By CELA on 22 Jul, 2019

Take the survey, help the sector

CELA is helping the Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS) to gather information about the impact of the Australian Government’s Child Care Package.  The AIFS began a three year evaluation project in 2018, and will report to the Commonwealth Department of Education with the results. You may have already assisted with earlier questionnaires or interviews of educators or families.

As a peak organisation, CELA is responding in detail to the current AIFS evaluation stage. We need your help with answers to this survey, which in turn will help your colleagues and families of young children all over Australia. The survey should take less than 10 minutes to complete. All questions are optional, and your replies will be anonymous, although if you also wish to get in touch with more feedback please use our info@cela.org.au email at any time.

More than one way to reply

You can complete the survey by following this link.

Why does it matter?

Earlier this month, CELA’s CEO Michele Carnegie shared an article about the evaluation. She reminded readers that the Child Care Package is one of the biggest reforms to funding the sector has seen.

“Many families are financially better off as a result, and many are not,” Michele wrote.

In fact, more than a quarter of a million families around Australia are worse off according to the Department of Education’s own calculation (see the table below). That number includes 88,000 families with children deemed to be disadvantaged (see top line of table below).

CCS Table

Source: ABC News and Department of Education

Surveying administration chances

We also know that many services, providers and families have felt an increase in administrative burden with the introduction of the Child Care Package that goes well beyond what is expected with any new system’s introduction.  Since the package has been implemented in parallel with a new online management system, technical difficulties are almost inevitable and software providers – sandwiched between services and the centralised new system – have also reported implementation problems.

Our survey gives you the opportunity to rate the complexity, or simplicity, of implementing the administration system at your service and to share the experiences your families have had, too.

Start now

Still reading? Here’s a final link to the survey to save you scrolling back to the top – and thank you once again for contributing your knowledge and time to this very important evaluation process.

START THE SURVEY HERE.

Link not working? Copy and paste this one into your browser:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/CCSCELA

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About CELA

Community Early Learning Australia is a not for profit organisation with a focus on amplifying the value of early learning for every child across Australia - representing our members and uniting our sector as a force for quality education and care.

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