Casey Seidel, of Eaglehawk, has been named the Family Day Care Australia Regional Educator of the Year for the Bendigo, Goldfields & Macedon Ranges region.

The Family Day Care Australia Excellence in Family Day Care Awards recognise the educators, coordinators, and services who deliver high quality early childhood education and care across Australia.

Casey chose to establish her own home-based business with the assistance of Bendigo Family Day Care 18 months ago, after 20 years as an early childhood educator.

“It’s absolutely the best thing I have ever done within my career, which spans many different roles within the sector,” Casey said. “I feel so fulfilled now and I just couldn’t ever imagine doing anything else. It has 100 per cent given me back my passion for early childhood education.”

Casey said being named the regional Educator of the Year was a great honour. “I felt extremely honoured and excited to have been nominated in the first place,” she said. “And I was absolutely blown away when I received the email to say I had won.”

Casey was nominated by one or more of the families that attend her home-based service in Eaglehawk, then chosen as winner out of more than 5000 nominations. “It was then I realised that this is a much bigger deal than I first thought,” she said.

Casey said the rewards have been many since becoming a Bendigo Family Day Care educator. “I find the love, respect, connection, and acknowledgement from both the children and their families so rewarding,” she said.

“The smaller Family Day Care environment allows me to get to know each individual child inside out and back to front. The learning and progression of learning of all the children is so fulfilling to see and I feel so honoured to be able to experience this with the children and families that attend my service.”

Bendigo Family Day Care coordinator Tamarra Tie said several of the local service’s educators, coordinators, and the Bendigo FDC service itself, received nominations this year.

“To simply be nominated is an amazing effort, with dedicated families providing detailed information anonymously through an online submission, and with over 10,000 educators nationally and nearly 500 services, all nominations are awesome,” Tamarra said.

“We would like to congratulate our educator Casey, for her outstanding achievement in winning the award.”

Casey thanked her supportive co-ordination team, and fellow educator and friend, Wendy Whelan, who have all guided, supported, and encouraged her on her Family Day Care journey.

She said any educators considering transitioning to Family Day Care should “stop thinking about it and just take the leap and do it!”

“I’m so extremely proud to be an early childhood educator within the Family Day Care sector,” she said.

This is the second year in a row a Bendigo Family Day Care educator has won the regional title, with Debra Towerton being awarded in 2022.

The Bendigo Family Day Care Team at Bendigo Community Health Services is actively looking for passionate and qualified educators to join them in 2024 to help meet an increasing demand for care. Please call 5406 1200 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for more information.