled to be represented by the union.

Secondly, if a union rep wants to attend your centre in respect of the above criteria, he or she should give you written notice during working hours at least 24 hours but no more than 14 days before entering the workplace (unless Fair Work Australia allows otherwise). They must enter the workplace within work hours and follow any reasonable directions from the employer, including health and safety rules.

As early childhood educators you have your principle moral duty and overriding legal duty to ensure that your educator to child ratios are not compromised by any such union visit. Accordingly, presuming your staff wish to hold such discussions with the union, it is not unreasonable for you to direct that any such meeting be held, either during the lunch hour, (e.g. if you have floaters who can cover such staff), or before or after the hours of operation, (notwithstanding that Fair Work identifies the attendance being during working hours), or otherwise when your ratios permit it. If any union rep disputes your decision as to when the discussions can be held, stand firm. If you have any further questions or if you are concerned or feeling pressured, please feel free to contact us.

Our thanks to Kenneally & Co Lawyers for this important member advice, which has been provided to you at no charge as one of our many member benefits.

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4-Yearly Review of Modern Awards

s we reported in the last edition of Nurture Nook, the 4-yearly review of Modern Awards is now well underway. The Children’s Services Award 2010 and the Educational Services (Teachers) Award 2010 are in Group 4 (sub-group 4A).

The preliminary conference for Group 3 and 4 awards was originally to be held 31 March to 1 April 2015, but was deferred to later in 2015, with dates not yet set.

Australian Business Lawyers and Advisors (ABLA) has reviewed the variations

to the Children’s Services Award and the Educational Services (Teachers) Award 2010 being sought by other interested parties, and some of the changes – if adopted – would have very serious ramifications for our members, such as the proposal from United Voice to increase programming time from 2 hours to 8 hours.

We will continue to update you as the review proceeds, so please enure you are reading our Weekly Updates, or watch this space for details!

Achievements and Accolades Bungendore Kids Zone Celebrates 21 Years A big congratulations to Bungendore Kids Zone on a momentous milestone, celebrating 21 years of providing early childhood education and care.

Judging by the photos on their Facebook page (http://bit.ly/ACANSWnn5_bkz21), it looks like it was a fantastic celebration with the families at the service.

Big Congratulations to Little Bees Big congratulations to Richard Wen and Little Bees Childcare, who cut the ribbon to open their service in Parramatta 29 May. The Little Bees story is an excellent one – working closely with Parramatta Council, the service has been established on the third floor of a new building in the CBD, making excellent use of available outdoor space.

If you have a milestone, celebration or something exciting that you would like other members to be aware of, please let us know by sending us an email at nsw@childcarealliance.org.au

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Industrial Relations / Achievements and Accolades

Industrial Relations

ACA NSW News

ACA NSW News Severe Weather Event

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ew South Wales was hit by a severe weather event that began 22 April.

ACA NSW issued a Member Alert (http://bit.ly/ACANSWnn5_WEma) – and the Early Childhood Education and Care Directorate issued an update (http://bit.ly/ ACANSWnn5_DECSwepr) – to advise members who experienced power outages, restricted road access, flooding and leaks.

Our friends at Guild Insurance also prepared flyers on the steps you can take to get your claim underway, as well as information for those holding business insurance; home and contents insurance; and motor vehicle insurance: http://bit.ly/ ACANSWnn5_GUILDwe and http://bit.ly/ ACANSWnn5_GUILDwe2.

As you know, there is a lot to think about during times of severe weather emergency; here are some of the things that may assist during such an event.

If your service is open and starts to flood or has water seeping in from ceilings: • The safety of the children and staff at your service is your first priority. Remove children and staff from the affected room/s and find a safe place. If it is a life and death situation, ring 000.

• Review your evacuation procedures.

Remember that your evacuation plan may not go to plan in circumstances like this, e.g. if your evacuation point is a neighbouring park, this may no longer be possible given severe storms, or if your evacuation point is a nearby building that is also storm-affected, this may also prove

to no longer be a safe place.

• Advise families that your service is closing for at least the remainder of the day, and may be closed again the following day, and arrange for them to collect their children as soon as possible.

