For quite some time, new entrants into the early childhood education and care (aka child care or childcare) sector have solely relied on the advice of their accountants, lawyers, business advisors, family and friends to build and operate a new daycare service, or even buy an existing one to refurbish, operate and in time expand.
But there appear to be too many new entrants who have too often find themselves overwhelmed with the significant complexity of the legislation, regulations and bureaucratic red tape, not to mention the seismic challenges of childcare oversupply (and therefore heightened competition among service providers), severe labour shortages, and the ever-rising cost of real estate.
As the peak body representing privately-owned early childhood education and care service providers (ie owners and operators) who run 1,600 services across New South Wales, the Australian Childcare Alliance (ACA) NSW offers new entrants with a series of training sessions and webinars that can help demystify all the technicalities and introduce you to experts and suppliers to help you in your journey. The two most important being:
- Help with NSW's service approval process (register here) - Before you even start, you need approvals from the NSW Department of Education to become an approved provider as well as a service provider. This session will help you understand everything there is to know about the approvals process, the laws and regulations, and what to expect in the government's test.
- Getting the CCS Application Process to work for services and families (register here) - As most of your customers (ie parents) will probably rely on government subsidy to help pay for their children's childcare fees with you, this session will help you understand what business structures the Federal Government prefers, how the Child Care Subsidy (CCS) application process works, as well as what information you need to have to ensure the CCS is approved in a timely fashion for your service.
Other useful training sessions and webinars are also available from ACA NSW's very popular Quickies (because they are only 2 hours long or less). These include:
- How to design successful Early Childhood Education and Care Centres
- Maximising & managing staff performance … LEGALLY
- How to create best of class policies and documentation
- Secrets of what to do during A&R visits
- Creating the best possible QIP/Self-Assessment Tool submission for the “new” NQF
- Multiplying success after your first Service - the foundational elements to replicate success
- Improving Services from Fair to Fantastic!
- How to ensure you are ready for a spotcheck/compliance visit
You also may want to sit in on ACA NSW's Network Meetings where approved providers (ie owners), centre directors and educational leaders would come together to learn, understand and discuss the sector's current and upcoming issues and solutions for their businesses.
New entrants needing access to all the template policies, documents, advice and industry information might like to consider becoming a member of the Australian Childcare Alliance NSW. And for any further information, you can always contact ACA NSW on 1300 556 330 or via nsw@childcarealliance.org.au.
PUBLISHED: 15 JANUARY 2020