## TOR 2: The current and future need for child care in Australia, including consideration of the following:

a) hours parents work or study, or wish to work or study b) the particular needs of rural, regional and remote parents, as well as shift workers c) accessibility of affordable care d) types of child care available including but not limited to: long day care, family day care, in home care including nannies and au pairs, mobile care, occasional care, and outside school hours care e) the role and potential for employer provided child care f) usual hours of operation of each type of care g) the out of pocket cost of child care to families	h) rebates and subsidies available for each type of care i) the capacity of the existing child care system to ensure children are transitioning from child care to school with a satisfactory level of school preparedness j) opportunities to improve connections and transitions across early childhood services (including between child care and preschool/kindergarten services) k) the needs of vulnerable or at risk children l) interactions with relevant Australian Government policies and programmes.

Contemporary ECEC services continue to struggle to reflect the diverse participation experiences, or requirements, of families in Australia, for example: casual, unstable or infrequent work; shift work; and accessing family support and parenting services. Responding to this ad hoc nature of service usage is often unviable for many providers; additional supports are required to address service viability concerns to ensure that flexible provision can be offered in an affordable and accessible way. There has been some anecdotal comment that recent proposed changes to work for the dole structures may disproportionately impact women due to limited access to care that would both enable participation in work for the dole or paid employment.

####### Recommendations:

- • Support providers to provide more flexible and responsive services where viability is a concern;
- • Ensure that access to these services remains accessible and affordable.

School transitions are an important and stressful time for children and families. The ECEC sector is well placed to assist children and families to prepare for this transition. This is a particularly challenging time for families balancing workforce participation demands around these times. Many schools operate at reduced hours when children first start school—this provides a challenge when considering care demands for children, often in the context ceasing attendance at ECEC services. It may be beneficial, for children and families, to explore models that wrap ECEC services around the first weeks of formal schooling to support children in their transition and families to manage workforce participation demands. It is important to reinforce that this is a role that can, and should, be played by all ECEC services—not just formal preschool and kindergarten programs. An example of such a model is the Good Beginnings program in Elizabeth Grove, SA (formerly known as TAP).

The most accessible place and often the first point of call for families experiencing difficulties is the local school. The TAP program aims to strengthen community capacity to support families by developing the school as the ‘hub’ of the community from which parents can connect with and gain access to a range of community support services. This ‘hub and spoke’ model of operation has the potential to provide a comprehensive system of seamless supports and access to early intervention for families in need. (source, TAP evaluation, 2005)

7 7 Good Beginnings Australia – Productivity Commission Issue Paper: Childcare and Early Childhood Learning - Feb 2014