The Rise of the For-Profit Child Care Sector: Implications for Choosing Quality Child Care in Northern Regional Australia

The outcomes of this research were achieved by using a qualitative methodology informed by a feminist perspective. The study focused on the experiences of parents/carers in large regional cities, with populations greater than 50,000, in northern Australia. The qualitative semi-structured, in-depth interview was chosen as the data gathering technique. Parents/carers were interviewed in each of the following regional cities; Cairns, Mackay and Darwin. These parents/carers were using either community-based or for-profit long day care, or searching for these child care services. Respondents were recruited on a voluntary basis through the distribution of recruitment flyers to all types of long day care centres and public locations such as libraries and university campuses. Each respondent was interviewed once and interviews lasted for approximately one hour. The focus of the interview questions was: • the experience of choosing and locating child care in a large regional city • exploring the link between child care choice and quality • views on community-based and for-profit long day care facilities The interviews were transcribed and analysed using the grounded theory techniques of coding and theme development.