Congratulations on the successful candidates on the appointment to the Executive Committee and the appointment of the four Office Bearers.

The Australian Childcare Alliance (ACA) is proud to join forces with Little Rockers Radio and Red Nose Day, to support the 2019 Little Rockers Red Nose Disco.

In its fifth year, the Little Rockers Red Nose Disco, presented by iHeartRadio is aiming to break all records with over 50,000 children expected to dance around the country to help save little lives.

With nine children still dying suddenly and unexpectedly every day in Australia, funds raised through Red Nose Day fundraising activities, including the Little Rockers Red Nose Disco, go to Red Nose’s advocacy and research programs into the causes of all sudden, unexplained and preventable childhood deaths, educating the community on safe sleeping practices, and supporting families who have been devastated by the sudden and unexpected death of a child.

Sarah Morrissey, Little Rockers Radio founder has expressed her gratitude for our support. “We are delighted to have the support of the Australian Childcare Alliance, who have over 2,500 member centres nationally and are encouraging all centres to host their own disco on Red Nose Day. This year we aim to have well over 50,000 children dancing in what will be Australia’s largest kids disco and our fundraising target is set on $100,000,” said Sarah.

The disco campaign was an idea born out of loss, with Sarah’s nephew passing from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) in 2008 at 16-months old. The Little Rockers Red Nose Disco, presented again by iHeartRadio, is a great way for littlies to dance and have fun and to help raise awareness for a serious cause, saving little lives.

ACA President Paul Mondo is excited to be supporting the Little Rockers Red Nose Disco. "It’s an innovative and fun approach to raising funds for a serious issue. We encourage all our member centres to take part. After all, who doesn’t love to dance with children?!” ACA President Paul Mondo said.

ACA in conjunction with Little Rockers Radio and the Red Nose Day team, will announce the total funds raised through this initiative at ACA Victoria’s conference in Melbourne on 16 & 17 August.

Early learning centres can host their own mini disco on Red Nose Day, Friday 9th August 2019 (or any day in the week, 5th - 9th August). By encouraging all participating children to make a gold coin donation, valuable funds will be raised for Red Nose’s advocacy and research programs.

There’s plenty of time to get involved. ACA members can simply register to host their own event at www.everydayhero.com.au/event/aca

The Victorian Government has introduced a number of reforms which support kindergarten access and quality in all settings, including Long Day Care (LDC).
ACA Victoria applauds the Victorian Goverment for recognising that high quality early childhood education can have long-lasting positive effects on the heath and success of Australia's young children.

Susan McDonald, from the Department of Education and Training, provided an update on these reforms at our recent Annual General Meeting on Wednesday 16 October 2019. 

The following funding and support is currently available to early learning service providers:

• Funded Kindergarten for 3 Year Old Children (progressively rolled out over the next decade. The roll-out schedule is available here.)
• Funded Kindergarten for 4 Year Old Children (This includes per capita funding provided by the State and Federal Governments)
• Kindergarten Fee Subsidy – to support health care card holders reduce out of pocket costs for families.
• School Readiness Funding - a new, permanent part of Victorian kindergarten funding allocated to services on the basis of need, so children who need extra support get it.
• Kindergarten Quality Improvement Program - focuses on Quality Area 7 of the National Quality Standard - Governance and Leadership to support ongoing quality improvement work.
• Early Start Kindergarten - this program gives eligible children 15 hours of free or low-cost kindergarten a week 
• Financial support to study and work in early learning - in the form of scholarships and employment incentives
• Contribution to writing transition learning and development statements
• Early Childhood Language Program - actively encourages children at kindergarten to learn in another language

Susan pointed out that areas for collaborative work include:

• Supporting more LDC services to become funded kindergarten providers (at any time, over 200 LDC services do not deliver a funded program)
• Continuing to grow Early Start Kindergarten provision in LDC, noting that this is often the most practical option for carers of children in out of home care
• Developing and trialling program models for the delivery of kindergarten in LDC that maximise access and affordability, including for disadvantaged families
• Maximising the use of quality supports, particularly School Readiness Funding
• Bringing more LDC services into council central enrolment schemes, not to replace but to complement existing enrolment processes

Susan's presentation on the suite of Victorian Government funding and support to the early learning sector can be read in full here. 

We're excited to announce that our new online Membership Management System will be live from 7.00pm tonight, 15 April!

From tonight, when you log in to our website as a member, you will be redirected to the Member Portal where you'll be able to:

• Update your details
• Renew your membership (once due)
• View, download and pay invoices
• View and register for events
• View your event bookings in one easy location
• Access information for members only: Flexible Affordable Modelling Tool, Employment information including IR telephone advice line, Awards and wage tables, business support, templates and other resources

When you first encounter the Member Portal, you will be asked to register yourself, providing:

• Your member number 
• Your first name
• Your last name
• Your postcode
• Your username (enter your choice of username)
  
  

You will then be sent an email with a link to set your password - again this will be your choice.

If you save these details in your browser, whenever you want to log in to our website, whether to access your account, member only information, or register for an event, you will go straight into the Member Portal.

We hope you'll find the Portal easy to use as well as useful!

If you have any queries at all, please don't hesitate to call us on 03 9532 2017 or email us at vic@childcarealliance.org.au

As you' know, the Fair Work Commission decided earlier this year to increase the minimum wage by 3% with effect from the first full pay period on or after 1 July.

Our Industrial Relations Partner has now provided updated wage tables for both the Children's Services Award 2010 and the Educational Services (Teachers) Award 2010, which were emailed to members this morning.

Members can also access the new wage tables at any time from our member portal.

Please log into the Member Portal and navigate to Members/Awards and Wage Tables

If you have any queries, please don't hesitate to contact us on 03 9532 2017.