• Contact the SES (and be prepared for a lengthy period on hold, as they may be fielding thousands of calls) and stress that you are calling from a childcare facility.

The SES may not be able to get to your service straight away, but they will be able to determine whether there is a risk in terms of your wiring, whether there is flooding in the roof cavity, which could result in the ceiling caving in etc. You may not think that a little water seepage is a big issue, but it can cause electrical and structural issues, so always err on the side of caution.

• Divert your service phone number to a mobile telephone so that families, utilities, emergency services, suppliers etc can contact you regardless of whether your service is open. Ensure that you have a “mobile office” organised, e.g. ӹӹ Take the emergency mobile phone (and charger!) with you after diverting your landline to that phone. ӹӹ Take the contact details of every family at your service (not just those families with children in attendance on the day), just in case you need to close for more than one day. ӹӹ Take the contact details of your local utilities (electricity, gas, water etc) and

LEFT to RIGHT: ACA NSW Member Alert; Guild Insurance’s flyers explaining how to make a claim; ACECQA’s NL01 form.

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www.nsw.childcarealliance.org.au

any suppliers. ӹӹ Use every communications means possible (e.g. phone, text, website, Facebook) to keep families up to date, bearing in mind that some families may be without power.

If your service has already closed, or is closing as a result of the weather: • Contact your insurer and let them know that there has been a business interruption; • Contact the NSW Early Childhood Education and Care Directorate on 1800 619 113 to notify the Department of a temporary closure; • Lodge any relevant ACECQA forms (e.g. NL01 Notification of complaints, incidents and additional children in an emergency (http://bit.ly/ACANSWnn5_ ACECQANL01); • Contact the NSW Early Childhood Education and Care Directorate on 1800 619 113 with any regulatory issues/ questions; • Contact the Department of Social Services on 1300 566 046 for any inquiries about Child Care Benefit etc.

If your service remains open, and you have been asked to take additional children given emergency circumstances (e.g. you may have been asked to provide emergency care for the children of emergency services personnel/ volunteers), please contact the Early Childhood Education and Care Directorate on 1800 619 113 to make emergency arrangements for a temporary increase in numbers.

Stay safe and keep up the wonderful work.

ACA NSW News

New Partnership with Officeworks

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ustralian Childcare Alliance New South Wales is proud to announce a partnership with Officeworks.

This partnership will provide all ACA NSW members who register with Officeworks, competitive pricing over a range of stationery, IT, furniture and consumables with many items delivered free.

To register your service to make the most of this cost-effective and convenient partnership, please visit http://bit.ly/ACANSWnn5_ officeworks.

If you already have a business account, rest

assured, the special care you’ve been receiving thus far will continue, while the savings you make on the items you use most will continue to grow.

ACA NSW Treasurer Mark Wharton and Officeworks Business Specialist Stephanie Petitfils sign the Memorandum of Understanding in the presence of Officeworks mascots Pollie and Pollie (Ollie couldn’t make it).

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The Officeworks landing page for ACA NSW members.

Our New Training and Membership Coordinator

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nother proud announcement for ACA NSW is the appointment of Teena Barlow as our dedicated Training and Membership Coordinator.

Many of you would already be familiar with Teena, given her lengthy background in the sector, both as a former staff member of ACA NSW (as well as one of its prior organisations, the Quality Child ACA NSW Training and Care Association) and most recently as an Membership Coordinator Teena Barlow Early Childhood Consultant for Bellbird Kid-Z Education. Teena has also owned and managed early childhood education and care services and been an area manager in the outside school hours care sector, so brings a wealth of

grassroots knowledge about our wonderful sector.

In addition to organising a comprehensive program of workshops for the second half of the year (and beyond!) – keep an eye out for the July edition of the 2015 Training Calendar, arriving soon – Teena will also be preparing a new membership campaign and preparing New Owners Seminars for those who have recently joined, or are about to join, our sector.

