Community Child Care Co-operative (NSW) recently saw the return of its annual social policy forum for members—Early Childhood Education and Care: Burning Issues.

Introducing the forum, Leanne Gibbs, Community Child Care CEO, praised the ‘great direction’ the sector is moving in with the NQF. ‘It is a work in progress, but I haven’t met anyone yet who disagrees with the NQF, nor what it brings for children,’ Ms Gibbs said.

‘But we are still arguing about who pays and how much it costs,’ she added. ‘So Ministers, let’s get it together, and Minister Piccoli, give yourself the best bet and make NSW look great, a real winner.’

With that, it was over to the Ministers.

In her speech, Early Childhood and Childcare Minister Kate Ellis acknowledged the 20 per cent increase of children in care and education since the government was elected in 2007, as well as barriers to new and existing services in meeting demand. She also praised the sector’s implementation of the NQF, recognising the increased workload resulting from the new regulations: ‘We are hearing that it is manageable and that it’s expected to decrease over time once the transition takes place.’

Minister Ellis then congratulated Community Child Care on its ‘really integral role in providing child care services with the professional support that they need and that they deserve’.

She also praised Community Child Care’s role in her Early Childhood Education and Care forum, its ‘ongoing support of the implementation of the National Quality Framework’, for ‘supporting services in preparing for the NQF’, and also for being ‘a great advocate’ for community childcare services and on behalf of families.

‘We know that investment in early childhood is an investment in the wellbeing long term,’ she finished. ‘It is actually an investment in the prosperity of our nation so thank you for your work that you’re doing.’

NSW Education Minister Adrian Piccoli then presented his wrap-up of the sector from a New South Wales perspective, including why he hasn’t released the long-awaited Brennan Review into funding for the sector. He said ‘detailed expert modelling’ of the data was needed first, as was confirmation of Commonwealth funding beyond 2013. (*The Commonwealth has since announced a further $1.1 billion towards Universal Access—see page 5 for details.)

Minister Piccoli then went on to list DEC’s $31 million funding initiatives, including fee relief for disadvantaged families through Connected Communities; a trial of cluster management to help eligible services access expertise with respect to governance and accountability; funding for up to 100 services to reconfigure around a weekly 15-hour delivery pattern; provision of 100 scholarships for educators to upgrade their qualifications from diploma to degree level.

He finished off with: ‘An important part of rolling these out will be consultation with the sector … The work of groups like the Community Child Care Co-operative would be of course critical in this process. You should all be very proud of the work you do.’

Q & A

Then came questions from the audience. Here are a few edited member questions, and the Ministers’ answers…

Q. Monique Beange—General Manager, KU Children Services: ‘It appears that NSW is not making significant progress towards universal access and one of the main barriers, especially for preschool families, will be affordability. Could you tell us how both of you will work together to ensure NSW children receive

A. Adrian Piccoli: ‘Clearly it’s access, it’s places and affordability and we’re not in a position financially to make huge additional investments in early childhood preschool at this stage. We would love to be able to.

‘It’s not affordable and if there aren’t physically places there then you can’t achieve it. They are both things that both the Commonwealth and the State have to work together to achieve.’

A. Kate Ellis: ‘There’s never been a federal government before that’s funded a cent in preschools and kindergartens … we put almost a billion dollars on the table, $955 million, for the national partnership. We did that because we want to see services improve. We did that because we wanted to see more people have access. We didn’t do it as a way that we could relieve the burden on state governments and let them invest their money elsewhere.’

Q. Verena Heron, Industrial Officer for the Independent Education Union: ‘Minister Piccoli, as you are aware New South Wales early childhood teachers are earning approximately 20 per cent less than their colleagues in DET preschools. We are wondering what your Government is going to do in order to address this problem?’

A. Adrian Piccoli: ‘The answer to that question will be as a result of negotiations between the state and the Commonwealth … The disparity is significant because it does cause you know better than I do, but there is a huge need for an injection of funds in order to address that discrepancy and New South Wales on its own is not in a position to be able to do that.’

Q. Tonia Godhard, Community Child Care Life Member: ‘We’re moving towards 15 hours, as we’ve discussed as part of universal access, but that will have unintended outcomes in this state—for instance three year olds currently attending preschools will become ineligible. When will your government admit or recognise 15 hours will not work in a state where traditionally we’ve had a six-hour preschool program?’

A. Kate Ellis: ‘What I think is not okay is for a government to say “yes, with that amount of funding we’ll accept that from the Commonwealth, we’ll deliver this”, to then turn around and say “no, three year olds can no longer access preschool”. That was never part of the deal. We put additional money on the table so that we could increase access not decrease access so I do not accept at all that it is a consequence of our Government’s decision making.

‘There’s almost a billion dollars of money flowing to the states because they signed a national agreement that they could deliver this, it is up to them to negotiate how they do that after accepting that money.’

