The update below has been lifted directly from an email from the Department of Education, Skills & Employment (DESE) which was sent to approved providers on Thursday 30th April 2020:
The Australian Tax Office (ATO) has confirmed a new ruling that clarifies eligibility for the JobKeeper Payment for most early childhood education and care (ECEC) services receiving the ECEC Relief Package.
More child care providers to receive the JobKeeper Payment
As part of the eligibility requirements for JobKeeper a decline in turnover test requires providers to demonstrate a fall in “GST turnover” even if an entity was not registered for GST.
The ATO ruling means that any ECEC Relief Package or Exceptional Circumstances Supplementary Payments made to a provider will not be considered as taxable supply, which means the payments have been made exempt from GST.
This means ECEC providers will not have to count Relief Package and Exceptional Circumstances payments for the purposes of applying for JobKeeper.
As a result JobKeeper should now be more easily accessible for those providers receiving the ECEC Relief Package payments or Exceptional Circumstances Supplementary Payment provided they do not have access to other income streams (such as being part of a larger entity like a non-government school or a not-for-profit organisation).
For those ECEC providers which do have access to other income, and therefore are not eligible for Jobkeeper, the section below details extra support we can provide.
For detailed guidance visit the ATO JobKeeper website.
Expansion of the Exceptional Circumstance Supplementary Payment eligibility criteria
The ECEC Relief Package payment is complementary to other government assistance, particularly the JobKeeper Payment. Eligible providers should have applied for the JobKeeper Payment and other available state and Australian Government support to ensure they are maximising all available assistance.
Providers who are part of non-government schools and large charities/not-for-profit organisations will be contacted directly by the department and receive an increase to the base payment under the relief package if they confirm that they are ineligible for the JobKeeper Payment, whether or not they have submitted an application for Exceptional Circumstance Supplementary Payment.
For those providers who could receive JobKeeper Payment but their employees are not eligible, this would not be an acceptable reason to apply for Exceptional Circumstance Supplementary Payments.
Providers who are part of non-government schools, you do not need to do anything. Non-government schools will have their payments automatically increased. If you are part of a larger not-for-profit organisation, we will write to you and ask you to confirm that you are not eligible for JobKeeper, and then your payments will be increased each week. Both of these groups will also receive a separate payment to cover the period from 6 April.
State and local government services can continue to apply for support through the exceptional circumstances process where they have more children attending and/or a significant increase in the hours of attendance compared to the reference period.
However, these services cannot get extra support on the basis of JobKeeper ineligibility.
The New South Wales Government is meeting the extra costs for local council and state government providers unable to access JobKeeper. Other state governments are being encouraged to do the same.
Family Day Care (FDC) or In Home Care (IHC) services with current (sole trader/ contractor) educators who are not eligible for the JobKeeper Payment can also now apply for the Exceptional Circumstance Supplementary Payment using the current application form, as long as their educators apply for an Australian Business Number (ABN) by 1 June 2020.
If an FDC/IHC service has already made an application through the exceptional circumstance process, the department will be in will contact with them shortly to request further information about those educators (sole trader contractors) who are not eligible for JobKeeper Payment. Confirmation and evidence will be sought that all relevant educators have applied for an ABN before any additional payment can be assessed.
Remember – whether or not all your FDC or IHC educators are covered by an ABN – you can still apply for extra support through the exceptional circumstances process if you are delivering more care now than you did in the reference period.
New services
The rules in relation to new services have not changed.
Providers can still apply for relief package payments for services which commenced after the reference period, however these payments will only be made at the base payment rate. This is because these providers can still apply for assistance with JobKeeper payments.
We will work with new services to advise you of your reference period, which is generally the first full two weeks of operation. You will need to provide supporting evidence for this.
If your demand increases after your reference period, you can apply for extra support.
If a provider is not eligible for JobKeeper for a new service – for one of the reasons outlined above – the provider should follow the processes outlined above, depending which category the provider falls into.
Other service types
If you are a provider who is not in one of these groups, but you believe you are not eligible for the JobKeeper Payments, you can still apply for an Exceptional Circumstance Supplementary Payment.
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Summary – providers not eligible for JobKeeper
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The DESE webpage about the ECEC Relief Package has been updated accordingly.
You can visit it here.
Please regularly check the website to help ensure that you are using the latest information.
You can also contact the Child Care Subsidy Helpdesk at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., via an online form or on 1300 667 276 between 9:00 am – 7:00 pm (AEST), Monday – Friday.