In 2010, a Commonwealth 'State of Early Childhood' report detailed that families were finding it difficult to navigate government funded Early Childhood services, federal and state. It provided a solution which showed that a family should be at the centre of the ecosystem, while maintaining standards and compliance for services and government. HubWorks! took that report and talked to government about building the ecosystem.
The Department of Industry agreed that a solution was going to be difficult for the government to build, because government business is one part of a child's ecosystem and for the model to work, it needed to crossover many services that a family interacts with. The Commonwealth also recognised the inherent attribute of services having more access to families directly through the ecosystem.
The ecosystem is a model, dedicated to frontline services, to families, and most importantly to children.
Funding was approved, based on the infrastructure of HubWorks! CCMS being the backbone of the new Early Childhood Ecosystem. However, there was one catch. We had to demonstrate the need and were required to consult the Department of Education, FAHCSIA, the child care services sector, allied Early Childhood Services and families.
An independent research organisation did a needs assessment over twelve months. The report was positive, demonstrating the need for an Early Childhood Ecosystem. The Department of Innovation supplied a new CEO for HubHello so that the project had a qualified appointee to deliver the Ecosystem. Over 5 years, five Executives were appointed as head of the Early Childhood Ecosystem delivery.
HubHello, Commonwealth and State governments, CSIRO, NICTA, Raising Children's Network, childcare sector leaders, peak bodies and many child care services collaborated to build the platform which demonstrated a service model for children, families, providers and Government.
The platform includes several current and past CCMS providers, including HubWorks!, Brainchild, Centrecalc with two more CCMS/CCITS providers joining before Christmas.