Of course, Teena will be keeping you up to date with all of our training and member event opportunities via notices in Member Alerts, Training Alerts, Weekly Updates, our website, Facebook and Twitter. If you have any comments or suggestions regarding the professional development opportunities we offer, please do not hesitate to contact Teena on our office number, 1300 556 330, or by emailing training@childcarealliance.org.au.

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2016 Diary – In Preparation!

s you would be aware, last year we produced the 2015 Early Childhood Diary and provided a copy to every member service, with additional copies available for purchase. We are grateful to all the members who responded to the survey we ran with regard to the diary. As a result, we are getting started early on the 2016 edition, so that we can it ready for you in November, particularly for members who want to give each of their staff a copy for Christmas.

There will be an order form available in a Weekly Update soon, offering a special early bird member price of $10 per copy (after publication, copies will be $15 for members).

Do remember, however, every member service will receive a copy from us for free, so be sure to order one less if you are buying for your entire staff.

For new members who haven’t seen a copy of the Diary, you can access sample pages at http://bit. ly/ACANSWnn5_2015diary. However, remember – the sample, as with the photos herewith, are of 2015 edition of the Early Childhood Diary.

“The diary is great! It is a straightforward resource with everything you need for the day at your fingertips. I love it because it encourages my staff to self-reflect, as well as keep on top of cultural events and other industry-specific information. We have found it very handy!”

Mary Repole, Secretary – Australian Childcare Alliance New South Wales; Director – A Little Rei of Sunshine Early Learning Centres of Excellence

The Early Childhood Diary 2015.

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ACA NSW News

Influence! Conference

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ur President, Nesha O’Neil, was a guest speaker at the Community Child Care Co-operative Influence!

Speaking Up and Speaking Out conference held in Sydney’s Australian Technology Park, Redfern on Friday 22 May. The great line-up of speakers was given the brief to “shock, provoke and get people to think”.

Given the strong views of many about privately owned early childhood education and care services, Nesha relished the

opportunity to challenge the views of the audience, addressing popular assumptions about “for profit” providers of early childhood education and care.

She encouraged the sector to move beyond bickering about ownership/ provider models and who should get the biggest ‘slice’ of funding, to advocating for more funding to achieve improved outcomes for all.

You can see an overview of Nesha’s speech in the whiteboard sketch, left.

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ur thanks to Mark and Alison Wharton from Kindalin for hosting a Chinese delegation from the Hangzhou Municipal Education Bureau. The delegation of 23 women included senior staff from the Bureau’s Early Childhood Care and Education Department, as well as kindergarten managers from Hangzhou.

Our CEO, Brianna Casey, briefed the delegation on early childhood education and care in NSW and Australia, and the role that ACA NSW plays as a peak body. Alison Wharton gave an overview of the Kindalin journey, including daily routines, curriculum, family partnerships and their preschool programme. This was a wonderful opportunity to develop international partnerships and showcase members’ achievements in early childhood education and care.

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Leadership in Education CA NSW Chief Executive Officer Brianna Casey was in Darwin in early June as a keynote speaker at the Executive Development for Educational Leaders course offered by the Queensland Education Leadership Institute.

Course participants included school principals and Education Department executives and they were keenly interested in the role of early childhood education and care, in particular, developing and enhancing relationships between schools and services. It is wonderful to see such strong investment in educational leadership across jurisdictions.

TOP: Whiteboard overview of ACA NSW President Nesha O’Neils’s Influence! Conference presentation.

LEFT: ACA NSW CEO Brianna Casey with Dr Stephen Brown of the Queensland Education Leadership Institute; FAR LEFT: Chinese delegation from the Hangzhou Municipal Education Bureau visiting Kindalin.

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False Billing Scams Continue

t appears the online directory scam that we have warned members about previously is doing the rounds again. In the current scam, early childhood education and care services have been cold-called by a company claiming to be ‘renewing’ the centre’s listing in an online directory of early childhood education and care services. The centre is then unexpectedly billed for a large sum of money - in this instance $900. Please note that ACA NSW is not affiliated with any online directories and does not endorse any.

