Putting children first

FDCQ supports national child-safety reforms, ready to work with the sector on sustainable implementation.

Family Day Care Queensland (FDCQ) welcomes the national child-safety decisions announced by the Hon. Jason Clare MP following the meeting of education ministers on Friday, 23 August. Our focus now is clear: work together to implement the changes in a way that keeps children safe, supports educators, and gives families confidence in home-based early education and care.

As the peak body for Family Day Care in Queensland, we will collaborate with other peak bodies and the government to translate the reforms into practical steps for services and educators. "We particularly welcome measures that improve visibility and capability across the system", says FDCQ's Board Chair, Dr. Fiona Margetts, acknowledging the organisation's support for a National Educator Register, mandatory child-safety training for all roles (including administration and management), and clearer information to help families make informed choices.

“Safety, wellbeing and thriving children are our priority. We welcome the national focus on prevention, training and accountability," says Stella Conway, CEO of FDCQ. Service providers, educators and families can be assured that FDCQ will work constructively with governments and sector partners so Family Day Care services can implement the changes sustainably. Our goal is simple: the best outcomes for children and families, delivered by a strong, well-supported home-based workforce.

How FDCQ will help

Across the coming weeks and months, FDCQ will be working hard to support services in making the necessary adjustments to meet the regulatory requirements, including:

Plain-English guidance: checklists, policy templates and educator FAQs to support implementation.
Collaboration: work with other peak bodies and regulators to align advice and avoid duplication.
Family information: easy-to-read updates so parents understand what is changing and why.
Sustainable practice: promote approaches that support quality home-based education care that is safe, promotes children’s development and assures sector viability.

Working together

FDCQ will continue partnering with government and fellow peak bodies to deliver consistent, practical support. If you’re a service or educator seeking guidance, please contact us or subscribe* to receive updates and tools as they are released.

*Subscribe to our PLACE platform for free, or enjoy the full benefits from as low as $9 a month: https://www.place.org.au

Child Safety Review national public consultation and FDC implications

FDCQ is urging all Family Day Care services and educators to have their voices heard in the national Child Safety Review consultation currently underway. This important review proposes significant changes to the National Law and Regulations that could have particular implications for the Family Day Care sector.

About the Review

The Australian Government, in partnership with state and territory governments, has engaged Deloitte Access Economics to undertake a Regulatory Impact Analysis (RIA) on proposed changes aimed at improving child safety arrangements in education and care services across Australia. These proposed policy options address recommendations from the Review of Child Safety Arrangements under the National Quality Framework.

Public consultation period

The consultation period is open now and closes on 11 June 2025. This is a critical opportunity for Family Day Care services and educators to provide feedback that will directly inform decisions about regulatory changes that may affect your day-to-day operations.

Key topics under review

The review focuses on 6 key areas, several of which have specific implications for Family Day Care.

1. Management of digital devices

Proposals include restricting the use of personal devices for taking images or videos of children, potentially requiring only service-issued devices to be used. This has particular implications for Family Day Care educators who often use personal devices for both business operations and documentation of children's learning.

2. Child Safety Training

Proposed changes aim to strengthen child protection provisions and introduce nationally consistent mandatory child safety training for all educators and staff.

3. Responding to Educator conduct

Includes making inappropriate conduct an offence, enhancing information sharing about prohibition notices, and expanding regulatory responses to educator conduct.

4. Working with children checks

Proposals seek to provide more nationally consistent approaches to WWCC requirements, including requiring valid checks before commencing roles and reporting changes in status.

5. Physical service environment safety

This includes proposals that would significantly impact Family Day Care services, such as:

Assessing formal boundaries between FDC service premises and the rest of the residence/property
Expanding authorised officers' powers to access all areas of FDC residences and properties
This could particularly affect rural and remote FDC services where properties may be extensive with structures located far from children's play areas

6. Additional recommendations

Includes changes to how Regulatory Authorities identify and monitor related providers, extending limitation periods for proceedings, and improving information sharing with recruitment agencies.

FDCQ's response

FDCQ has formed a working party to review the proposals and prepare a comprehensive submission. However, to ensure our response truly represents the views of our members, we need your input.

Don’t delay, have your say

Your professional expertise and firsthand experience are invaluable to this process. We encourage all Family Day Care services and educators to:

Visit the official consultation website: https://content.deloitte.com.au/ChildSafetyReview
Review the 6 key topic areas and consider how proposed changes might affect your service
Share your thoughts with FDCQ through our anonymous feedback form so your perspectives can be incorporated into our submission
Complete the relevant survey on the CSR website:
- Education and Care workforce survey (for educators)
- Approved Providers, PMCs or nominated supervisors survey

Your feedback will help us develop a submission that accurately represents the Family Day Care sector and advocates for sensible regulation that enhances child safety while acknowledging the unique characteristics of Family Day Care environments.

Deadline reminder

FDCQ’s feedback form will close Friday, 30 May, to allow our Working Group enough time to collate all your feedback and ensure it is incorporated in our final submission.

All responses must be submitted by 11 June 2025. Don't miss this important opportunity to shape regulations that will affect your service.

For questions about the review or FDCQ's response, please contact mailto:enquires@fdcq.au.

FDC extension granted for Child Protection training requirements

The Queensland Early Childhood Education and Care Regulator has granted an extension for all Family Day Care services to complete the required Child Protection training to Wednesday, 30 April 2025.

This extension comes in response to the implementation challenges many services have faced in accessing timely training for staff.

Mr. Chris Carey, Director Compliance at the Early Childhood Regulatory Authority, has officially confirmed this extension. In his communication to FDCQ, he stated:

"I understand that there have been challenges for some providers in accessing the relevant training for staff in a timely way, and I am happy to grant an extension until 30 April 2025 to allow time for the training and assessment to be finalised.

I appreciate that implementation of the protocol is a significant development for the sector in Queensland, and authorised officers will be taking a reasonable approach to enforcement of this new requirement over the period of transition. This extension for FDCQ Member services will be communicated to all staff."

The extension comes in response to FDCQ's advocacy on behalf of member services facing ongoing implementation challenges. While the extension provides valuable additional time, FDC services are reminded of the following important compliance requirements in effect with the extension:

Evidence of enrolment - during monitoring visits over the coming weeks, authorised officers will expect to see evidence of enrolment in upcoming training for all nominated supervisors and persons in day-to-day charge and family day care coordinators. Please ensure this evidence is available wherever the training has not yet been completed.
Approved courses - the following nationally recognised units of competency satisfy compliance with section 162A of the Education and Care Services National Law:
- CHCPRT025—Identify and report children and young people at risk
- CHCPRT001—Identify and respond to children and young people at risk*
- CHCPRT026—Support the rights and safety of children and young people
- CHCPRT002—Support the rights and safety of children and young people*
- CHCECE057—Use collaborative practices to uphold child protection principles
  *These courses have been superseded on the National Register of Vocational Education and Training (VET).
Delivery requirements - all approved courses must be delivered by a registered training organisation (RTO). Completion may be either stand-alone or as part of a qualification. In-house training is not sufficient.

For comprehensive information about child protection requirements, including mandatory reporting, working with children checks, and supervision requirements, please visit the Queensland Government's Early Childhood website.