Brisbane, Queensland.

Frontier Services provides In Home Care services throughout Queensland, the Northern Territory and the Kimberley, through the In Home Care service operated nationally and coordinated from Brisbane.

Families who have no other access to child care are able to employ Educators to live on site with them in order to provide this essential service. Carers are deemed self-employed and Frontier Services receives funding in order to coordinate the program and to administer the Child Care Benefit payment that subsidises fees payable by parents to Educators directly.

In 2007, Frontier Services applied for additional places when a funding opportunity arose to meet the growing needs across Queensland, the Northern Territory and the Kimberley in Western Australia. We continue to advocate for the allocation of additional places to meet the needs of remote families.

The expansion of our In Home Care program led to the development of a national approach and a National Coordinator was appointed to facilitate the development and implementation of this program.

Local Coordinators provide the day-to-day support and assessment visits to Educators and families and ensure all quality standards are met. They are located at present in Perth, Charleville and Hughenden.

In Home Care is for families with children who cannot be cared for by other child-care services or whose current circumstances mean that existing child-care services cannot meet their needs.

One or more of the following must also be met:

• The child has an illness or disability, or lives with another person who has one
• The child’s guardian (or their partner) has an illness or disability that affects their ability to care for the child
• The child lives in a rural or remote area
• No other childcare service is available during the hours the guardian (or their partner) is working
• The guardian (or their partner) cares for three or more children who have not yet started school

Educators are usually sourced by the family and undergo a comprehensive registration process including an interview, character reference checks, medical report, national police checks, skills assessment, working with children check, and induction. Formal qualifications are not essential, however Educators are required to undertake training during the care period.

To register, families should contact the coordination unit closest to their residence:

Charleville and Districts IHC – Robin Case (07) 4654 7348 – This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Hughenden IHC – Brad Case (07) 3217 7105 – This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

WA and NT IHC – Ranitha Ravichandar (08) 9355 9177 – This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.