If you are approached to be included in a non-Government online directory, PLEASE do not sign any paperwork without reading it, and please do not feel pressured to sign. If you do not recall any previous conversations, at the very least, ask to see the directory, ask what it costs, and ask what you will be receiving for such a large sum of money. Please ensure you alert your staff to this scam, as four of the members we have heard from this week have reported that the company has targeted staff, suggesting that the owner had approved the listing. We also encourage you to report these companies to Scamwatch: http://bit.ly/ACANSW_scamwatch_ falsebilling. The website provides information on false billing, as well as how to report scams.

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ACA NSW News

Training and Professional Development Webinars

s part of our partnership with the Australian Business Lawyers and Advisors (ABLA), Australian Childcare Alliance members right across the country are invited to participate in select ABLA webinars free of charge.

Upcoming webinars include Dispute Management (Tuesday 14 July) and Termination of Employment (Tuesday 11 August). Performance Management and Bullying & Discrimination Update have already run.

We will continue to post registration details for each upcoming webinar in the Weekly Update. For the full list of free webinars available to members over the

next 8 months, please visit http://bit.ly/ ACANSWnn5_ABLAwebinars.

ACA NSW also has a range of prerecorded webinars available for purchase, covering topics such as • Meaningful Documentation and Effective Planning For Learning 1; • Meaningful Documentation and Effective Planning For Learning 2; • School Transition: Ready Schools, Ready Children, Ready Families • The Rewards and Challenges of an Educational Leader.

To purchase these webinars, please visit http://www.nsw.childcarealliance. org.au.

g Training Calendar

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s we go to print with this issue of the Nurture Nook, our new Training and Membership Coordinator, Teena Barlow, is putting together our training program for the second half of 2015. Following on from an excellent first half of the year, with workshops covering Yogaplay, Percussion Music Games, Movement Solutions Training, Continuous Improvement, Quality Improvement Planning and Privacy Legislation there are a number of workshops being lined up, in keeping with the needs of members expressed through surveys.

That means the new edition of the Training Calendar isn’t far away. We will announce its availability, with download links, on our website, in the Weekly Update and in Training Alerts as soon as it is completed. We will also continue to list upcoming workshops in the Weekly Update.

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Online training

s members would be aware, Australian Childcare Alliance New South Wales partners with TAFE NSW Open Training and Education Network (OTEN) in offering discounted online training on the following units of study: • Online Child Protection • Sustainability • Cultural Competence • Working Effectively with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People We are pleased to confirm that we now also offer a range of additional training options with OTEN, including: • Identify and Respond to Children at Risk IN-SERVICE • Emergency First Aid Response in an Education and Care Setting IN-SERVICE • Emergency First Aid Response in an Education and Care Setting – Distance Learning with a 1-Day Training Session • Bridging 12 Units from CHC08 to CHC13 in Children’s Services as a pathway to the new Diploma in Education and Care • Develop Teams & Individuals

• Promote Team Effectiveness • Show Leadership in the Workplace See the 2015 Training Calendar – downloadable from the Australian Childcare Alliance New South Wales website: www.nsw. childcarealliance.org.au.

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Australian Childcare Week 2015

Australian Child Care Week 2015

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e received a large number of requests in the first half of the year for a longer lead-time for Australian Child Care Week 2015, as members have been swamped with other issues from LDCPDP reporting requirements to meetings with Federal and State Members of Parliament given the many reforms that are facing our sector at present. As a result, we are

pleased to announce that Australian Child Care Week 2015 will be held Monday 24 August 2015 - Sunday 30 August 2015.

You will recall we reported back on a number of fantastic events held by members within their services and greater communities last year. We look forward to doing so again.

We are in the process of updating

the website and associated resources to reflect the date change, and will be relying heavily on the Australian Child Care Week Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/ AustralianChildCareWeek) for regular updates and news from you on the exciting activities you have planned to celebrate your impressive partnerships with your local community.

Australian Child Care Week 2015 Mon 24 to Sun 30 August

LEFT and BOTTOM: Nurture Nook reportage of 2014 Australian Child Care Week events, including press clippings.

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Farewell Rhonda!

Farewell Rhonda!