Q. Vivi Germanos Koutsanadis— Executive Officer, Ethnic Child Care Family and Community Services Co-operative: ‘Mr Piccoli, there is a lot of grave concern in the community about your government’s decision to wipe $1.7 billion from the educational budget … how will these cuts affect the early childhood sector?’

A. Adrian Piccoli: ‘There won’t be any impacts on early childhood. Those budget measures, $1.7 billion over four years, to put that in perspective, over that four-year period we will be spending $53 billion.

‘Nobody is doing this because they want to do it in education or in health or anywhere else in police, emergency services, but we’re doing it because we’re in pretty tough economic times in Australia and in New South Wales.’

Q. Emily Donnan, Big Steps campaigner: ‘Minister Ellis, you’ve said several times $22 billion has been provided to the sector, but there’s one half of the sector that hasn’t been addressed and that is the educators and the very low wages we receive. I want to know, Kate, when will the Federal Government finally address this and reshape the funding model so we receive professional wages and finally address this issue?’

A. Kate Ellis: ‘I know you want this addressed and you want it addressed now but in every one of these [wages cases] that we’ve addressed there’s been a process that we’ve gone through. With the community service workers it was a process that involved a test case, that involved going through jurisdictions and Fair Work Australia. With the aged care workers it was a process that involved the Productivity Commission actually inquiring into what the appropriate level of pay is. We need to go through a process for early childhood workers too and once we’ve gone through that process then obviously we need to go through the budget process, which itself has its challenges. ‘So I can’t give you the answer you want tonight but what I will say is we absolutely recognise the job that you do. We recognise that wages need to be fair across Australia.’

Q. Kim Gavin—Uniting Care Children’s Services: ‘NSW spends less money on education and care than the other states. Because of this we have higher preschool fees and less attendance at preschools. What do you intend to do about this to ensure that our children in New South Wales get the same rights and access to preschools as in other states and territories?’ A. Adrian Piccoli: ‘Other states perform much better than New south Wales does in terms of participation in early childhood and that’s part of the reason.

‘We’re not in a [financial] position at this stage to make substantial contributions to changing that table but when we are in a better position I’d certainly expect as the New South Wales Minister for Education to be doing something to make New South Wales certainly competitive wages and finally address this issue?’

A. Kate Ellis: ‘I know you want this addressed and you want it addressed now but in every one of these [wages cases] that we’ve addressed there’s been a process that we’ve gone through. With the community service workers it was a process that involved a test case, that involved going through jurisdictions and Fair Work Australia. With the aged care workers it was a process that involved the Productivity Commission actually inquiring into what the appropriate level of pay is. We need to go through a process for early childhood workers too and once we’ve gone through that process then obviously we need to go through the budget process, which itself has its challenges.

‘So I can’t give you the answer you want tonight but what I will say is we absolutely recognise the job that you do. We recognise that wages need to be fair across Australia.’

Q. Kim Gavin—Uniting Care Children’s Services: ‘NSW spends less money on education and care than the other states. Because of this we have higher preschool fees and less attendance at preschools. What do you intend to do about this to ensure that our children in New South Wales get the same rights and access to preschools as in other states and territories?’

A. Adrian Piccoli: ‘Other states perform much better than New south Wales does in terms of participation in early childhood and that’s part of the reason.

‘We’re not in a [financial] position at this stage to make substantial contributions to changing that table but when we are in a better position I’d certainly expect as the New South Wales Minister for Education to be doing something to make New South Wales certainly competitive with the other states.’

My Big Shouting Day

By Rebecca Patterson
Published by Random House
RRP: $14.95

Bella’s day is not going well. Her baby brother has dribbled all over her jewellery, her biscuit has broken, her foot is sore and her toothpaste is too minty. So what else can she do but shout. At everyone! Luckily there’s a happy ending for all concerned. A great book about bad days and bad moods, this one is a perfect read in a group setting—you might find it opens up an exploration of all the other ways children deal with their frustrations. With illustrations to make us all giggle, Patterson’s cute little tale about the girl who is having a bad, cranky day also won this year’s Roald Dahl Funny Prize for children under six years.

The Magnificent Tree

By Nick Bland and Stephen Michael King
Published by Scholastic Press
RRP: $24.99

The Magnificent Tree tells the story of Bonny and Pop, who are always bursting with ideas. Pop likes Bonny’s simple and clever ideas, properly made. Bonny likes Pop’s big, brave and brilliant ones, ‘…with bits sticking out…’Together they have plans for just about anything, so when they decide they need to make a tree to keep the birds close by, Bonny and Pop get to work on their own very different creations. Nick Bland again makes magic, capturing the beautiful relationship between the pair as they toil and tinker through the seasons to create their masterpieces, showing us that although they may be different, both of the ideas have their own merits. Together with Stephen Michael King’s fun illustrations, these endearing and quirky characters, and their inventions, are brought to life, resulting in a book that should appeal most to preschoolers—and the adults, too!

