3.2.1: Formal and informal child care
Formal child care is regulated care away from the child’s home. Child care is primarily
provided through 5 models:
• long day care
• family day care
• occasional care
• outside school hours care
• preschool.
Informal care is non-regulated care that is arranged by a child’s parent or guardian, either in
the child’s home or elsewhere. It comprises care by: (step) brothers or sisters; grandparents;
other relatives (including a parent living elsewhere) and other (unrelated) people such as
friends, neighbours, nannies or babysitters. In the context of the Australian Bureau of Statistics
(ABS) Childhood Education and Care survey, this care may be paid or unpaid (ABS 2015a).