A Strategic Assessment of the Children's Services Industry

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STRATEGIC ASSESSMENT OF THE CHILDREN’S SERVICES INDUSTRYMany parents report an inability to find child care places for their children. In 2005, 49,000parents of 0-4 year olds said they had not used the care they needed in the previous fourweeks because there were no places available (ABS, 2006:32). There is clear evidence thatlack of access to child care (like high child care costs) limits mothers’ labour forceparticipation. In 2006-07, 19,500 women said that they were unable to look for work or seekmore hours of work because there was no child care available (ABS, 2007: 24).There are currently no comprehensive and comparable data collections on preschoolattendance in Australia (AIHW, 2005b: 65). However, ABS data demonstrates that childrenwhose parents are not in employment are less likely to attend preschool than those whoseparent/s are employed (Cass, 2007: 105). The Productivity Commission shows preschoolattendance rates are low among children from non-English speaking backgrounds andchildren with disability (SCRGSP 2008: 3.14). Importantly, while rates vary acrossjurisdictions, children from Indigenous backgrounds and regional and remote areas were wellrepresented in preschool.Licensing and regulationEach Australian state and territory has its own licensing requirements and regulatory regime(OECD, 2006: 269). The diversity of government departments responsible for child care andpreschool education have resulted in a broad array of regulations. Some jurisdictions regulatefor a range of care settings, others only for long day care and not for preschool or family daycare (Press, 2006: 38-9). As an example of the diversity of regulations, the staff to childratios required for licensed services ranges widely. Regulations include ratios for three yearolds which vary from 1:8 to 1:15, and for infants aged less than one year, ratios of 1:4 or 1:5(Table 2.4).The National Child care Accreditation Council (NCAC), established in 1993, administers theChild care Quality Assurance system. NCAC is an incorporated association whosechairperson and members are appointed by the federal minister responsible for children’sservices. In the past decade, the responsibilities of the NCAC have expanded to includefamily day care and outside school hours care in addition to its original focus on long day care(NCAC, 2006: 3-4). The Child care Quality Assurance systems are not licensing systems, butrather seek to capture a “standard of quality beyond the minimum requirements described bylicensing regulations” (NCAC, 2006: 4).Preschools do not participate in the national Child care Quality Assurance systems. Somecomply with elements of the State and Territory requirements for child care services, such aslicensing and health checks, others follow public preschool service registration processeswhich include set curricula and staff professional development.11
STRATEGIC ASSESSMENT OF THE CHILDREN’S SERVICES INDUSTRYTable 2.4: Long Day Care Staff: Child Ratios by State and TerritoryState/territory Staff : child ratiosNSW 0-2 yrs 1:52-3 yrs 1:83-6 yrs 1:10Vic 0-3 yrs 1:5>3 yrs 1:15Qld 0-2 yrs 1:40-3 yrs 1:52-3 yrs 1:62.5-3 yrs 1:83-6 yrs 1:124-6 yrs 1:13SA 0-2 yrs 1:5>2 yrs 1:8WA 0-24 mths 1:424-36 mths 1:5>36 mths 1:10Tas 0-3 yrs 1:53-5 yrs 1:10>6 yrs 1:15NT 0-3 yrs 1:53-5 yrs 1:11ACT 0-3 yrs 1:5>3 yrs 1:11Source: DEEWR, 2008b: 19Staff trainingRequirements for training among ECEC staff vary widely across jurisdictions. Most states donot require teacher qualifications among long day care centre staff, whereas preschools aregenerally staffed by teachers (Press, 2006: 40). Licensing rules in Victoria require one staffmember qualified with 2 years of training for every 15 children, whereas in WesternAustralia, one staff member for each age group is required to have 2-4 years training, and theACT requires every second contact staff member to have 2 years of training. Teachers withearly childhood qualifications are only required in both preschools and long day care in NewSouth Wales.Among workers providing Federal Government approved child care in 2006, 59 per cent ofstaff had formal qualifications in 2004 (SCRGSP, 2008: 3A.13). The proportion of staff thathad either formal qualifications or three years of relevant experience ranged from 78 per centin New South Wales, to 62 per cent in the ACT. In preschool services, the proportion of staffwith relevant qualifications ranged from 69 per cent in the Northern Territory to 46 per cent inVictoria (SCRGSP, 2005: 14.22).Employment conditionsIn May 2004, nearly all Australian child care workers were women (97 per cent), the majority(71 per cent) worked part-time hours and nearly half of them held casual jobs that did notoffer paid leave for sickness or holidays (Rooney and Whitehouse, 2006: 139). In 2004, theaverage hourly earnings of child care workers was $14.90, compared to an average in maleemployment of over $20 (for example carpentry and joinery qualified tradespersons earned$23 per hour and unqualified food factory hands earned $21.30) (Rooney and Whitehouse,2006: 140). Such poor working conditions, particularly wage rates, have lead to well-trainedpeople leaving the ECEC system (McDonald, 2002: 201). It has been estimated that staffleaving their positions is the cause of 50 per cent of vacancies which arise among child carestaff and 80 per cent of child care coordinators (Press, 2006: 43).12
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