A Strategic Assessment of the Children's Services Industry

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STRATEGIC ASSESSMENT OF THE CHILDREN’S SERVICES INDUSTRY(OECD 2006, 6). Starting Strong II tries to capture children’s wellbeing in the present, aswell as their development as future citizens.Drawing upon these principles, the OECD identified several issues that hamper Australia’sability to provide high quality services:• The lack of a clear vision regarding policy direction. The OECD suggested that astrategy framework be elaborated, drawing upon the ‘views and interests’ of children,families, communities, professionals and researchers.• The need for system coherence and co-ordination, particularly given ‘thecomplexities of government in a federation of states, and the multi-layering ofadministration and regulation’.• The low status, poor pay and working conditions of staff, especially in settingslabelled ‘child care’. These, according to the OECD, have the potential to‘counterbalance’ government investment in the sector (2006, 272).2.2 Historical legaciesThe absence of a national approach to early education and care in Australia reflects deeplyentrenched historical legacies. ‘Child care’ for the children of working parents was, for manydecades, widely regarded as a service targeted at parents, providing a solution to the problemof safe custodial care for their children during work hours. By contrast, services deemed‘educational’ (such as preschool and kindergartens) were seen as child-focused. The hard andfast division between care and education is beginning to break down. It is widelyacknowledged that high quality child care provides far more than a custodial service and thatpreschool offers respite to parents, as well as benefits to children. But the division between‘education’ and ‘care’ remains entrenched in discrete service types, funding formulae,regulations, the wages and industrial conditions of staff, the range of government departmentsthat have responsibility for the development of policy, the administration of funds and theregulation of services and even the physical fabric of some services.2.3 Changing patterns of family life and employmentAustralian families are changing rapidly. Many aspects of family life are markedly different atthe beginning of the 21 st century to the way they were only a decade or two ago. Today fewerpeople marry and more people remain unmarried or live in de facto relationships (Figure 2.1).Couple families with children are less common, with increasingly more single parent andchildless households (Figure 2.2). Today, just 40 per cent of families consist of two parentsliving only with their biological children (2020 Summit, 2008). More couples divorce andmore families consist of step-parents and children.3
STRATEGIC ASSESSMENT OF THE CHILDREN’S SERVICES INDUSTRYFigure 2.1: Marital status% people by marital status – Australia: 1996-2006100Figure 2.2: Australian households% households by family type – Australia: 1996-2006100 1.8% 1.8% 1.7%13.9% 15.4% 15.8%8039.9% 40.7% 40.8%80606.0%7.3% 8.8%6034.1%35.7% 37.2%40402054.1%51.9%50.4%2050.2%47.0%45.3%01996UnmarriedDe factoMarried200120060199620012006Other householdSingle parent familyCouple family with no childrenCouple family with children 1Source: 2020 Summit, 2008Source: 2020 Summit, 2008Figure 2.3: Highest level ofqualification: Australia, 1996-2006Figure 2.4: Crude birth rate and medianage of mothers at birth: 1976-2006% Population over 1560WomenMenMedian age at birth(yrs)35Fertility rate(births per woman)3.5503030.8yrs3.04040%2525.8yrs2.530110%20152.11.82.01.520101.01050.501986 1996 2006Bachelor degree or higherDiploma/CertificateSource: 2020 Summit, 20081986 1996 200601976 1981 1986 1991 1996 2001 2006Median age of mothers at birth (left hand axis)Fertility rate (right hand axis)Source: 2020 Summit, 20080.0Family formation is changing too. The rate at which women are attaining tertiaryqualifications is rising faster than it is for men; and women are having fewer children later inlife (Figures 2.3 and 2.4).4
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A Strategic Assessment of the Children's Services Industry

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