We’ve declared a Child Care Subsidy (CCS) period of emergency in parts of North Queensland due to Tropical Cyclone Kirrily.
The CCS period of emergency applies from 25 January to 6 February 2024 in the following local government areas:
- Burdekin Shire Council
- Cassowary Coast Regional Council
- Charters Towers Regional Council
- Hinchinbrook Shire Council
- Mackay Regional Council
- Townsville City Council
- Whitsunday Regional Council.
We continue to monitor the situation and will provide updates as required.
Support during the emergency
The following support is available in affected regions during the CCS period of emergency:
- you can continue to get CCS if your service closes as a direct result of the emergency
- you can waive the gap fee if a child doesn’t attend, or your service is closed, during the CCS period of emergency
- families will get unlimited allowable absences for the duration of the CCS period of emergency.
Read more about support during a CCS period of emergency.
Support after the emergency
The following support may help you recover after an emergency:
- you may be eligible for a Community Child Care Fund special circumstances grant if the emergency threatens your service’s ability to stay open after the event, and you have already accessed other disaster support
- families may be able to access additional absences if they’ve exhausted their allowable absences
- families may be eligible for Additional Child Care Subsidy if they experience temporary financial hardship due to an emergency that happened in the last 6 months.
Read more about support after an emergency.
Other disaster support
You may be eligible for other government disaster support:
- The Australian Government provides help for people affected by natural disasters. Find out whether you're eligible on the Services Australia website.
- Your state or territory government may provide additional support in the event of a natural disaster. Find out more at qld.gov.au.