ACA Queensland President’s Report

The year is fast ending, and the silly season is upon us. We have reflected on how we started this year with lockdowns, mandatory vaccinations and border closures and we are grateful that we have turned a corner on all these matters.

As a committee, we continue to lobby all sides of government to ensure the best outcomes for our children to give them the best start in life.

ACA Qld welcomes Tania Porter, the new Deputy Director General of Early Childhood Education. Many will know Tania from the Approved Providers luncheons at our conference, where she has been on the panel for the last 2 years. Tania gave an inspiring speech at our recent AGM where she talked about the plan and vision the department has for early childhood education and care. Tania meets monthly with both me and our CEO, Paul Graham to discuss all issues happening in our sector. Tania and her team are committed to ensuring all Queensland children get the best start in life. The department is conducting a workforce planning meeting early December with all key stakeholders and ACA Qld has been asked to join this meeting to find some viable solutions for our workforce issues.

To help us gain a better understanding of what ACA Qld can do to help our members in the next 12 months you will receive a collection of surveys in the next couple of months that will help us understand more of how we can be a support for your services. If there is something that you would like to see ACA Qld doing more, please don’t hesitate to send an email to the office or give our friendly office staff a call.

At our recent AGM we said goodbye to Linda Davies and Nicole Fowler. Nicole has been on the committee for 4 years and we thank her for her time. Linda and her husband Noel have been on and off the committee for many years. Linda has been in the Treasurer’s role for several years and it was with great pleasure that the committee unanimously voted Linda to be a Life Member at our recent AGM. Congratulations Linda! And a big thanks to both Linda and Nicole for their hard work while on the committee.

We also welcome Dene Crocker and Kylie Peterson to the ACA Qld committee. Both come with a wealth of knowledge of owning and operating early learning services within Queensland. ACA Qld also welcomes back Brent Stokes who has been an active committee member for many years. We look forward to the next 12 months as your committee. Have you heard that ACA Qld will be assisting with the roll out of the new kindergarten funding? We will be assisting all small to medium LDC with any questions or queries in the roll out. With a dedicated Kindy email address kindyqld@childcarealliance. org.au, we aren’t too far away to answer your questions, no matter how big or small they are. Planning for our 2023 Conference at The Star Gold Coast is well underway. Make sure you save the date in your calendar, 16-18 June 2023. Registrations will open early in the New Year.

The College for Australian Early Childhood Educators (CAECE) team has had an outstanding year. They have grown in strength servicing areas in Gold Coast, Brisbane, Sunshine Coast, Toowoomba, Ipswich, and Townsville. The feedback the college has received has been very positive with many approved providers noticing a remarkable difference with staff trained through CAECE for their Diploma and Certificate III. Did you know that CAECE also offers First Aid training and CPR training for your teams at amazing prices and can come to your service to deliver?

A massive thank you to our amazing office staff, Paul, Jen, Hayley and Ebony. They have done an amazing job and we thank them for their outstanding and tireless efforts. As always, I must give thanks to the wonderful committee members that sit and answer all questions and concerns and give up their time to ensure the best start for all Queensland children.

Majella Fitzsimmons ACA Qld President