e-Child Times December 2016

Welcome to the December edition of e-Child Times.

This is our last edition for the year and I am sure like me, you are looking forward to a break over the Christmas holidays that are almost upon us.
2016 saw the end of the Professional Support Coordinator (PSC) Program and with it the Government subsidised professional development for the ECEC sector. The Commonwealth Government did provide the ECEC sector the one-off $200 million Long Day Care PDP fund—to be spent by June 2017, but it is uncertain if funding for professional development will be included in any future Commonwealth budgets. This much is clear: all research shows that one of the key factors in achieving high quality education and care is on-going professional development.

On the topic of professional development, 2016 also saw the establishment of Child Australia’s Wraparound suite of services. From onsite austomised consultancy through to virtual learning options, there really is something available for everybody. We are very proud of this new social enterprise initiative that continues and extends the sector capacity building work that Child Australia is widely recognised for.