The Australian Childcare Alliance (ACA) is a not-for-profit, member-funded organisation advocating for the future of Australia's children.
We work on behalf of long day care owners and operators to ensure families and their children have an opportunity to access affordable, high quality early learning services throughout Australia.
The most effective approach to promoting positive mental health is one which involves the whole learning community working together in an inclusive environment: leaders, educators, children, young people, their families and the local community.
A whole learning community approach is about all the members working together to create change.
You may have seen some recent media activity around a early learning centre in Melbourne which has been identified by health and safety inspectors as being wrapped in combustible cladding.
Cladding is used in building construction to provide a degree of thermal insulation and weather resistance, and to improve the appearance of buildings. However certain types of cladding have proven to be flammable and therefore a major safety risk for communities.
We're proud to join forces with Little Rockers Radio and Red Nose Day, to support the 2019 Little Rockers Red Nose Disco.
With nine children still dying suddenly and unexpectedly every day in Australia, this is an extremely important issue which requires ongoing research and community education.
With twelve months since the introduction of the Child Care Subsidy (CCS) System, we can certainly say that it has been a bumpy ride for Approved Providers, Nominated Supervisors and families as we navigate the range of challenges that change of such a significant scale can cause.
Some of the difficulties are coming to grips with a new policy setting with different outcomes from the old regime, along with a range of technical difficulties that have caused problems, both major and minor, for us to try to resolve.
In ACA's discussions with members around the country, there is a range of responses as to the impact of the CCS on our sector and our families. Some service providers have experienced little or no concern with the implementation and management of CCS at a service or family level with others completely overwhelmed and struggling to make sense of some of the outcomes along the way.