Eearly Childood Education and Care Flexible Initiatives Trial

The broad objective of the Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) Flexible Initiatives Trial (the program) is to increase families' economic, educational, and societal participation through improved access to ECEC services, by supporting services to trial new or adapted flexible operating models. The program also aims to ensure that the ECEC workforce is supported to deliver flexible models of ECEC.

The objectives of the ECEC Flexible Initiatives Trial are centred on enhancing the accessibility and adaptability of early childhood education and care services for families across New South Wales. The program seeks to address the challenges families face in accessing ECEC by promoting increased flexibility in how services are provided.

‘Flexibility’ in this program refers to any modification to core ECEC business operations that promotes accessibility for families. This could involve extending service operating hours, offering flexible attendance patterns, implementing casual care day booking systems, providing wraparound care, or other initiatives that increase the availability of early childhood education and care

The key objectives of the program are to:

• increase accessibility of ECEC for families who need more flexible options, including an increase in the number of available places
• increase participation, particularly of women, in work and/or study, which is enabled by increased access to ECEC services
• increase service providers’ knowledge of local flexibility needs and their capacity to meet those needs
• provide appropriate support and working conditions for educators delivering flexible models
• develop an evidence base for successful flexible models to inform future program development.