Inclusion & Professional Support Program
Inclusion and Professional Support ProgramFor more information on the Inclusion and Professional Support Program visit the Department of Employment, Education and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) website Professional Support Through state and territory based Professional Support Coordinators (PSCs) and Indigenous Professional Support Units (IPSUs), the IPSP ensures that all Australian Government approved child care services, regardless of geographic location, have access to quality professional support. PSCs are the first point of contact for eligible child care services requiring professional support and use local professional support service providers to deliver support that meets the individual needs of child care services. IPSUs provide culturally appropriate advice and support eligible Indigenous-run child care services. The support services available to eligible child care services through PSCs and IPSUs include:
- telephone advice and support
- resource materials
- flexible training options
- on-line resource collections, including fact sheets, training information and useful links
- referral to appropriate agencies for further advice and information.
IPSUs also advise PSCs on professional support that meets the needs of eligible mainstream child care services with Indigenous staff or children.Inclusion SupportThe Inclusion and Professional Support Program (IPSP) assists child care services to include children with additional needs in child care. Under the Program, 67 regionally based Inclusion Support Agencies (ISAs) manage networks of skilled Inclusion Support Facilitators (ISFs) to work at a local level with child care services.ISFs assist child care services to build their skill base and capacity to include children with additional needs.The target groups for inclusion support are:
- children from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds, including refugee children
- children with ongoing high support needs, including children with a disability
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.
The Inclusion Support Agencies in South Australia are:Inclusive Directions - www.directions.org.auNovita Children's Services - www.novita.org.au Other forms of assistance available In addition to the above, child care services may be able to access additional support through
- Inclusion Support Subsidy - assists eligible child care services to improve their capacity to include children with ongoing high support needs in quality child care. This subsidy replaced the Special Needs Subsidy Scheme (SNSS) and Disabled Supplementary Services Payment (DSUPS) on 1 July 2006
- Flexible Support Funding - time limited support provided to eligible child care services to build their capacity to include a child with additional needs by employing additional staff to increase the staff to child ratio for a time limited period.
- Bicultural Support - time limited specialist support to assist child care services to include children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds (CALD), refugee children, or Indigenous children. This support includes onsite or telephone assistance at the time of enrolment.