Tales from the Political Trenches

By Maxine McKew
Melbourne University Publishing
RRP: $29.99

‘When a six-year-old child starts primary school, parents expect their child will join a class of a particular size and be taught by a universitytrained teacher who is required to update her skills through ongoing professional development. Incredibly, when we came to office, no such expectations existed for the critical early years. Yet how well children perform in the first few years in school depends on the experiences and learning acquired from birth.’ The media reportage surrounding the publication of Maxine McKew’s political memoir has focused on her take on the Gillard/Rudd leadership battle, but the chapter ‘Not Just Child’s Play’ may be interesting reading to Rattler readers. Despite her somewhat harsh assessment of the sector as a ‘very expensive babysitting service’ of ‘variable quality’, the chapter reveals her influences and thought processes during her time as Parliamentary Secretary with responsibility for early childhood education and care. As a review of the journey to the NQF, it is thought-provoking reading and reminds us all of the vision and passion that Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard and Maxine herself had for improving the quality of early education and care in Australia.

Solid Rock

By Shane Howard
Published by One Day Hill
RRP: $24.95

Although its message may suit older children, the evocative images accompanying Shane Howard’s words in Solid Rock—also the lyrics from his hit song of the same name—can be shared with all children. Fabulous illustrations by children from Mutitjulu, Kaltukatjara and Imanpa communities and artist Peter Husdon bring Howard’s powerful message about Aboriginal rights in Australia into stunning form, as relevant today as when the song was created in the early 1980s. The words have also been translated into Pitjantjatjara language, as has Howard’s hit song, recorded on the accompanying CD. His final message to readers in the book’s preface sums up Howard’s dream: ‘May your future be as proud as your past. May all Australians remember to walk in the true spirit of the country, honouring the ancestors.’

Camille Howard talks to three services embracing the social media tool to stay in touch.

Whether you’re a ‘Facebook person’ or not, it’s clear to the growing number of services using the social media site that there are many benefits in creating a Facebook page to showcase your service and connect with like-minded educators and advocates around the world.

And while many services use Facebook as a free advertising or marketing tool, for the most part it presents a low-cost device for communicating and sharing information—on a national and even international scale. ‘We’ve met friends overseas and we can Skype them and the kids talk to each other,’ explains Jo O’Brien, co-founder of Platinum Preschool in Sydney’s Randwick (facebook.com/platinumpreschool).

‘Sharing ideas, no matter what nationality, everything is the same when it comes to the development of kids.’

Platinum Preschool posts regular photos and observations about the children’s day, which Ms O’Brien says helps parents feel connected with the children after they drop them off. ‘When I was dropping my child off to preschool I didn’t know what they were doing that day,’ she says. ‘People are so time poor, if they can check something on their computer or phone at lunch, it just puts in the back of their head what to discuss with their kids that afternoon.’

Darren Horrigan from The Infants Home in Ashfield, Sydney, agrees that for even a self-proclaimed novice user, the communication opportunities available since creating a Facebook page 18 months ago have been considerable. ‘Not a day goes by when there’s not something happening here that someone like me can turn into a photo album, a milestone, a little story for Facebook.’

For Mr Horrigan, media relations officer, the ‘light bulb moment’ came when Facebook changed its format to the Timeline. In this format, you can post a collection of photos and stories that tell the story of your service, and allow visitors to your page to jump to stories from your past to get a real sense of the history of your service—a big plus for The Infants Home (facebook.com/ theinfantshome).

‘We have such a long and rich history and the chronological presentation of where we’ve come from is perfect for us,’ explains Mr Horrigan. ‘It took some time to get right but we always knew it was going to be worth it—if we were going to tell such a full story we had to make use of the rich history and the wonderful old photographs we had.’ To get started, Mr Horrigan visited blogs and talked to experienced social media users to understand how The Infants Home could communicate with not just families, but the wider early childhood care and education community.

‘We’re building a new early education learning centre which will become a hub in the inner west for all things to do with early education, early intervention and allied health services. We realised we had a much bigger job at communicating who we are, what we do, who we do it for and why we do it, and we needed to employ as many communication tools as possible.’

The big push for establishing a Facebook page for Clare Court Children’s Service in Melbourne (facebook.com/ pages/Clare-Court-Childrens-Service) coincided with renovations to bring its long day care, kindergarten, play groups and maternal and child health services under one roof. ‘A lot of families were feeling like there were a lot of things going on around them and they weren’t feeling connected to it,’ says Catherine Cenandez-Button, Director of Integrated Services. ‘I didn’t feel we were going to have the support of the families if they didn’t feel like they were a part of what’s going on.’

