The Department for Education is the longest-serving provider of family day care services in South Australia.  We’ve been providing family day care for more than 40 years.

Family day care educators

Our educators meet National Quality Standards and must be registered and approved by the Department for Education.

Educators must comply with the National Quality Framework (NQF) and the department's policies, procedures, standards and guidelines that govern family care.

The Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) oversees the implementation and delivery of the NQF at a national level and the regulatory authority at a state level. In South Australia the regulatory authority is the Education Standards Board (ESB). 

Respite Care Program

The department also operates the Respite Care Program, a specialised disability care service for children and young people. The program is a provider for the Australian Government’s National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) which provides funding for respite care for children and young people with a disability.

The Respite Care Program provides care:

• in the family home
• at the home of a qualified and approved careprovider
• at school (working with the school/classroom)
• in the community.

Care can take place during the day, evening, weekend, on a regular basis or in blocks of time.

For more information about the Respite Care Program, please contact 8343 6533 or email education.rcpadmin [at] sa.gov.au

Code of conduct

Educators and staff must adhere to the following code of conduct values and act in a manner which reflects the following core values.

Respect – how we treat other people

Educators and staff must be respectful and have regard for the dignity of others.

Accountability – responsibility for our own actions

Be accountable for the decisions and actions you make.

Leadership – how we inspire others

The department recognises individual and collective strength and promotes the importance of quality care and learning.

Integrity – intent and meaning of our actions

We give our best and act honestly, openly and fairly in our work.

Excellence – our learning

Practices and actions of educators and staff should demonstrate the importance of continual learning and the development of children, ourselves and the family day care program.

Cooperation – working together

We work with others; sharing perspectives, skills and knowledge.

Concerns or complaints

We want to keep improving our family day care program, and we welcome your feedback. If you have a problem or a complaint, you can:

• talk with your educator
• talk with scheme staff or scheme coordinators
• contact the department’s customer feedback unit
• contact the Education Standards Board or the South Australian Ombudsman.

Family day care policy, standards and procedure

Our policy, standards and procedure govern our service. They maintain our focus on children's health, safety and wellbeing as well as compliance with the National Quality Framework.

Policy

• Family day care operations policy (PDF 771KB).

Standards

• Children’s health and safety standard (167KB)
• Children’s learning standard (578KB)
• Educators, families and community standard (883KB)
• Physical environment in FDC standard (PDF 808KB)
• Service management standard (PDF 872KB).

Procedure

This document outlines the department’s Family Day Care Fee and Levy Charges for 2018 to 2020 (PDF 28KB).