Limestone Coast family daycare educator Rachel Smith and advocate nominated for Women Changing the World Awards

When her childcare contract was abruptly cut, she shared her story – and found a huge problem with her industry. Now she’s been nominated for a global award.

Rachel Smith, from Kongorong with her daughter Addy. Picture: Supplied

When Rachel Smith lost her contract as a family daycare provider without warning, she shared her story – and discovered a culture of people feeling “threatened and belittled in their own homes”.

So she decided to do something about it – try to help people going through the same thing.

The 36-year-old educator from Kongorong, about 30km south of Mount Gambier, shared what happened on her blog, Rachel’s Home Child Care Educator Support, and received a flurry of replies from people with similar stories.

“When my contract was terminated, I found out I wasn’t the only one,” she said.

“The negative stories that were sent to me, made it apparent that there’s something deeper going on in the industry.

Rachel Smith, 36, from Kongorong, has been nominated for a Women Changing the World Award thanks to her advocacy on behalf of early childhood educators. Picture: supplied.

“It feels like there’s a lot of people in the industry who are on a power-trip, and aren’t supportive of other educators.”

Mrs Smith ran Rachel’s Home Child Care out of her Kongorong home until her contract was terminated by her provider in November 2023 “in an incredibly unprofessional and unexpected manner”.

“Educators are scared, they are scared to put a foot out of line, they are scared to speak up when something isn’t working, they feel threatened and belittled in their own homes and feel the need for everything to be absolutely perfect all of the time,” she said.

“This is something that needs to change, it’s not an appropriate culture to have in any work environment, so I’m doing what I can to start the conversation.”

After the positive reception to her blog post, Mrs Smith decided she wanted to challenge the culture by offering family day care educators a support network and a safe space to share their experiences without fear of judgment – and without fear of having their contract with an approved provider terminated.

“I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do at first or what needed to be done,” she said. “I just knew that I wanted to talk about it and clearly so did others.

“So I took what was being done to me and so many others and talked to people in the education community about what I could do to make positive change or at least offer my support.”

Several months later, Mrs Smith has been nominated for a global award, recognising the positive and unifying affects of her advocacy work through her blog and Facebook page devoted to supporting early childhood educators.

Mrs Smith was nominated for the 2024 Women Changing the World Awards by several people inspired by her support, which focuses on uplifting educators, particularly those running family daycare.

The Women Changing the World Awards, presented by Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson and world-renowned educator Dr Tererai Trent, celebrate and recognise women achieving outstanding success in areas such as sustainability, humanitarian work, leadership, advocacy, tech, product development, education, health and innovation.

The awards aim to amplify the voices of those making invaluable contributions to society but who often get overlooked and inspire others to create change – big or small – in their chosen niche – for Mrs Smith, that niche is early childhood education/family daycare.

Rachel Smith with her daughter Adelyn. Picture: Supplied

Mrs Smith said while the job of family daycare educator was incredibly rewarding, allowing her to spend precious time with her daughter Addy and other children in close-knit Kongorong, the demand of the job and all the hats daycare educators have to wear can get exhausting.

“Not only are you an educator where you want and need to be fun, nurturing and educational, you also have to be your own admin, first aid officer, cleaner, and much more,” Mrs Smith said.

“In a traditional school or centre you have multiple employees to help carry out those tasks but for most family daycare educators, they’re doing it on their own.

“Don’t get me wrong, it’s what we signed up for, so in no way am I complaining, it doesn’t mean that we don’t struggle though.

“By supporting childcare educators and addressing issues like bullying, we can create a ripple effect of positive change that extends far beyond the classroom.”

In addition to being nominated for the Women Changing the World Awards, Mrs Smith also won the 2023 Limestone Coast FDCA Educator of the Year Award and has been nominated for the Beam into Business Awards.

She has also launched professional development programs and has created and shared a range of educational resources offering support and guidance to educators all over Australia, helping both people new to the industry and reigniting the passion of seasoned educators.

The winners of the 2024 Women Changing the World Awards will be announced at a glamorous event in London, United Kingdom this May.

Mrs Smith is awaiting accreditation approval with her new provider Holistic Approach FDC so she can resume her childcare business.

Until then, she is offering support and guidance to other educators through both her Facebook group and her blog: Rachel’s Home Child Care Educator Support.