Services and families in Katherine and Robinson River in the Northern Territory are eligible for COVID-19 support during lockdown.
Details about the lockdown are on the NT Government COVID-19 response website.
Support available
The following support is available for the duration of the Katherine lockdown, which is currently 16 to 22 November.
Services in Katherine can submit session reports to receive Child Care Subsidy (CCS) and waive gap fees for children that do not attend care during lockdown.
If you waive gap fees, you must accurately reflect this in a family’s statement of entitlement.
Additional allowable absences are available to families that live or attend care in Katherine. This means families won’t have to use any of their allowable absences during lockdown.
You don’t need to do anything to access these absences. They will be automatically applied in the Child Care Subsidy System.
For families and services in Robinson River, gap fees can be waived from 16 to 18 November.
General COVID-19 support
All Australian families have 10 extra allowable absences per child for the 2021–22 financial year. This brings the total number of allowable absences available to 52.
Until 30 June 2022, services can waive gap fees and get CCS if a child is unable to attend care because:
- they, or a member of their immediate household, must isolate due to COVID-19
- the service, or a room at the service, is closed on advice from the state or territory government due to COVID-19
- the state or territory has restricted access to child care in a region due to COVID-19.
More information
Visit the Early childhood COVID-19 support by region page for regions eligible for support and the dates the support starts and ends.
Visit the COVID-19 information for the early childhood education and care sector page for more information.