CHILDREN – TOO PRECIOUS FOR PROFIT

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

If you have:

Talk to someone about the issues & the Lobby Kit

Photocopy & display the poster in the Lobby kit - Download

Send a letter to candidates & MP’s - Download Action Sheet 5

Visit www.childrenfirst.org.au & enter a Quick Poll, download information, and keep up to date with policy developments.

Download Action Sheet 5 Write a letter to a Politician

Download Poster Copy and display

Send a Parent Postcard - Download Action Sheet 2

Call talkback or community radio and share your opinion - Download Action Sheet 8

Write a letter to the editor - Download Action Sheet 8

Download Action Sheet 2 Parent Postcard

Download Action Sheet 8 Using the Media to your Advantage

Write a newsletter article - Download Action Sheet 1

Organise a Children’s Art session - Download Action Sheet 4

Share your stories with NACBCS - Download Action Sheet 3

Prepare & distribute resources – download and copy this kit and hand it out to as many people as you can!

Download Action Sheet 1 Use Your Centres Resources		Download Action Sheet 3 Share Your Story
Download Action Sheet 4 Art Activities		Download Lobby Kit

Set up a campaign area to display the Lobby Kit and other campaign materials - Download the Lobby Kit

Organise a centre information session - invite some local candidates.

Put pressure on MP’s & candidates. Phone, write, visit, email, fax (Action Sheets 6 & 7)
Download Action Sheet 6
Download Action Sheet 7

Organise a campaign event to increase awareness of childcare issues at this election & distribute a media release (Action Sheets 9 - 11)
Download Action Sheet 9
Download Action Sheet 10
Download Action Sheet 11

A Parents Guide to Meeting with Candidates - see this story to view a real life experience of Kerry Phelan and how she approached her local MP. Download

Download Action Sheet 6 Meeting with Candidates		Download Action Sheet 7 Political Contacts
Download Action Sheet 9 How to Organise a Campaign Event		Download Action Sheet 10 Writing a Media Release
Download Action Sheet 11 Media Contacts		Download Lobby Kit
Download - " A Parents Guide to Meeting with Candidates"

Be Persistent!

Why lobby?
This kit has been produced by the National Association of Community Based Children’s Services (NACBCS) on behalf of all community-owned child care providers who want to ensure that children’s services in Australia are affordable, are of good quality and are accessible.

Who is NACBCS?
NACBCS is a national organisation with branches in each state and territory. NACBCS advocates for non-profit community based children’s services. NACBCS has a broad membership including parents, staff, children’s services and their workers and interested individuals across Australia.

Federal Election 2004
NACBCS believes that we need to show politicians and their political parties that Australians want services that support our children and make family life easier.

NACBCS believes that together we can make this year’s Federal election a winner for children, families and their communities.

The Australian Government is allowing unchecked growth of publicly listed corporate child care chains – they can never take the place of locally owned, parent run services.

We call on the Australian Government to make a commitment to retaining and developing community owned, not-for-profit children’s services as a key support for children, parents, families and communities.

NACBCS DEMANDS…

Fund community child care
– Provide capital funding to make sure there is at least one community owned and managed early childhood service for every 800 children up to the age of 5 years

Increase Wages for Child Carers
– By increasing Child Care Benefit so that services can pay decent wages to attract and retain skilled and qualified staff, while charging fees that parents can afford

Stop Destructive Competition
– Bring back planning controls by setting a cap on the number of CCB places for long day care in each community to stop uncontrolled growth in areas that already have enough services
– Retain and strengthen the planning controls for Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) to ensure that the number of not-for-profit community owned OSHC services does not drop as commercial operators move in

10 Good Things About Community Ownership

1. It is our natural response. Australians have always been prepared to cooperate to build and run the facilities they saw their community as needing. Even when private operation of facilities has arisen, it has often been after community ownership provided the structure for a new form of social infrastructure to develop.
   
2. It provides a benchmark for private operators, setting standards in terms of quality and price.
   
3. It allows greater attachment and involvement of citizens. Rather than people seeing themselves as passive consumers, they are allowed or encouraged to participate.
   
4. It provides, at its best, a sound balance between staff professionalism and consumer requirements.
   
5. It offers stability in a time of rapid change. The investment is there for the community or the neighbourhood, not for the owner. It is an institution, not a business.
   
6. It helps keep a focus on the local, resisting pressures for (sometimes illusory) economies of scale in service provision.
   
7. It is not confined to narrow conceptions of service. Staff are able to be see the linkages between their work and that of other services.
   
8. It has greater capacity to add on specialised programs or respond to specialised funding possibilities.
   
9. It can deliver careers rather than just casual jobs.
   
10. It is all around us. Child care centres, family day care, after-school programs, kinders, community health and legal centres, CABs, neighbourhood houses, hospitals, housing coops, employment programs, schools.