Submission to Senate inquiry: ECEC across rural, regional and remote Australia

Home-based care must be part of the solution for regional Australia

Family Day Care services in Queensland have fallen from 145 in 2016 to just 73 by June 2026 — at a time when many regional, rural and remote communities still struggle to access early childhood education and care (ECEC).

Family Day Care Queensland (FDCQ) has highlighted the critical role of home-based care in its submission to the Senate inquiry examining ECEC access across rural, regional and remote Australia. Our submission argues that in many smaller communities, traditional centre-based services are not financially viable.

Family Day Care and In Home Care can provide an important alternative, including flexible and non-standard hours of care for essential workers and families working in industries such as agriculture, mining, transport and hospitality. However, current funding, policy and regulatory settings are making it increasingly difficult to grow and sustain home-based care. Our submission highlights challenges including educator earnings, start-up costs, workforce shortages and Child Care Subsidy disparities that do not always reflect the cost or flexibility of providing care in regional communities.

As part of our submission, we call for the Australian Government, with states and territories, to develop a Rural, Regional and Remote ECEC Strategy. The strategy should recognise the role of home-based care, address barriers to sustainable service delivery and support flexible, locally designed solutions using existing facilities and community knowledge.

Read FDCQ’s full submission to the Senate inquiry: FDCQ-SenateSubmission-Final.pdf