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hank you to those members who came along to the farewell morning tea for Rhonda Davis, our wonderful Accounts and Administration Manager, who has now retired after more than 20 years with us.

Rhonda was the voice on the end of the line for countless members over the years who needed support, advice or guidance on everything from industrial relations to regulations to surviving in an enormously challenging sector.

Rhonda has seen our organisation change and grow from the Association of Child Care Centres of NSW Inc, to the Association of Quality Child Care Centres of NSW Inc (trading as Child Care New South Wales) following the merger with the Quality Child Care Association of NSW Inc in 2003, and then more recently to Australian Childcare Alliance New South Wales in 2015.

She has seen many of your services grow from a brand new service to a well-established service with a wealth of history and experience, and played a key part in assisting many of you achieve this.

We know that Rhonda’s role was often as exhausting as it was challenging, but she never failed to provide warm, friendly, up-beat support to each and every member.

We know how fortunate we are to have had such a professional and dedicated member of staff as part of our ACA NSW family and thank Rhonda and her husband John for the tireless contributions they have made to early childhood education and care in NSW.

Note the spectacular cake, created by immediate past President, Vicki Skoulogenis.

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Our Bus Tour to Sydney’s South

Our Bus Tour to Sydney’s South Educator REBECCA PICKARD reports on the ACA NSW Bus Tour of 2 May

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he bus set off from busy Wolli Creek Station with an expectant air of openness among the attendant educators and owners, to whom I began to introduce myself.

From the outset, the focus of our visits was clearly about gathering information… to see what there is ‘out there’ beyond our own services. For many, education, particularly long day care early childhood education, can become entrenched in our own ways of doing things.

While educators are usually open-minded, it can be difficult not only to stay abreast of changes within (and beyond) the sector, but also to keep our settings relevant to our changing contexts.

One of the benefits of centre visits is to broaden horizons by seeing how other people do it. There are any number of ways a concept may be implemented in the field, and while observing what others get up to is a part of the human condition – not only are we are intrinsically ‘nosy’, but in early childhood this quality is in children as ‘curiosity’ – by adulthood we’re taught not to do this. So we don’t necessarily take advantage of opportunities to share information and ideas with colleagues.

Which is why Bus Tours are so essential: they provide those opportunities on a platter!

All Star Early Learners Our first service was a long day care setting that seemed to blend in with its residential surroundings. Once inside the front gate, however, it was like a Pandora’s box of wonder. It is a welcoming space, which clearly communicates the goings-on of the service; for example, their calendar of events is displayed on the front door as you walk in.

The service’s owner, Michelle Bouabaid, has succeeded in developing this key factor as one of the underpinning value of the centre: it is part of its community.

This service is one of a group of early learning centres and out of school hours services Michelle owns. Each of the services is located within the region. This proved an

advantage when the yard was out of commission owing to several weeks’ renovation. They were able to take the children on daily excursions to play in the outdoor areas of the other services, as well as to local parks.

This centre is comprised of three classrooms, along with three different outdoor play areas. The building itself has been extensively renovated, to the awesome effect of a naturalistic and aesthetic ideal we often see on the pages of early education Facebook groups, and hunger for in our own classroom environments. It is a beautiful space. I heard many comments echoing my own thoughts: “Wow, I would like to learn here!”

An interesting feature in the management of this service is that in addition to a director and a separate educational leader, they also have a quality leader. A novel idea, but one that makes a lot of sense. While the sector heads towards the realisation that early education can be carried out in an efficient way, it also has the potential to be wonderfully successful in providing beneficial outcomes for children, and in turn, society. But these benefits are only seen if the quality of the service is high. And so, having an educator whose role is dedicated to the management of the quality of the service, such opportunities are provided.

A Little Rei of Sunshine Sydney had seen quite a bit of wind, courtesy of the late April ‘extreme weather event’, and as the bus headed down tree-lined backstreets of Riverwood, it passed several large pieces of recently felled trees lying nonchalantly in front of many houses. A busload of educators immediately thought, “Oh, I wish I could get my hands on those tree stumps!”

