If Europe is any guide, employing foreign childcare workers is likely to be a boom industry in Australia's future. In Europe, au-pairing is big business. Agencies exist to match au-pairs (nannies) with families from other parts of the world. Au-pairing has been so successful because it offers so much potential to both the au-pair and the family. For the au-pair, the job allows students from all over Europe to travel to another country to study, practice a second language, and engage in a cultural exchange. For the parents, not only does it give the optimal one-on-one care that helps their child's development, it also exposes the child to cultural diversity.

There are numerous reasons for why the Australian au-pair industry is not as developed as the European one. One reason is that Australia was isolated from the international community until very recently. As a consequence, foreign workers had little desire to come to Australia, and Australian families had little desire to have them. However, as Australia becomes more integrated into the global community (especially into Asia), speaking a second language, and being familiar with foreign customs, will become increasingly important. When this occurs, parents will start choosing an au-pair that will best help the scholastic, cultural, and vocational development of their children. If they want their child to speak some Japanese, they will choose a Japanese au-pair. If they want their child learn something about Indian culture, they will choose an Indian au-pair. If they want their child to be very dignified, they might choose a well-bred English person.

Another reason for the lack of an au-pair industry is the historical legacy of the White Australia Policy. The White Australia Policy was created out of a sense of inferiority. Whites in Australia felt that they would not be able to compete with the superiority of non-whites. Alfred Deakin, the chief architect of the policy, declaring:

"It is not the bad qualities, but the good qualities of these alien races that make them so dangerous to us. It is their inexhaustible energy, their power of applying themselves to new tasks, their endurance and low standard of living that make them such competitors."

Due to the protectionist mind set that is a legacy of the policy, the federal government has a series of policy restrictions that prevent foreign workers coming to Australia. For example, it may refuse to recognise foreign qualifications, or refuse to recognise foreign experience when assessing Recognition of Prior Learning.

Although there is always a moralistic reason to deny the recognition, it is plainly absurd when someone with 20 years of childcare experience is deemed less capable than an 18-year-old that has only completed a certificate IV. Furthermore, even if a foreigner can jump through all the hoops, often they can't get a work visa simply because they are foreigners.

The sense of inferiority, and its protectionist mind set, is slowly being eroded away. Australia’s success on the sporting field is demonstrating that Australians can compete with anyone if they put their mind to the task. Likewise, in business, the competitive mind set has been shown with more than one million Australians living in foreign countries, and half of them earning in excess of $200,000 a year. In the 1980s, the competitive mind set even started infiltrating government. Throughout the 80s, the Federal Labor Party embarked on a policy of internationalisation, deregulation, privatisation, and reduction of tariffs, which in turn transformed the Australian economy for the better. Whereas Australians once feared outsiders, the general thinking is now moving towards an expectation that if someone can't compete with outsiders, then they need to evolve or adapt to an area in which they can.

At the moment, the hostility to foreign workers mostly comes from Australian childcare workers who wouldn’t be able to compete. No disrespect to them, but their fear is quite well-founded. Australian childcare workers are often the dregs of Australian society, and this has been shown in the level of service that some of them have provided. In 2006, seven babies were found in a Perth childcare centre with their legs tied together with bed sheets. It took a 15-year-old on work experience to inform the authorities about what was going on.

A final reason for the lack of an Australian au-pair industry is government pork barrelling. The federal government funds childcare companies the tune of $2.4 billion a year (this is about half of what Australian gains from beef exports.) As the Australian voter appreciates the importance of childcare, the grand funding statements are generally well received. Business appreciates that if women return to work, Australian productivity increases. Feminists appreciate that if women return to work, then the income gap between men and women will decrease. Mothers appreciate that if they return to work, they will have something more interesting than changing nappies to talk about at social gatherings. Men appreciate that if women return to work, the family will have more money to buy things such as a boat, or second car. Although childcare shortages could be addressed by easing the restrictions on foreigners, governments prefer pork barrelling because it allows them to appear generous, and make grand statements in media releases. Policy changes just don't have the same media value.

While childcare pork barrelling is popular with voters now, history shows that funding of moralistic causes tends to be transient. Causes come and causes go and when they do, funding comes to an end. When that occurs, the shortage of funding will result in more economical solutions being implemented to deal with the lack of affordable childcare. The private sector will then pressure government to change policy so that it can supply what the government is currently failing to do effectively. Based on data obtained in 2002, the ABS estimated that 174,500 kids were missing out on the formal care needed by their parents. With a recent spike in births funded by the government's "baby bonus", updated figures are likely to be more concerning. No amount of money is going to solve the problem, as it simply funds childcare centres to raise prices.

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