Now Clare Court’s Facebook page is used to share details about the program, inspiring initiatives from overseas, political debates, union information and other early years information. ‘It’s also creating relationships with places [that are] supporting what’s going on in the early years sector,’ says Ms Cenandez-Button.

A benefit of creating these relationships and communicating regularly via Facebook is you’re reaching an engaged audience—as opposed to sending a blanket email to your database, for example, people have to Like your page to start receiving your posts, so they are actively opting to stay connected.

User guidelines

Once you decide to create a Facebook page, you need to set clear guidelines or a social media policy around how your page is to be used, by whom, and to ensure you cover privacy and ethical issues.

Selecting an ‘administrator’ who monitors all posts and comments from your friends is a good place to start. A policy at Platinum Preschool, for example, dictates that although all educators are encouraged to contribute to the Facebook page, nothing is posted unless approved first by Ms O’Brien or co-founder Nichola Mclean.

They also have a strict permissions policy, Ms O’Brien says. ‘At the beginning of every year we get permission from the parents to use their children’s photos and videos on Facebook and the internet.’

Managing risks

Guild Insurance offers some key tips to share with all employees about using both personal and professional Facebook pages:

• Take care when making comments about anyone, including employees, colleagues, clients or other service providers.
• The rules governing client privacy equally apply to web-based technologies. Carers and supervisors must always gain the client’s express consent to what information will be used, and how it will be shared. A client’s personal information should not be shared online, except in accordance with the centre’s privacy policy. Ensure your privacy policy addresses social media.
• Avoid falling victim to identity theft by limiting the amount of personal information you disclose on social media sites.
• Maintain secure access to all smart phones and computers.
• Activate password-protected screen savers on all computers and ensure employees always log off before leaving.
• When sharing information via social media, ensure you set high privacy or security settings and think carefully before divulging your home address or other personal information.
• Maintain security of any social media accounts set up in your centre’s name. Strict control of what information is added to your Facebook page or who is moderating blogs is essential for protecting your good reputation.
• Consider including specific conditions in employee contracts and policies relating to social media use.
• Periodically scan online content related to your centre. Consider how you will respond to any negative posts before the situation arises.

This is an edited excerpt from an article, Social Media Risk—Child Care, used with permission of Guild Insurance. For the whole article head to http://bit.ly/OV4Qa4

That’s just 4,200 men across the whole country. Practically an endangered species.

I’ve worked in the ECEC sector in Canberra for over 10 years, as a trainee, a room leader and a director. It’s challenging, frustrating and exhausting, but ultimately rewarding, fulfilling and a privilege.

Throughout that time, children, families, colleagues and friends have often asked the same question: “Why aren’t there more men?”

It’s an interesting question, with lots of connotations. The ECEC sector is 97 per cent female and beset by poor wages, poor conditions and a lack of professional respect in the wider community. Despite some basic reforms, the role is still primarily seen as ‘women’s work’.

After 10 years experience, I still don’t really know how to answer that question—I’m not even sure if there is a single answer. All I can do is tell my own personal and professional story and try to deconstruct some of the ‘myths’ that have shaped my own journey, and shed some light on the experience of men in the sector.

MYTH 1: Children need men in ECEC

This is the most common comment I get about men in ECEC environments: ‘It’s so great to have you here! The children, particularly the boys, just need that male influence.’ Without wanting to sound ungrateful, I find that sentence (and the variations on it) unsettling.

It’s problematic for a couple of reasons. Although it’s always intended as a compliment, it actually has the opposite meaning. I’m being complimented not on my knowledge, or my skills, or my positive engagement with children, but purely on my gender.

The implication is that the simple fact of my biology is enough to make me a wonderful Early Childhood educator.

My years of study and my on-going professional development are secondary to my gender. It positions men as tokens, leading to intense scrutiny and constant evaluation.

It also implicitly brings down the rest of the team that were not ‘blessed’ with my gender, and had to instead work hard to become skilled and knowledgeable in early childhood education. By raising me up for simply being male and showing up for work in the morning, it disparages the talented, passionate and skilled women who also work in that team.

I would also challenge anyone to provide evidence to me showing outcomes for children are improved purely on the basis a male is employed at a service.

Outcomes for children in early childhood spaces are surely driven from qualified, committed and reflective educators, regardless of their gender.

There are certainly men out there positively influencing children’s education and wellbeing, but is it purely because of their gender, or because they have studied, grown professionally and work within a supportive and innovative team?

MYTH 2: Families are happier with a female educator, particularly for infants

A colleague of mine tells the story of a young male educator she employed to work in an infants’ environment within her centre. Several families at the centre expressed concern about this educator changing their child’s nappy.

My colleague, the director, told me: ‘This was difficult for the educator and for me.

We did not want him to feel as though he shouldn’t be doing the job he wants to do, and leave for somewhere that he would be accepted.’

