Preventing the spread of the Coronavirus
As is always the case, educators and employees who are sick or showing symptoms of a common cold or flu need to avoid coming to the early learning centre. They should also obtain medical certificates or advice from medical professionals regarding isolation and time away from work.
Families should also keep their children away from the centre if their children are showing symptoms of illness.
Families with one person being tested for the Coronavirus
If a child or other family member is advised by their medical practitioner that they should get tested for COVID-19, then all household members, even if they have no symptoms, are advised to also self-isolate while awaiting the test results. This guidance is reflected on the HealthDirect website - you will need to type in 393 into the keyword search to bring this information up.
ACA recommends that service providers and families should refer to the Coronavirus symptom checker (provided by the Australian Government-funded Health Direct information service) if in any doubt about seeking medical attention.
You can also contact the National Coronavirus Hotline: 1800 020 080.
Immediately report suspected cases of the Coronavirus
You must notify and seek advice from your local Public Health Unit when you suspect an infectious disease has impacted your service.
You can access the contact details for your local Public Health unit here.
If you close your service, either voluntarily, or as advised by your local Public Health unit:
- Any incident that requires the Approved Provider to close or reduce the number of children attending a service for a period requires notification to the State Regulatory Authority within 24 hours.
If a child or staff member at your service is diagnosed with Coronavirus, you are required to report any risk or incident of infectious disease to:
• Your State Regulatory Authority; and
• Your local Public Health Unit
Self isolation
As of 15th March, everyone arriving in Australia from overseas — including Australian citizens — must self-isolate for 14 days from the date of their arrival.
If they develop a fever or cough, they should seek medical advice urgently.
For further general information about the Coronavirus, symptoms and how to self-isolate, visit the Health Direct Coronavirus webpage here.
(This is the website that the National Coronavirus Hotline staff use to inform callers.)
When the CCS returns, should I be charging parents if their child is excluded or they choose to stay home?
Services must make reasonable attempts to collect the gap fee.
What are the CCS implications?
CCS is payable for allowable absences. If a child has exceeded the 42 days of allowable absences, the family may qualify for additional absences.
What about additional absences of children?
If a family has reached their 42 allowable absences in this financial year, additional absences can be applied for.
In instances where the child is ill, a medical certificate will be provided. Once the centre has a copy if this they can adjust software settings to have additional allowable absences (ie have CCS applied for those days).
In instances where the child is not ill, families should visit their local GP and get a certificate stating that the child has been excluded as per the Department of Health guidelines. The centre should take a copy of this certificate, and can then adjust software settings to have additional allowable absences (ie. have CCS applied for those days).
What if a child is excluded and hasn’t actually started their first formal day of care?
The CCS does not apply until the child physically start attending the centre.
It is up to the service provider whether they will charge the family full fees during this time.
We appreciate the awkwardness of this situation - whilst legislation has been passed which will eventually allow some absences prior to commencement to have CCS applied, these changes have not yet come into effect.
This also applies for their final day of attendance (eg. if they attended the centre prior to school starting) and is covered under ‘cessation of care’ – ie. CCS is only paid until the final day of attendance.
Does this apply for Out of School Hours Care (OSHC)?
All of these issues need to be considered in the OSHC environment – and we encourage centres to speak with their local schools regarding exclusions.
Click here to return to the Coronavirus Guidance Homepage.