{"id":1339,"date":"2026-08-30T22:54:15","date_gmt":"2026-08-30T12:54:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/childrensvoicesconference.csu.domains\/2026\/?p=1339"},"modified":"2026-08-30T22:54:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-30T12:54:15","slug":"cvc2026-631","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/childrensvoicesconference.csu.domains\/2026\/cvc2026-631\/","title":{"rendered":"CVC2026-631 \u2013 The family day care system in Australia: Supporting families and addressing workforce challenges"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"cvc-hero alignfull\">\n  <span class=\"cvc-chip\">Presentation \u2013 CVC2026-631<\/span>\n<\/div>\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-left\">The family day care system in Australia: Supporting families and addressing workforce challenges<\/h1>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\n<div class=\"cvc-authors\">\n<p><strong>Thi Thao Vu, <\/strong>Crown Institute of Higher Education, Australia<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\n<div class=\"ast-oembed-container \" style=\"height: 100%;\"><iframe title=\"CVC2026-631 The family day care system in Australia: Supporting families and addressing workforce\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/X_DoSjrpuw8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\n<p><strong>Background:<\/strong><strong> <\/strong>In Australia, the family day care (FDC) system provides flexible, home-based early childhood education and care. Amid workforce shortages and increasing demand for accessible childcare, there is a need to better understand how FDC supports families and strengthens workforce sustainability.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Aim: <\/strong>This study examines how the FDC system in Australia supports families\u2019 needs and addresses workforce challenges within the early childhood education and care sector.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Method\/approach: <\/strong>This study uses qualitative document and policy analysis of publicly available sources related to family day care in NSW, including regulatory frameworks and service information from a Sydney-based FDC service. No human participants were involved, and ethics approval was not required.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Results\/findings: <\/strong>The findings indicate that FDC provides flexible and accessible care that supports diverse family needs. The model also contributes to workforce participation through small-scale service delivery; however, challenges remain in regulation, coordination, and long-term educator sustainability.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Conclusion: <\/strong>The FDC model plays an important role in supporting families and addressing workforce shortages. Strengthened policy and structural support are needed to improve the long-term sustainability and effectiveness of this model within the early childhood sector.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Implications for children and families: <\/strong>You can benefit from flexible home-based care that supports your learning and fits your family\u2019s everyday needs.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Implications for practitioners: <\/strong>You should consider how flexible home-based models like FDC can support families while responding to workforce challenges in practice.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Keywords<\/strong><strong>:<\/strong> family daycare, ECE Australia educators, early childhood workforce<\/p>\n<p><strong>This presentation relates to the following <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/sdgs.un.org\/goals\"><strong>United Nations Sustainable Development Goals:<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<ul class=\"cvc-sdgs\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/sdgs.un.org\/goals\/goal4\">SDG 4: Quality Education<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/sdgs.un.org\/goals\/goal8\">SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Thi Thao Vu, Crown Institute of Higher Education, Australia<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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