Growing Up in Australia
IN CONFIDENCE
PILOT VERSION ONLY
Family Day Carer questionnaire
Child aged 0-12 months
Thank you for helping us with the Growing Up in Australia study.
This questionnaire is for the person who is the main carer of the child who is a
participant in the Growing Up in Australia study. That is, looking after this child
regularly.
Please fill out this questionnaire with regard to yourself and the child named below,
thinking about the child while he/she is in your care.
Child’s name: ____________________________
PLEASE TIME HOW MANY MINUTES IT TAKES YOU TO COMPLETE THIS
SURVEY AND RECORD THIS ON THE BACK PAGE.
When completed, please put into the reply paid envelope and mail it back to us.
All the information you provide will remain totally confidential. This means that it
will never be used in any way that identifies individuals, children or families.
Participation in this study is voluntary. If you have any questions or want more
information about the study you can contact Colmar Brunton Social Research on
freecall 1800 004 446 and mention the Growing Up in Australia study.
Child ID:………………………………
PLEASE RECORD START TIME |__|__| HRS |__|__| MINS
SECTION 1 FOCUS CHILD AND CARE CHARACTERISTICS
The first few questions are about the focus child and their family.
1. How long has this child been in your care?
Number of months _______________________
2(a) . Has this child received any additional services to support his/her learning and
development while being in your care?
 No (GO TO Q 3)
 Yes
2 (b) If yes, please specify the nature of the extra services this child has received
_______________________________________
3. During the time that this child has been in your care, how often has a parent of the
child had an informal discussion with you (e.g. at pick-up or drop-off times)
 Every day
 A few times a week
 A few times a month
 Never
 Not applicable - opportunities not available
4. On average, how many children do you care for on any day that you have this child?
Only the focus child •
GO TO Section 2
Number of children (including this child) [____]
5. What is the age range of the children who usually attend on the days when this child is
in your care? Please describe the age range in years, for example, birth to 2 years, 1 to 3
years.
Age range of children (including this child) _____months to ____ years
6. How many children who attend on the same day(s) with this child are from a nonEnglish speaking family background?
Number of children (not including this child) _______
or [__] None
7. How many children who attend on the same day(s) with this child have a diagnosed
disability (e.g., intellectual, sensory, physical, autistic spectrum disorder,
developmental delay)?
Number of children (not including this child) _______
or [__] None
SECTION 2: YOUR PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND
The next questions ask for information about you and your background and your
educational and professional experiences.
1. Are you
 Male
 Female
2. What was your age last birthday? _________ years
3. On average, how many hours per week do you care for children other than your own?
 35 hours or more per week?
 Less than 35 hours per week?
4. Is this work paid or unpaid?
 Paid
 Unpaid
 Both
 Other (specify) …………………………………………
5. Counting this year, for how many years have you worked in child care services or
other early education programs (eg., preschool, kindergarten)? (Working means 10 hours
or more a week in paid and unpaid positions and includes your job now).
Number of years (including this one) _____________
6. Counting this year, for how long have you worked as a family day care
provider/home-based carer?
Number of years (including this one) _________
7. What is the highest educational level you have completed? Please mark only one
option.
 Masters or Doctoral Degree
 Graduate Diploma and Graduate Certificate (completed after a Bachelor degree)
 Bachelor Degree
 Advanced Diploma
 Associate Diploma
 Diploma
 Certificate
 Secondary Education
 Other : please describe ______________________________________
8. If you have completed a post-secondary qualification, what is the field of study of
your highest level qualification? Please mark one or more options.
(but do not include in-service training here).







Teaching (early childhood related)
Teaching (primary)
Nursing (including Mothercraft Nursing)
Child Care Certificate – Basic (one year trained)
Child care Certificate/Associate Diploma (2 years trained)
Diploma or Bachelor in Child Care (3 year or more trained)
Other qualifications relevant to the operation of a child care centre eg. Other
Teaching, Accountancy, Psychology, Social Work and Business Management
 None of the above
9. Are you currently engaged in a formal course of study for a qualification that will
expand your skills and knowledge in child care or early childhood education?
 No
 Yes (please specify) _________________________________________
10. In the last 12 months, what is your best estimate of the number of hours of
professional development activities related to your work that you have attended (e.g., inservice programs, seminars, workshops, and conferences, short courses)? Base your
estimate on hours of attendance with one day of participation as equal to 6 hours. (but do
not include training towards qualifications included in previous question.)
 Nil
 1 to 6 hours (1 day)
 7 to 12 hours (2 days)
 13 to 18 hours (3 days)
 19 to 24 hours (4 days)
 More then 25 hours (5 or more days)
11. Do you access a family day care coordination unit or any community organisations,
schools, or other institutions that assist you in your work with children or in meeting
family needs?
