Overview

The primary purpose of the Early Childhood Council is to represent the interests of independent early childhood centres, and to promote the provision of quality early childhood education services.

The Early Childhood Council (ECC) was formed in 1990 from the amalgamation of the Licensed Childcare Centres Federation and the Associated Childcare Council; the Council was officially incorporated in 1991.

The ECC is largely funded by membership subscriptions; membership is voluntary and is available to all licensed independent early childhood centres managed by community-owned and commercially owned groups. With over 1000 licensed education and care centres as members of the ECC, our organisation is the largest representative body of early childhood centres in New Zealand.

Our members' centres are diverse, ranging from centres in small rural towns to those in large cities, from centres as small as 10 licensed places through to a number of 50-place centres that are managed as part of large groups. 62% of members are owner-operated centres, the remaining 38% are community owned.

The ECC is governed by its constitution, which provides for an Executive Committee to be elected annually by the members. The Executive Committee includes the positions of President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary and five Executive Members.

The Council provides support to its members through several ECC Advisors, who are specialists in early childhood and business issues. A network of sixteen Area Contacts throughout New Zealand contributes further support.

The ECC provides a range of benefits and services to its members, including discounts through various goods and services providers, an insurance scheme tailored specifically to the early childhood sector, regular news updates, access to our information library via our website, and the magazine - Swings & Roundabouts. We provide members with a number of handbooks and produce surveys each year covering employment, and fee rates and policies in the sector. The ECC also runs the Early Childhood Council Annual Conference, which regularly attracts hundreds of members and non-members from the early childhood sector.

The Council employs a Chief Executive Officer, an Administration Manager, a Publications Manager, a Professional Development Manager and a Communications Manager. The Council's National Office is based in Wellington.

For the full range of the membership benefits available go to the Membership section of this site.

The Early Childhood Council is the largest representative body of licensed early childhood centres in New Zealand. Our over 1000 member centres are both community-owned and commercially owned, employ more than 7000 staff, and care for more than 50,000 children.

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