ENHANCING EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AND CARE
Enhancing Early Childhood Education and Care (EECEC) is proudly supported and funded by the Queensland Government through Jobs Queensland.
CHDC is leading EECEC in collaboration with Astute Early Years Specialists and its Childcare Leadership Alliance.
This new initiative is investigating how to increase capacity in Emerald and Blackwater, including actions to attract and retain early childhood educators.
Jobs Queensland’s Grow Your Own program supports regional workforce-building projects.
EECEC was identified as a priority in the Central Highlands Workforce Development and Accommodation Strategy.
Phase One
The first phase is now underway.
Its focus is to identify challenges and explore solutions to support capacity building and workforce sustainability in early childhood education and childcare services across the Central Highlands.
To achieve this, Childcare Chats were recently held in Blackwater and Emerald to get input from working families. Scroll down this page for more details.
Astute Early Years Specialists also engaged with people in the industry via a sector-specific survey, one-on-ones and an information session in Emerald in February 2025.
A survey was also conducted in March and April to gain input from the broader community, especially parents, caregivers and employers who use childcare services, including Outside School Hours Care.
Congratulations to Blackwater’s Bridget Javati and Emerald’s Paula Swain, who’ve each won a $100 voucher to a local dining venue of their choice. Bridget and Paula’s names were picked in a random draw after completing the survey.
Results from the survey will be published soon.
As part of our ongoing engagement with families and educators, CHDC hosted Childcare Chats in Blackwater and Emerald in early June 2025.
These informal, in-person sessions were a chance to have real conversations about what’s working, what’s not, and how we can improve early childhood education and care together.
Thank you to everyone who came along. Your candour in sharing your personal stories and challenges is appreciated and will help to shape the EECEC.
Thanks also to everyone who helped make these events a success, including Michael from Blackwater’s Woolworths who donated sausages, Blackwater State School, Rotary Club of Emerald and Pixie Dust Painters.
Click on any image below to scroll through full gallery of photos from the Childcare Chats.
A series of free webinars was presented to help early childhood education and care services grow their workforce and maximise utilisation.
Recordings of the sessions can be watched here.
These 15-minute sessions were delivered by Astute Early Years Specialists and are for those currently employed in early childhood education or childcare and those considering or interested in a career in the sector.
- Strategic Rostering: Rostering that aligns with service needs, constraints.
- Smart Staffing: Explore sustainable staffing models that prevent burnout, reduce turnover.
- Mind the Gap: Gain practical tools to spot skill and shift coverage gaps.
- Future-Ready Rosters: Build flexible rosters that adapt to change and anticipate needs.
This project was identified as Action 5 – Childcare Alliance in the Workforce Development and Accommodation Strategy, which was launched in May 2024.
To begin, CHDC connected with Astute Early Learning Specialists to discuss expanding the Childcare Leadership Alliance, which is already in operation in the neighbouring Issaac region, into the Central Highlands.
A joint grant application was submitted to Jobs Queensland. CHDC was notified of its successful outcome in September 2024.
This funding will support Phase 1, which is targetting workforce sustainability and capacity building.
PROJECT PARTNERS
Enhancing Early Childhood Education and Care is proudly supported and funded by the Queensland Government through Jobs Queensland.