 Yes
 No
12. Do you belong to a Commonwealth service or are you a Child Care Benefit
Registered carer (so parents may claim CCB using receipts, fee relief or as a lump sum).
 Yes
 No
Please indicate the extent to which you agree with each of the following statements on
your work as a child care provider, on a scale of 1 to 5.
13. I can rely on others for
support and assistance when
needed.
14. I have a clear
understanding of my roles
and responsibilities.
15. I am able to contribute
to decision-making about
policies and practices in this
service
16. Care providers in this
service go about their work
with enthusiasm.
17. My personal philosophy
and goals are in agreement
with those of this care
service
Strongly
disagree
Disagree
Neither
agree or
disagree
Agree
Strongly
Agree
Does
not
apply
1
2
3
4
5
6
1
2
3
4
5
6
1
2
3
4
5
6
1
2
3
4
5
6
1
2
3
4
5
6
SECTION 3: PROGRAM & ENVIRONMENT
The next set of questions are the about the child care setting. Please indicate how much
of your work as a carer of children is described by the following activities:
1. sitting and playing with children
2. singing, telling stories, reading books
3. managing problem behaviour
4. giving individual attention in routine care
(feeding, toileting, dressing, putting to sleep, etc)
5. organising space, equipment, food and drink
6. teaching good health practices (hand washing,
healthy eating, sun protection, etc)
7. active outdoor play (running, ball play, etc)
8. watching or supervising children's play
9. participating in children's pretend play
10. housekeeping and other family chores
Not at
all
1
1
1
1
Some
what
2
2
2
2
Quite
a lot
3
3
3
3
Very
much
4
4
4
4
Does not
apply
5
5
5
5
1
1
2
2
3
3
4
4
5
5
1
1
1
1
2
2
2
2
3
3
3
3
4
4
4
4
5
5
5
5
The next questions ask about the program, space, facilities and equipment in home-based
child care services. Please answer each question by marking the box that best describes
your own setting.
Home child care settings vary as to the amount of space they have available for children’s
play. Please describe the situation as it typically is in your day care home.
11. Do you have any areas in your setting that are specifically set up just for one type of
play, like a block area or a dress-up area?
 Yes
 No
12. How satisfied are you with the amount of space you have for children in your care:
 Not at all satisfied
 Somewhat satisfied
 Moderately satisfied
 Very satisfied
Sometimes budgets don’t allow child-care providers to purchase all the toys and materials
they would like. Which best describes your day care home in terms of educational
materials relating to language development, including cloth and hardpage books, as well
as music tapes, puppets, and picture cards?
13. Books and materials to stimulate language development are available to the children
 Occasionally
 For short periods each day
 For about half the day
 All day
14. The number of books and materials to stimulate language development is
 Less than 1 per child in your care
 At least 1 per child in your care
 2 or more per child in your care
15. On an average day, how many minutes per day do you read aloud to the children in
your care?
___________minutes
16. On average, how often do the children in your care watch television or videos?
 Every day
 A few times a week
 A few times a month
 A few times a year or never
We are interested in learning about the availability of items for active play, for example,
ride-on or push-along toys, balls. Which best describes your day care home?
17. Children have access to this type of equipment
 Occasionally
 For short periods each day
 For about half the day
 All day
When it comes to toys and equipment involving fine motor skills and hand-eye
coordination, such as posting boxes, nesting cups, pop-up toys, or puzzles, which best
describes your day care home?
18. Children have access to this type of equipment
 Occasionally
 For short periods each day
 For about half the day
 All day
IF ALL CHILDREN IN YOUR CARE ARE UNDER 12 MONTHS OF AGE
--> DO NOT ANSWER QUESTIONS 19 OR 20
When it comes to art activities and creative materials, such as crayons, drawing, play doh,
paint, cutting and pasting, which of the following statements best describes your day care
home?
19. Children (over 12 months of age) can access art materials
 Occasionally
 For short periods each day
 For about half the day
 All day
When it comes to materials for pretend play, such as dolls, prams, cars, home play, and
dress-ups, such as hats or handbags, which best describes your day care home?
20. Children (over 12 months of age) have access to this type of equipment
 Occasionally
 For short periods each day
 For about half the day
 All day
Section 4 Child skills and abilities
The following questions focus on the skills and abilities that the child shows in daily
activities.
1. Compared with other children, how old would you say this child now acts?
His/her own age [___] OR ______months
2(a). Do you have any concerns about this child’s learning, development or behaviour?
 No (GO TO Q 3)
 Don't know (GO TO Q 3)
 Yes
2 (b) If yes, what are your concerns?