Luckily for this educator, the director stood her ground and worked to educate families about the policies of the centre organisation and the need to support all educators in the service. The educator remained with the infants and thrived.

I had a similar experience in my first year in the sector, and I imagine a lot of the ‘three per cent’ could tell the same story. It is demoralising and deeply denigrating to the individual, and a perfect example of the challenges still to be overcome by men choosing to educate and care for young children.

As ECEC professionals, we expect ourselves to work collaboratively with families and to respect and understand their needs. I know that directors may choose to put practices in place that meet families’ wishes on these kinds of issues, but I believe such perspectives need to be respectfully challenged.

The best way to challenge preconceptions is to embody change in practice. The ‘fear’ of male educators working with young children may come from a lack of images and experiences in our society that showcase men positively engaging with children.

Directors or managers can perpetuate that cycle when they choose the path of least resistance and either move a male educator into a different, more ‘suitable’, room or suggest that other (female) educators provide direct support to certain children.

This leads to fewer males working directly with young children, which means fewer families seeing it as part of normal practice in the sector, and more families are troubled when it does occur.

MYTH 3: Men don’t want to work in ECEC—it’s still seen as ‘women’s work’

Occasionally, I’ve had people ask if my friends joke or tease me for working in ECEC. I can categorically state that this has never been the case. When I first began working in the sector at 18 years of age, my mates didn’t seem to care that much. But I do know that it certainly is a wider issue for many of the men in our ECEC centres.

The ‘women’s work’ myth is deeply embedded. The label implies that it is something only women have done, or are equipped to do, or should do.

For the men who choose to work in the profession, it creates a powerful incentive to self-regulate your behaviour and your engagement with children.

It’s hard to describe to someone who hasn’t faced being part of a tiny minority, but the single most challenging aspect of my work in the sector has been knowing that I am under constant scrutiny. It is less pleasantly described in some of the research literature as suspicion. As a society, we are flooded with images of women as nurturing and loving with children. Men are more often viewed as a danger to children, especially men who display nurturing or loving relationships with children outside the norm of the ‘masculinity’ stereotype.

I have often been asked to discuss my experience working as a male ECEC educator, and I usually refuse or deflect the questions. This is because it is incredibly hard for me to discuss the often unspoken, perhaps even unconscious, scrutiny that accompanies every aspect of my work with young children. I am constantly aware that suspicion can fall on a male educator incredibly easily.

Paul Sargent’s research into men into ECEC settings highlights powerful individual stories from men about “performing” gendered roles. When the dominant discourse demands that only women are nurturing and loving, that kind of behaviour when practiced by men can be seen as confusing at best, and dangerous at worst. This creates a deeply embedded and, after a certain amount of time, even automatic, selfregulation of behaviour to ensure that suspicions are not aroused.

Raising the percentage

So why aren’t there more men in ECEC? There isn’t one simple answer.

I’m professionally and personally committed to the sector, and love the work that I do. I think for those with a love of teaching, it’s one of the most challenging and rewarding teaching roles you can have.

For men like myself who have overcome the initial challenges of starting out in the sector, it becomes easier. The challenges never disappear, but they can be positively managed through developing skills, knowledge and experience. But we are still faced with the issue of encouraging men to face those challenges in the first place.

I think the answer still lies in how the work is viewed by society and, more importantly, how men who work in the sector are viewed. Changing those views is a long and complex task, but I believe a key place to start is in leadership within the ECEC sector. The dominant perception of women as mothering and nurturing creates problems for men who attempt to reflect that perception in their behaviour, or enact their work with children in a ‘different’ way.

Leaders in the sector need to challenge those dominant perceptions.

Individual services need to reflect on their learning community and whether it embodies multiple ways of engagement with children. When issues with families arise, they need to be sensitively and respectfully challenged.

There are obviously issues of career pathways, wages and family dynamics that could not be discussed in this short article. But I firmly believe that a good place to start answering the question, ‘Why aren’t there more men in ECEC?’ is to ask ourselves, as a sector, ‘Are we welcoming them?’

Wages and status are the big issues

Why aren’t there more men in early education and care? Lisa Bryant suggests the reasons are obvious.

Is the biggest deterrent to men entering this sector the attitudes of the (women) already employed in the sector? Or are there few men because being a childcare worker or even an early childhood teacher is not a high status job?

Does the fact that almost any other job would earn you higher wages mean that men self-select out of this sector? In NSW, even early childhood teachers earn up to $20,000 less than their counterparts in schools.

We know that women in Australia must work an extra 64 days a year to earn as much as men do. In a female-dominated industry like ours, low pay is even further entrenched. If we managed to increase the pay and status in the sector, early education and care may then become a career of choice for men. And if not, at least the women would be paid what the job is truly worth.

