What is the Professional Support Program?
The Professional Support Program (PSP) gives those who work in child care access to the professional support they need to do their jobs well.
It is part of the larger Inclusion and Professional Support Program (IPSP) which supports child care services to provide high-quality child care.
The PSP also complements the Government's overall commitment to quality assurance in child care.
Who is the Program for?
The program is for eligible child care services and those who work in them - carers, service staff and management.
What child care services are eligible?
All Australian Government approved child care services are eligible regardless of care type or location. Types include:
- Long Day Care
- Outside School Hours Care (including Vacation Care)
- Occasional Care
- Family Day Care
- In Home Care.
Some Australian Government funded non-mainstream child care services (non-Child Care Benefit) are also eligible. These services include:
- flexible/innovative services
- Multi-functional Aboriginal Children's Services (MACS)
- non-mainstream Outside School Hours Care
- non-formula funded Occasional Care (100 per cent Australian Government funded)
- mobile children's services.
How does the Program provide support?
It gives carers, service staff and management access to:
- advice
- support
- flexible training options
- resources (including an extensive website with fact sheets, training information and useful links)
- referrals to other agencies.
How does the Program work?
Professional support is provided through state and territory based:
- Professional Support Coordinators (PSCs)
- Indigenous Professional Support Units (IPSUs).
These are the first points of contact for carers, service staff and management.
Each PSC and IPSU operates a toll-free help line and a web site with an email contact. Contact details are on the
Child care main page.
What do Professional Support Coordinators do?
PSCs coordinate professional support in their state or territory by:
- consulting child care services on what they need
- developing training calendars and programs
- managing specialist service providers who provide direct support, training and resources to child care services.
Support provided by PSCs covers areas such as quality assurance, management and early education practices.
What do Indigenous Professional Support Units do?
IPSUs perform the same role as PSCs except they work with Australian Government funded Indigenous-run child care services.
They also help PSCs to support child care services that employ Indigenous staff and/or care for Indigenous children.
How does the Program help families?
The program helps families by:
- supporting those who work in child care so they are well trained and equipped to take care of children
- giving families access to better child care and greater choice in child care, regardless of where they live.
Where do I get more information?
For more information on the PSP visit the
Child care main page.