Child care in Darebin

There are more than 60 ECEC services in Darebin, that all offer different types of Child Care and are managed by different kinds of organisations.

View all childcare services participating in the Darebin Registration System(DOCX, 23KB)

Types of ECEC Services:

Long Day Care (Child Care)

Primarily aimed at 0–6-year-olds, long day care is usually based in a centre and the education and care programs are created around the developmental needs, interests and experience of each child. Because long day care centres typically operate for at least 10 hours a day on normal working days for a minimum of 48 weeks per year, children get to know their educators and form an attachment to familiar people, spaces, sounds and smells, as well as developing friendships with other children.

Long day care services may also offer kindergarten programs. 

All long day care services are rated under the National Quality Framework, which reviews the quality of most types of early childhood services. The StartingBlocks.gov.au website helps you find out the quality ratings of providers.

Family day care

Family day care can be for children from birth through to school age. The care is provided in the educator’s own home and many providers are parents whose children are older and go to school. Family day care providers are administered as a group through a family day care service – often this is a local council or a community organisation.

Family day care providers are rated under the National Quality Framework, which reviews the quality of most types of early childhood services. The StartingBlocks.gov.au website helps you find out the quality ratings of providers.

Occasional care

Occasional care is a similar environment to long day care – safe, friendly and staffed with qualified educators - except the centre is set up for much shorter sessions, and is likely to have less formal booking processes.

Occasional care is designed to allow parents to get some rest or exercise, or attend an appointment or job interview. Some centres are set up for occasional care only and do not have a meal service or space for naps as their sessions might typically run for one or 2 hours.

In-home care

Some children are cared for in their own home, by nannies or babysitters. These forms of care are not regulated by the Department of Education.

The quality of early childhood services is measured against 7 quality areas. The Commonwealth Government’s StartingBlocks.gov.au website, explains what the standards are and what they mean.

Darebin operates a central registration system for eight participating community-managed services. These services are operated by either a committee of management or early years management organisation.

View all childcare services participating in the Darebin Registration System(DOCX, 23KB)

Child care subsidy 

Before your child starts child care, it’s a good idea to check their vaccinations are up to date. A series of free vaccinations are available for children aged 0 to 4 years to protect them against serious diseases.(See immunisation)

Your child must meet immunisation requirements if you want to get Child Care Subsidy.

Child Care Subsidy is a payment that helps with the cost of approved child care. Services Australia pays the subsidy to your child care provider to reduce the fees you pay.

You should claim Child Care Subsidy before your child starts child care. Otherwise, you may have to pay full fees until your claim is finalised.

Managing child care | myGov

Complaints – about a service

Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) services in the City of Darebin are managed by a diverse range of providers, including parent Committees of Management, Commercial operators and Early Years Management Services.

If you are concerned about your child's education, care, or licensed children's service, you should raise your concerns with the service first.

All early childhood services must have a written policy and procedure that states who you need to speak to about your complaint, how they will respond, and which complaints must be notified to the department.

The name and the telephone number of the person who deals with complaints must also be displayed at the entrance to the service. For family day care, these details will be located in the service's principal office. If your complaint cannot be resolved by the service, you should then raise it with the department.

Give feedback or make a complaint to the Department of Education

Safeguarding children

We are committed to a child-safe organisation and have zero tolerance to abuse of children and young people. Read more about safeguarding children.

If the complaint is related specifically to a child with a disability, contact the Association for Children with Disability.

Association for Children with Disability

Email: mail@acd.org.au

Phone: 03 9880 7000