She talks to Rattler about her efforts to ensure that equality becomes a reality.

Why did you take on your current role as director of Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace?

In my former life I was a corporate executive and director and worked across various industries, and during that time I had an ongoing interest in equal opportunities for women.

I accepted the role at EOWA because I am committed to driving change in the gender space. I am deeply concerned by the fact that despite improvements in the conditions and prospects of working women over the last couple of decades, gender inequality remains prevalent in Australian workplaces. Women, for example, continue to earn less than men and are significantly under-represented in leadership positions.

What do you hope to achieve?

I want to drive a shift in workplace culture to a point where gender equality is a reality: where caring and family responsibilities pose no barrier to career progression, where flexible work practices are available to men as well as women— and taken up by them. I want to see workplaces where employees are engaged and promoted purely on the basis of merit, and all workers receive equal pay for work of equal or comparable value.

The education and care sector is 98 per cent women, what changes would you like to see in a sector such as ours?

The education and care sector is an area where the skills and expertise of its workers can be undervalued, often because of a traditional view that they are performing ‘women’s work’. We need to examine whether the remuneration and working conditions within this sector reflect the workloads, responsibilities and challenges shouldered by its employees.

They must be remunerated fairly.

You’ve noted our slow progress to gender parity. Why is pay equity so important?

Regrettably, at 17.4 per cent, the current gender pay gap is about the same as it has been for a couple of decades and this has serious financial implications for women, most particularly when it comes to their retirement savings. Sadly, women are two-and-a-half times more likely to be living in poverty in their old age than men.

Why does the gender pay gap still exist—why hasn’t it changed in 25 years?

Progress has been hindered by the concentration of women and men in different occupations, industries, and job levels. Many jobs women do are undervalued. Also, women continue to shoulder the majority of caring work and are under-represented in management and leadership positions where higher salaries are paid.

What’s stopping us from exacting change? Where do we need to start?

Change can only occur when leadership is firmly committed to gender diversity. As with any business initiative, accountability is also an essential part of making change happen. This means establishing clear action plans, measuring and transparently reporting on outcomes, and holding managers to account for achieving results.

Employers can begin by conducting an analysis of what barriers to gender equality may exist within their organisation and put in place action plans to address the issues they identify. For example, they can do a pay analysis to determine if they have a gender pay gap. They can ask themselves whether working flexibly in their organisation limits a person’s career. Tools to guide companies through these processes are available on EOWA’s website.

What is your vision for the future?

My vision is for all Australians to be able to reach their full potential in the workplace, regardless of gender.

And what would this future mean for the childcare industry?

That the childcare industry would become a more attractive career prospect for both women and men.

What keeps you awake at night?

Not a lot these days. Working hard to improve gender equality in the workplace generally leads to a good night’s sleep! There is still a lot to do.

This, of course, is not an issue that is going to go away quickly, and there are no easy solutions for the ALP, politically speaking.

The most obvious humanitarian solution is for the Government to allow asylum seekers on boats to come to Australian shores and, after mandatory processing for health, identification and criminal checks, be allowed to stay in Australia, eventually seeking residency. This, after all, is what Kevin Rudd as Prime Minister, confirmed would be the Labor party policy on achieving government in 2007.

But will a humanitarian solution work politically? Well, the answer is no, otherwise the ALP wouldn’t be in the predicament that it finds itself in now. The main problem for the ALP is that it doesn’t know how to stand it’s ground, where to be firm, when a policy needs to change (or even how to manage a policy) or how political issues such as asylum seekers coming into Australia by boat can be managed effectively.

When the first sight of the political problem arrived for then Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, in 2009, when a group of Sri Lankan asylum seekers aboard the MV Oceanic Viking refused to embark in Indonesia (they were meant to continue through to Australia), the ALP buckled under its own pressure and continued with a problem that first arrived for Labor during the Tampa crisis in 2001. It simply hasn’t been able to formulate a policy that will work to its advantage, on political or humanitarian levels.

Julia Gillard’s ‘Malaysia Solution’ would have to be one of the more bizarre pieces of public policy seen for some time, opening up all sorts of diplomatic problems for Australia in the south-east Asia region, as well as creating a policy vacuum in Australia, gladly filled in by Tony Abbott and the Coalition. As well, Malaysia is not a country that has agreed to the UN Refugee Convention and the Australian High Court has already ruled the proposed legislation to implement the ‘Malaysia Solution’ as unconstitutional.

It supposedly was put forward to ‘send out the message’ to potential asylum seekers and smugglers that Australia is a difficult place to have asylum and, if your boat does make it so far, you’ll end up in Malaysia for five years and then, if you’re lucky, finally reach Australia. But the ALP couldn’t even make its bill pass the High Court test, or have the conviction to put it to the floor of parliament.

