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THIS CONTENT WAS LAST UPDATED ON TUESDAY 25 AUGUST 2020
12 August 2020: the federal Department of Education, Skills and Employment (DESE) provided an update to their FAQs page regarding providers rejecting the Transition Payment, and the passing on of Transition Payment funds to educators.
The updated advice can be found here.
According to this latest advice, service providers can reject the Transition Payment grant offer to allow educators to claim JobKeeper (if they retain JobKeeper eligibility otherwise).
Providers who take up the Transition Payment are responsible for the administration of the payment, including how to apply payment amounts across their business.
As the Transition Payment is paid instead of JobKeeper, it should be used to support educators and employees and should be passed on through wages and payments where possible.
8 June 2020: The Minister for Education, the Hon Dan Tehan announced the plan to the return to the Child Care Subsidy (CCS) and Additional Child Care Subsidy (ACCS) payments effective 13 July, 2020.
The return to the CCS System was accompanied by some new transition arrangements designed to support the sector and families as they move back to the subsidy based system.
You can read the Minister’s full media release here.
You can also read FDCA's member bulletin which was sent on 8 June by clicking here.
Further detail is provided at our FAQs page. Our FAQs are derived from the Department’s current FAQs. You can read the full set of the Department FAQs here.
22 May 2020: FDCA made a submission to the Hon Dan Tehan MP, Minister for Education on behalf of the family day care sector to return to the Child Care Subsidy System on 29 June 2020, reflecting the views of an overwhelming majority of members who responded to our 20 May member survey (see below). The submission was also sent to all state and territory Ministers for Education and relevant federal and state Departmental officials as well as the Senate Select Committee on COVID-19, representing FDCA’s third submission to this Committee on issues affecting the family day care sector.
20 May 2020: Have your say: Transitional funding model for family day care
FDCA called on members to have their say on the transition out of the ECEC Relief Package via a survey that was sent to all members via email bulletin on Wednesday 20 May.
All members were encouraged to read the bulletin and complete the enclosed survey before 10.00am Friday 22 May 2020 (AEST).
18 May 2020: FDCA has made a second written submission to the Senate Select Committee on COVID-19. The Committee is the formal mechanism by which the Australian Government’s economic response to the COVID-19 pandemic is being scrutinized. This most recent submission focused specifically on the many failings of the Exceptional Circumstances Supplementary Payment program, as reported by our members.
To view a copy of the submission, click here.
1 May 2020: The Australian Government have announced the expansion of the Exceptional Circumstance Supplementary Payment eligibility criteria to account for many of the family day care educators and services currently ineligible for JobKeeper payments. For more information please read our latest member bulletin.
20 April 2020: Enrolments for the Government’s JobKeeper Payment scheme opened on 20 April 2020. The ATO is administering the scheme so head to https://www.ato.gov.au/general/JobKeeper-Payment for the latest information on eligibility and how to enrol.
9 April 2020: Early Childhood Education and Care Relief Package - exceptional circumstances Supplementary Relief Payment form made available for services.
This form must be used by services wishing to apply for a higher rate of Early Childhood Education and Care Relief payments. To access the form, click here (scroll to the bottom of the page). We recommend reading our email bulletin sent to services on Friday, 10 April before completing the form.
2 April 2020: Announcement of the Early Childhood Education and Care Relief Package - 2 April 2020
On 2 April 2020, the Prime Minister, the Hon Scott Morrison and the Minister for Education, the Hon Dan Tehan, announced the Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) Relief Package.
The Department has made a strong commitment to continue working with FDCA and the sector to address the challenges posed by the introduction of this new package and is committed to enabling the sector to continue to play its vital role in supporting children and families through this crisis.
While this Relief Package will mean some dramatic changes for the sector over the next six months, these are only temporary. The primary aim of the package is to support the ongoing viability of the ECEC sector as a whole during the COVID-19 emergency, thereby ensuring that the children of essential workers and vulnerable and disadvantaged children are able to access quality education and care arrangements.
Since the announcement of the ECEC Relief Package, FDCA has been flooded with enquiries from members as to what this package means for them. We acknowledge there is a lot to absorb with this new package and we are still clarifying some details and implications on behalf of members. Please make sure you read our member bulletins to stay abreast of the latest developments.
While FDCA has been in regular discussion with the Department of Education, Skills and Employment over the past month about the very real impacts of the COVID-19 crisis on the viability of the family day care sector, we did not design the package that was announced on 2 April. See FDCA’s COVID-19 Response Brief Summary for an overview of our key advocacy positions. This Response Brief was informed by the many pressing issues that members had raised with us and was developed in consultation with our COVID-19 Sector Advisory Committee. It was sent on Thursday 26 March to the federal Education Minister, The Hon Dan Tehan MP, along with all state and territory Education Ministers, Commonwealth and State & Territory Departments, and the federal opposition.
Rest assured that following the announcement of the ECEC Relief Package we continue to work tirelessly behind the scenes to advocate for our members in our ongoing discussions with the Department by raising issues specifically affecting the family day care sector, as reported by our members, and seeking appropriate resolutions.
This page has been created so members can easily find the latest information, support and resources available to family day care educators and services during the COVID-19 emergency.
The information here is informed by the latest fact sheets and FAQs published by the Department of Education, Skills and Employment.
We will update the content as new information comes to hand. Be aware that the situation is evolving rapidly.
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