We're now into the third week of the new Child Care Subsidy, and unfortunately the transition period is proving to be challenging on many fronts.
There are a handful of operational issues that continue to be problematic for service providers as well as families, and some of these have impacted heavily on both parties. These frustrations are only compounded by not being able to get clear answers from Centrelink and the Department of Education and Training on how these issues are being addressed.
These issues include:
- Absences of care for continuing families
- Preschool/kindergarten exemption
- Payments made directly to families
- Misinformation from Centrelink staff
We have provided updates below on what we know so far in terms of progress on each one.
ACA is extremely grateful to our members for taking the time to give us your candid feedback, and we continue to engage with the relevant departments to seek practical solutions to the problems being experienced.
For those of you who haven't yet completed our survey about how the CCS has affected your service, we encourage you to complete it here. We also encourage you to share the families survey with your parents here.
We will continue to provide updates on this matter as they come to hand.
Absences of care for continuing families
Last week (3:21pm, Thursday 12 July) the Department of Education and Training (DET) sent approved providers an email which included an update regarding “Transitions – absences before care”.
ACA interprets the rules set out in this update to be confusing and contradictory.
It is unclear whether:
- the Department is treating existing families (enrolled prior to 2 July receiving CCB/CCR) as if they are new families / bookings, where subsidies are not eligible prior to the first day of attendance and or after the last day of attendance; OR
- alternatively this advice only affects existing families that do not attend at all during the period 2 to 16 July 2018 - for example school holidays.
ACA has been actively engaging with DET since the impacts of this ruling on families became apparent. We requested that the Department consider the families affected by this rule, given they may experience a significant and unexpected financial burden as a result of this decision (or limitation of the new system).
We have been advised that it is not the Department's intention for continuing families to receive less subsidy and be worse off under these circumstances as a result of the new CCS.
We understand that DET are looking into how they can address this issue at the practical level, to assist those families that have been affected. We are expecting an answer in the immediate future and will continue to provide updates on this matter as they come to hand.
Preschool/kindergarten exemption
There is a recognised glitch in the CCSS in relation to the activity test preschool exemption (ie. 36 hours of subsidised care per fortnight for children attending a preschool program in centre-based care, for those families that pass the income test).
Some service providers are not receiving subsidy on behalf of parents of children eligible for the preschool exemption.
It is our understanding that this glitch is being addressed by software providers, with an outcome expected next week.
ACA has been advised that as an interim solution, Centrelink will be paying any additional CCS directly to families who may have been impacted by this error. However service providers will not receive any notification about this, so they will not know if this has been paid to the family.
ACA does not believe this is a satisfactory solution, given there is no visibility of the payment for the service provider.
In addition we are following up feedback that families who have accessed a 'preschool program' one year, and (for whatever reason) are accessing it again this year (eg the child wasn't ready to start school) are being denied subsidy. This goes against previous information from government, and we await urgent clarification on this matter.
We will continue to advocate on this issue and keep members informed.
Payments made directly to families
DET announced yesterday a set of circumstances where subsidies would be paid directly to families.
These include:
- when a parent has updated their activities in the activity test, and the service provider then backdates a session report, AND
- when a child starts at a service without a parent having lodged their CCS claim or having confirmed their enrolment.
This decision seems at odds with the recommendation put forward by the Productivity Commission in relation to subsidies being paid for families and assumes the service provider has charged full fee to that point in time. It also means that the service provider will not know when the parent is paid the subsidy.
Again this is not a satisfactory solution and we will continue to advocate in this space.
FYI as the new CCS cannot be claimed as an annual lump sum at the end of the tax year, Centrelink will only backdate payments for care provided up to 28 days before the date the family submitted their claim.
Misinformation from Centrelink staff
Just a quick reminder - we can only follow up on your feedback about any conflicting or incorrect information provided to you or your families from Centrelink or other government customer service staff, if you provide us with adequate information.
We need:
- the name of the person you spoke to
- a reference number or employee number
- the number you dialled to speak to them (ie. which hotline?)
- the time and date of the conversation, and
- a summary of what you were told.
To this end, when you or your families are talking to Centrelink staff of other government representatives, if you feel the information you are being given doesn't sound quite right, please ask them for their name long with a reference number of employee number, and record the details listed above. You can then forward this information to your relevant ACA state body.
We can then follow this up with the relevant government department and work towards ensuring that families and service providers are not misinformed.
If you're an early learning service provider and you're not yet a member of ACA, contact your relevant ACA state body to talk about your membership options.