So, where to from here for the ALP? Well, asylum seeker policy really is a vexed issue for Labor and it seems like anything that it attempts will fail for a number of reasons. Firstly, and most importantly, Julia Gilard finds herself in the weakest position a Prime Minister has found themselves, possibly since Federation. A hung parliament means that there are too many distractions coming from so many different political persuasions.

Based on the Coalition’s current tack of not even voting for legislation that exactly replicates their own policy position, it seems that Tony Abbott would never have agreed to any position that Labor put forward over the past two years, irrespective of how closely it resembles their own policy. He realises that asylum seeker policy is Labor’s festering sore, and will pick at the scabs wherever possible. Honourable? God no, but politically the best course of action for the Coalition. After all, Tony Abbott is a politician and people shouldn’t be surprised if a politician behave politically.

The best option for the ALP, as we’ve said many times before, is that it should continue with onshore processing, build as many processing centres as possible, and ensure the smooth transition of asylum seekers into the Australian community. This is the right thing to do.

Then, when it loses office at the 2013 election (which it will do, unless there is some kind of inexplicable collective brain explosion on the part of Coalition – which still could happen – or Gillard decides to invade the Pitcairn Islands in the southern seas), let it become Abbott’s problem when, surely, he’ll discover that asylum seeker policy is not easy and ‘turning back the boats’ is not as simple as launching himself atop the HMAS Maitland and barking out instructions.

When you look at the education and care provided at the University of Western Sydney (UWS) Hawkesbury campus today, it’s a very different picture than the one on show as recently as 12 months ago.

Like the five other UWS campuses, Hawkesbury provided a long day care service on campus, offering places to university students, teachers and the wider community. And just like those other campuses, Hawkesbury was struggling financially, with low enrolment due to students only needing the service 26 weeks per year.

‘There’d been a history of financial difficulties in most of the centres,’ says Linda Williams, UWS Early Learning Limited operations manager. ‘And while they were all located on university land and they obviously take UWS students and staff, there really wasn’t any real engagement happening between the university and the centres.’ It was particularly troubling considering the university ran an early childhood education degree.

So UWS funded a 12-month review of the provision of care on UWS campuses, and in 2010 came to the decision to amalgamate each service into one not-for-profit entity—UWS Early Learning Ltd. As each centre ran independently of the university, with its own community-based management committee, all services had to agree to the amalgamation plans.

By the end of 2010, four out of five of the UWS services had voted to amalgamate, with the fifth service coming on board earlier this year.

A sense of community

The turnaround since the amalgamation has been dramatic. Two services that were struggling with low-occupancy and financial viability are thriving, Ms Williams says.

How the services engage with the community, particularly other university faculties, has also been a major about-face. ‘We had staff and students tell us they didn’t even know we had childcare on campus because we weren’t out there and noticeable.’

UWS Early Learning Ltd worked hard to raise its profile within campuses and is now tapping into UWS for professional training and support, making the most of the unique learning and engagement opportunities on offer in a university setting.

This isn’t just for early childhood teachers on pracs, but nursing, medical and occupational therapy students, too.

‘We’re looking at getting them in to do research, or implement programs for us. And they’re getting real-life experience with children,’ Ms Williams says.

The learning experiences available to the children are pretty special, too. At the Hawkesbury service children can visit the pretend hospital set up within the medical science faculty. There’s even a reptile house that makes for an interesting excursion, plus a real Secret Garden in the horticulture school.

Staff employed by UWS Early Learning Ltd also have access to the University’s Office of Organisational Development, which offers professional development services to all UWS staff. ‘There are management courses, finance courses, leaderships programs, Excel training, and most of them are free,’ Ms Williams explains.

Prior to the amalgamation, interaction and development opportunities within the university campuses was limited, and only accessed if one of the parents was a University staff member who might have facilitated things. ‘We’re at the stage where people within UWS are actively seeking us out now.’

Change management

The goal driving the amalgamation was simple: to provide affordable, quality care, while maintaining viable services— and a not-for-profit philosophy. So began the challenge of convincing parents and staff that the new model would do just that.

‘There was fear,’ Ms Williams admits. ‘Some people were concerned that it would no longer be a not-for-profit group, that perhaps the university would turn it into a profit business.’

To allay these fears, Ms Williams used examples of other universities, such as University of NSW (UNSW) and University of Technology Sydney (UTS), as well as other successful amalgamations and council-run services to highlight how the new model would work.

Staff had additional concerns about how the changes would impact on their ongoing employment, conditions and job security. ‘The tricky part of amalgamating was doing it in a way that we didn’t have to shut down centres, wind up the business and re-start and re-employ,’ Ms Williams says.

This meant first combining their separate Associations under NSW State law, before registering as a Company Limited by Guarantee, so everything was rolled into the new entity.

