When a family ends their child’s enrolment, we don’t usually pay Child Care Subsidy for any days after the last day the child physically attends.
This rule won’t apply for families that choose to end their enrolment during a Commonwealth-declared COVID-19 Hotspot of more than 7 days, from 12 July 2021.
What enrolments are eligible?
To be eligible, the family must end the enrolment:
- by arrangement during a state and territory lockdown in a Commonwealth declared hotspot of more than 7 days,
- on or after 12 July 2021.
The enrolment must either be:
- at a service that is located in an area subject to a Commonwealth hotpot declaration, or
- for a child that lives in an area that is subject to a Commonwealth hotpot declaration.
You can find out if you or your families are in a Commonwealth declared COVID-19 Hotspot on the Department of Health website.
Enrolments that ceased due to non-attendance in this period are not eligible.
What do providers need to do?
- Identify any enrolments that may be eligible.
- Record an attendance for the child on the last day of the enrolment, ensuring that:
- the session fee is $0
- the session start time is 10:00pm and end time is 10:15pm
- the session description is ‘COVID-19 last day of care’
- Advise families of the action taken and ensure they receive the benefit of the payments.
If the $0 session time conflicts with an absence, change the start and end times to any other time in the day where there is no conflict. If the session conflicts with an actual attendance, you don’t need to do anything, this policy does not affect you.
It’s important providers and services comply with their responsibilities under Family Assistance Law. If they cannot pass on the payment as a fee reduction, they should contact families and make arrangements to pay them directly.
Compliance with eligibility rules and obligations under Family Assistance Law will be monitored.