00:02Three-year-old Zane Jardine is full of beans.
00:05I just want my hair in the shower and we're getting more soap.
00:10He was going to a childcare centre but his parents made the decision to move him to family daycare instead.
00:17I feel much more safer sending my child to someone I know and someone I can trust.
00:22Good morning Mr Zane, how are you today?
00:25That someone is Debbie McLeod, a family daycare educator for 37 years.
00:31She makes less money than a worker in a childcare centre despite running the business herself
00:35and having to meet all the same national regulatory requirements.
00:39We're just not babysitters. Basically it's very frustrating to be labelled that.
00:46Family daycare services have dropped from 7% of the total sector in 2016 to just 2% this year.
00:53Researchers are calling it a workforce crisis.
00:56I am worried that family daycare might disappear.
01:00And that's despite strong demand, especially in country areas where family daycare is often the only option.
01:08Really they're the ones that are doing all the administration, all the relationship building, all the planning etc.
01:13It's a complicated issue. Family daycare Australia says funding for its members often lags behind the childcare sector and is
01:22often an afterthought.
01:24It says that's putting a viability strain on the industry.
01:27The federal government says a trial is underway to strengthen family daycare and improve access in regional areas.
01:34We do want to meet standards and I do want to provide the best care properly for the children, but
01:40you tie your hands up a lot.
01:42A complex puzzle for regulators, workers and families.
01:47Oh, they tend to have Japanese %uh I can connect with you.
01:50Oh, they tend to have an emergency.