According to Catherine Morato, director of UWS Early Learning Ltd’s Hawkesbury service, the amalgamation has been a major boost to her staff. ‘Staff now feel the support that was lacking previously. They feel that all the changes have been a positive move forward for the centre in terms of financial viability and providing high quality care for the families that attend our service.’

To ensure this continues, UWS Early Learning Limited is in the final stages of developing a workplace agreement, one Ms Williams says maintains all the best parts of the old State Award, including paying staff above the Modern Award rates. ‘Our Board acknowledges the conditions and pay rates aren’t good when you compare them to other industries,’ she says. ‘We want to retain our good staff and when we recruit, we want the best.’

Support structure

The directors of the UWS Early Learning Limited services meet regularly with the operations manager and the other directors, ensuring they are getting information that’s relevant to their service while drawing on support from the other directors’ experiences.

Ms Williams says they are targeting the specialities of all staff. ‘I’ve got someone who’s really good on the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF); I’ve got someone who is doing great work on sustainability; I’ve got someone who thinks outside the box on problems.’

Directors also attend the open sessions of Board meetings. ‘It’s so they can have an active input and work with the board,’ Ms Williams explains. ‘It’s a way for the centres to feel they really are involved in the management.’

Parental and community support is vital, too, with a family and community advisory group set up to co-ordinate social and fundraising events. It’s also an opportunity to discuss any concerns with the Board. ‘We are very much interested in what the parents are feeling about the service.’

Team approach

On top of dealing with the lengthy amalgamation process, UWS Early Learning Ltd had to ensure it was prepared for the National Quality Framework as well. ‘In one way the timing was difficult, but in another way it was good because the sector was going through change, so that’s made it easier,’ Williams says.

The new structure also increased the potential for shared ideas and support between the directors. ‘We spent a whole day all working on the Quality Improvement Plans. We’ve got a team approach where we’re going to run some mock assessment visits.’

This team approach was reflected in the establishment of the company’s Board, whose members are in-tune with the UWS Early Learning Ltd’s philosophy. ‘They’re all passionate about providing quality care for children. We’ve got a lot of people who are very experienced in children’s services delivery.’

Building relationships

Taking on the unique challenges faced by amalgamating a university service, it was important to collaborate with similar services, such as UNSW and UTS.

‘They understand the special challenges that university childcare centres face,’ Ms Williams explains.

‘It is tricky to budget when you think the first and final quarters can be low quarters, with the university year not starting until the end of February and then students start pulling out early November. So it’s not like managing your average childcare centre.

‘We rely very much on being accessible and being well-respected in the local community because we do require community attendance—they will attend the full year.’

In the case of Early Learning Ltd Hawkesbury, Williams attributes past financial woes to a lack of marketing and publicity in the local community, as well as a lack of strategic planning.

So to meet the challenge of low occupancy rates on campuses, UWS Early Learning Ltd reached out to the community, using local media and campus newspapers to build awareness. And university staff and students are offered a per-day discount, which is subsidised by the university.

The new management structure and subsequent boost to occupancy levels at the Hawkesbury service has resulted in a face-lift for the once-struggling service, from the inside out. ‘You walk in there and it’s just completely different to how it was,’ Ms Williams explains. ‘The centre’s been painted, there’s been a lot of physical work being done out there.’

There’s also been an injection of resources, and energy, to ensure the delivery of the curriculum is focused on the EYLF. ‘Our new director [Ms Morato] has done a great job in bringing new ideas in,’ Ms Williams says.

As a result, Ms Morato says her service is flourishing under a structure that ‘holistically supports’ the centres, which she says sets UWS Early Learning Ltd apart from other services. ‘The atmosphere within the centre has changed dramatically and staff are happier, less stressed and can focus on their early education program.’

The Australia Council was responsible for the Australian Delegation and ARMEDIA designed and produced the 24-page catalogue as part of the Festival. The catalogue, designed by Creative Director, Deborah Kelly, is a stunning publication and highlights all the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists and performers attending the Festival.

Aside from the brilliant design and publications management, ARMEDIA also provided support publications services, including:

• Design and build of the The Shadowcatchers website;
• Creation of the Wikipedia pages for the book, and the author, Martha Ansara;
• Creation of the social media strategy for Facebook and Twitter;
• Creation of a forms website for accepting bookings and post-publication delivery of copies to all contributors;
• Print management and prepress optimisation (in consultation with our partners, Spitting Image).

The Shadowcatchers is a remarkable achievement, and we congratulate Martha Ansara and the Australian Cinematography Society on the launch of their long-awaited book. ARMEDIA was proud to be associated with the book, and believe that it’s one of our best-ever publications! But don’t take our word for it – check out www.shadowcatchers.com.au where you can look at the sample pages, and purchase the book as well.

The Shadowcatchers is a major achievement in Australian cinematography history. Call ARMEDIA to discover how we can make your next book project as outstanding as The Shadowcatchers.