Hearing parents' and carers' voices: experiences of accessing quality long day care in northern regional Australia

Abstract

This article explores parents' and carers' experiences of accessing quality long day care in northern regional Australia. The data was gathered in 2009, after the collapse of ABC Developmental Learning Centres (herein referred to as ABC Learning) and before the implementation of the National Quality Framework, and provides a snapshot of respondents' experiences at this key moment of transition in the long day care landscape. In communities often characterised by distance from friends and family, fluctuating economic growth and limited services for those outside the mainstream community, the experience of many parents and carers was of a childcare landscape that was unresponsive to their unique needs. More broadly, this research provides policy-makers with insight into the material implications of a childcare policy environment that encouraged over-reliance on the 'market' to provide accessible, quality long day care services.