Perspectives on quality in Australian family day care

The Social Policy Research Centre (SPRC) was commissioned by Family Day Care Australia to conduct research into quality in family day care. Six high quality services agreed to participate in the study. At each service, the SPRC research team conducted interviews with families, educators, coordination unit staff and representatives from managing organisations, comprising a total of 44 interviews with 52 people. All interviewees were strongly committed to providing quality early childhood education and care (ECEC) and had a belief in family day care’s unique strengths. The interviews explored ideas about the distinctive nature of quality in family day care, strengths and challenges, and how quality can be best supported. The data was analysed to reveal common themes across the services.