Early Childhood Education and Care as a Community Service or Big Business?

Abstract

This colloquium discusses recent trends where early childhood education and care has shifted from being a community service to that of big business. Years of neo-liberal reform have created market conditions favourable for large corporations to provide childcare within Australia. This situation raises some issues and concerns, particularly in relation to the amount of profit that is generated for the shareholders from the business of caring and educating young children and the amount of educational control and governance resting in the hands of one corporation.