Over the next 12 months a number of Australian child care providers will work with the Federal Government to pilot a range of different child care models designed to accommodate changing styles of work.

The Minister for Child Care Kate Ellis said the trials would take place in more than 50 sites across the country and would involve different types of service providers and more than 500 families.

The Government says results from the flexibility trials will enable it to gauge the scalability and long-term sustainability of the models being tested.

The following trials will start later this year:

Family Day Care Australia (FDCA) in partnership with the Police Federation of Australia
Family Day Care Australia and the Police Federation of Australia are working together to trial a child care model which can accommodate the shift work commitments of police.

This trial will last 12 months from July 2013 and will involve overnight and weekend care at six sites in NSW and Victoria. It will also provide care options for people who experience last minute shift changes.

The Government is funding the trial and costs to parents will vary based on the operating costs of the FDC educator.

Family Day Care Australia (FDCA) in partnership with the Queensland Nurses Union and United Voice Queensland
FDCA is also partnering with the Queensland Nurses Union and United Voice to trial more flexible care arrangements including overnight care, which accommodates the shift work undertaken by nurses, midwives and paramedics.

The Government is funding the trial which will pair nurses and paramedics with teams of family day care educators who will be responsible for working with the families to meet their child care needs around their shift work obligations.

This trial will last 12 months from July 2013 and will involve overnight and weekend care at six sites in Queensland.

Goodstart Early Learning
Goodstart is trialling extended weekday hours of operation in child care services in six centres across Australia (NSW (1), Victoria (1), Queensland (2), South Australia (1) and Tasmania (1).

Two of these centres will offer five extended sessions of care each week and four centres will offer 10 extended sessions each week.

The number of families able to access the trial will be decided following an expression of interest process and fees will be charged according to the duration of the care session. The Government will subsidise the difference between actual revenue and cost and this trial will run for 12 months from 1 July 2013.

National Out of School Hours Services Association (NOSHSA) The Australian Government is also providing funding to the National Out of School Hours Services Association to look at ways expanding out of school hours services and accessibility. This project will run for 15 months from July.