_____________________________________________________
3. Compared to other children, do you think this child is:
 much easier to get on with than average
 easier to get on with than average
 about average
 more difficult to get on with than average
 much more difficult to get on with than average
 cannot say
The following questions relate to this child’s language and play skills. Babies learn
language and play skills at different rates, so we would not expect this child to be able
to do all of these things.
Emotion and Use of Eye Gaze
4
Do you know when the child is happy and
when the child is upset?
5 When the child plays with toys, does he/she
look at you to see if you are watching?
6 Does the child smile or laugh while looking at
you?
7 When you look at and point to a toy across the
room, does the child look at it?
Use of Communication
8
9
Not yet
Sometimes
Often
Not yet
Sometimes
Often
Not yet
Sometimes
Often
Not yet
Sometimes
Often
Does the child let you know that he/she needs Not yet Sometimes
help or wants an object out of reach?
When you are not paying attention to the
Not yet Sometimes
child, does he/she try to get your attention?
Often
Often
10 Does the child do things just to get you to
Not yet Sometimes
laugh?
11 Does the child try to get you to notice
Not yet Sometimes
interesting objects-just to get you to look at the
objects, not to get you do anything with them?
Use of Gestures
Often
12 Does the child pick up objects and give them
to you?
13 Does the child show objects to you without
giving you the object?
14 Does the child wave to greet people?
15 Does the child point to objects?
16 Does the child nod his/her head to indicate
yes?
Use of Objects
Not yet Sometimes
Often
Not yet Sometimes
Often
Not yet Sometimes
Not yet Sometimes
Not yet Sometimes
Often
Often
Often
17 Does the child show interest in playing with
a variety of objects?
18 About how many of the following objects
does the child use appropriately: cup, bottle,
bowl, spoon, comb or brush, toothbrush,
washcloth, ball, toy vehicle, toy telephone?
19 About how many blocks (or rings) does the
child stack?
20 Does the child pretend to play with toys
(such as feed a stuffed animal, put a doll to
sleep, put an animal figure in a vehicle)?
Often
Not yet Sometimes
Often
0
1-2
3-4
5-8 9+
None
2
3-4
5+
Not yet Sometimes
Often
Infant/Toddler Checklist (Wetherby & Prizant) © 2001 Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co..
Section 5: Carer-Child Relationship
The following questions focus on your relationship with this child. For each statement,
please mark the appropriate number for your response.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
I share an affectionate, warm relationship with this
child.
This child and I always seem to be struggling with
each other (ie, having a hard time getting along).
If upset, this child will seek comfort from me.
This child is uncomfortable with physical affection or
touch from me.
This child reacts strongly to separation from me.
This child is overly dependent on me.
This child easily becomes angry at me.
It is easy to be in tune with what this child is feeling.
Dealing with this child drains my energy.
When this child is in a bad mood, I know we're in for
a long and difficult day.
Despite my best efforts, I'm uncomfortable with how
this child and I get along
This child whines or cries when he/she wants
something from me.
My interactions with this child make me feel
effective and confident.
Definitely Not
does not really
apply
1
2
Neutral, Applies Definitely
not sure somewhat applies
3
4
5
1
2
3
4
5
1
1
2
2
3
3
4
4
5
5
1
1
1
1
1
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
3
3
3
3
3
3
4
4
4
4
4
4
5
5
5
5
5
5
1
2
3
4
5
1
2
3
4
5
1
2
3
4
5
 1992 Pianta, University of Virginia
PLEASE RECORD FINISH TIME |__|__| HRS |__|__| MINS
(Complete next page please)
CONSENT
You are being asked to take part in Growing Up in Australia, a study being run by the
Australian Institute of Family Studies on behalf of the Australian Government. The data
are being collected by Colmar Brunton Social Research in conjunction with NCS
Pearson.
All the information collected will be kept strictly confidential (except where it is
required to be reported by law and/or there is a risk of harm to yourself or others). The
findings from the study will only report group results. No individual information will be
released.
Participation in this study is voluntary. You will be free to withdraw from the study at
any time or choose not to take part in some aspects of the study. Please sign below if you
agree to take part at this stage.

 I agree to participate in this study
Family day carer: _______________________________
________
Signature
Date
Name :
……………………………………………………….
Address:
……………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………….
Please record how long it took you to fill in this form.
__ __ (minutes)
Please complete the information below if you have filled in this survey on
behalf of the child’s carer.
Your name: _________________________
Relationship to child’s carer: ______________________________
Reason for filling in this form on behalf of the child’s carer:
___________________________________________________________________
Thank you for taking the time to fill in this form
If you have any questions or want more information about the study you can contact
Colmar Brunton Social Research on freecall 1800 004 446 and mention the Growing Up
in Australia study.