We are an innovative bunch, after all.

We look at objects considering the possibilities: “What can we do with

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that?” This is one of the tenets of creative thinking that many early childhood services try to instil in their children. But it is also a part of the larger picture of life. As we soon discovered at Little Rei of Sunshine, there are ways in which educators can make provisions to authentically document and reflect upon the various aspects that make up the whole child.

Little Rei of Sunshine achieves this through the development and use of a curriculum framework called ‘Holistic Excellence’.

The service owners conceived this framework prior to the establishment of EYLF, as a means to ensure their educators could communicate children’s learning across the vast range of knowledge. Areas included in the Little Rei of Sunshine program, and sent home each day via email to all parents, are: • Project exploration/interests • Social interactions • Literacy and numeracy • Community experiences • Environment experiences • Wellbeing experiences.

In addition to news, roster, menu information and updates about what’s happening around the centre, each ‘Daybook’ is made up of a page for each area of Wholistic Excellence. This document is additionally displayed in the classroom on a SMART board, so parents and children can see what is happening each day.

Families are made to feel comfortable just as the children are. There is an overwhelming feeling of cosiness and wellbeing in this service, greatly due to the relaxed home-like nature of the physical environment, which, owner Mary Repole

Supplier Member Directory

Supplier Member Directory Australian Childcare Alliance New South Wales gratefully acknowledges the support of partners and supplier members.

INSURANCE

explains, is deliberate: “if it looks and feels like home, the children are more comfortable being here.”

It is easy to see what the children have been busy doing – not merely because the program is so clearly visible. Rather, their work is all around the room, not just as displays on walls, but included in the very ‘being’ of the service.

This centre is well-established, and seems to recognise the simple fact that children make life interesting. And so, therefore, is being an early childhood educator.

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Shining Stars Childcare

OFFICE PRODUCTS AND TECHNOLOGY

Our final service offered another example of how innovative thinking can be utilised in the outdoor environment. There were a number of natural features included in the arrangement – things like pallets and repurposed cable reels used as furniture – which help embed ecological ideas, related to sustainability, into the fabric of a centre. It isn’t just about ‘recycling’, it is about RETHINKING how we use things.

There was an obvious attention to the aesthetics of the learning spaces, just as had been felt in the previous services visited. There was also much in the way of documentation and displays showing the program and what has been happening with regards to the children’s learning. The use of a separate outdoor program display helped portray the educators’ values, including the importance of creating intentional opportunities for learning in these outdoor spaces. They also explicitly highlight for parents the processes of analysis and planning involved in curriculum decisions.

As we made our way around the service, the positive feeling of networking and sharing were apparent. Many of the tour participants are educators and they not only got to see how other services work, but also got to talk together with other educators and share ideas and resources about how they do things, too.

This opportunity was facilitated by service owner Stav Bebonis and her staff providing tea, coffee and biscuits as we undertook a debrief, in the form of a quiz, covering all we had seen thus far.

The overwhelming experiences of the day were that each service will develop its own culture around implementing the primary function of educating and caring for young children. There are as many ways to do that, as there are services and educators. But it is also good to remember that how your service is at this point in time is different to how it will be in a year, two years or even ten. Dynamism is the nature of quality improvement. Keeping your perspective focused on what you and your team want to achieve will help you stay the course.

ACA NSW is grateful to the services that opened their doors on a Saturday and welcomed us in, and to sponsors who help us provide such events as these to members. Thank you, All Star Early Learners (Botany), A Little Rei of Sunshine (Riverwood) and Shining Stars Childcare (Brighton Le Sands) and thank you, Childcare Super, Officeworks, Bellbird Kid-Z, Childcare Concepts, Buzz Childcare Recruitment and especially Little Tummy Tucker, who demonstrated the quality of their food by catering for the event.

http://bit.ly/ ACANSWnn5_officeworks Officeworks

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FIRST AID 1300 667 890 Medic Corp

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PROPERTY / PREMISES CONSULTANCY 612 4351 2200 Robertson & Robertson

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STAFFING / RECRUITMENT 612 9277 7000

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McArthur

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