Assuring Quality Family Day Care

More than 95,000 children in family day care across Australia are to benefit from a new quality assurance system introduced by the Federal Government.

Minister for Community Services, Larry Anthony, told the Australian Early Childhood Association Conference in Sydney that the recently launched Quality Assurance System for Family Day Care was a world first.

“The Family Day Care Quality Assurance System means parents can be confident their children are receiving high quality care in Commonwealth-funded Family Day Care,” Mr Anthony said.

“The new system will give parents peace of mind when making decisions about balancing work and family life.

“Knowing their children are well cared for will give parents more choice and confidence to take up opportunities to improve their education, get paid work or become more involved with their communities.

“The new system provides a straightforward, five-step process for Family Day Care schemes to reach accreditation status.

“This is a positive step towards making sure that the entire range of child care services available meet high standards.

“The Coalition Government has committed record levels of funding to child care. We will spend $6 billion on child care payments and services over the next four years.

“We also recently announced a further boost for families with a 5.8 per cent increase in the Family Tax Benefit and Child Care Benefit from 1 July 2001.

“This Government recognises that by providing safe, high quality, affordable child care, we are giving Australian children and their families freedom to make choices about their family and work options,” Mr Anthony said.