Close
This will be our last edition of Family Day Care Matters for 2025. Thank you to everyone who has contributed throughout the year, as always we hope to bring you informative pieces about our sector and look forward to continuing this in the new year.
The first edition of Family Day Care Matters for 2026 will be sent on Wednesday 14th January.
The FDCA office will close at 5pm (AEDT) on Wednesday 24 December 2025 and reopen at 9am (AEDT) on Friday 2 January 2026.
Should your family day care insurance require renewal during this period or if you need to purchase a new family day care insurance policy, please visit our website. If you need to make an emergency claim details of how to do this are located here.
FDCA wishes you and your families a very happy and safe holiday period and we look forward to supporting, promoting and representing you in 2026.
Families travelling overseas for short term travel will continue to receive their eligible Child Care Subsidy (CCS) for up to 6 weeks, provided they are still paying for child care in Australia during that time.
Families can use their 42 allowable absences for short term travel overseas.
CCS payments will stop if:
If CCS payments stop while the family is overseas, they will need to submit a new claim upon their return.
In certain cases, CCS may continue for up to 3 years if the family member is:
When an FDC educator ceases providing care with a service (either permanently or due to a prolonged absence) the service must notify the Department of Education within specified timeframes, as set out in Minister Rules s55, Item 22.
Notifications can be made through the Provider Entry Point (PEP) or via the third-party software provider.
Notification Timeframes:
The notification must include the date the educator ceased to be engaged by or registered with the service.
Resources:
The Australian Government Department of Education is progressively adding more short courses to its online learning platform, Geccko. Geccko is an online learning platform that is tailored to the early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector. One of the available courses is ‘Fit and Proper Person Requirements’.
The course supports ECEC providers and persons with management or control (PMCs) to understand their fit and proper person obligations under Family Assistance Law.
All courses on Geccko are self-paced and can be accessed using your tablet, computer, laptop or mobile phone. Certificates of completion can be downloaded upon completion.
You can find out more about and register for Geccko here.
As the majority of services complete their transition to Direct Gap Fee Collection (DGFC) ahead of the new year, many are reflecting on their processes and turning their attention to continuous improvement.
In the final piece of our Stories from the Sector series, we share how one service took feedback on board and redesigned parts of their DGFC process.
A community-run, not-for-profit private service identified that their initial process of invoicing educators was creating confusion and additional work for their administration staff. They weren’t afraid to adjust, and the result was a clearer system, fewer phone call enquiries and time saved for everyone involved.
You can read this story, and access resources that can help you to refine your systems, on the FDCA website.
Support is still available
If you have questions or need additional support, please contact FDCA’s Sector Support Team on 1800 658 699 or enquiries@fdca.com.au. Please note that the FDCA office will be closed from 5pm (AEDT) on Wednesday 24 December 2025 and reopen at 9am (AEDT) on Friday 2 January 2026.
FDCA’s 2025 Wall Planner is now available for download for all members!
The planner captures important dates including school and public holidays, key events and celebrations for 2026.
Two sizes of the Wall Planner are available to download:
Download your FREE Wall Planner via the links above or log in to your FDCA Member Zone and click on the Resources and Factsheets subheading.
The Department of Education has declared a Child Care Subsidy (CCS) period of emergency in response to the NSW Bondi Beach terror attack and the Tasmania bushfires.
For the NSW Bondi Beach terror attack, the CCS period of emergency applies from 14 to 22 December 2025 in the following local government areas:
For the Tasmanian bushfires, the CCS period of emergency applies from 9 to 16 December 2025 in the following local government areas:
If you closed your service, the approved provider should contact the Australian Government Department of Education through the Provider Entry Point (PEP) or third-party software and also contact your state or territory regulatory authority.
The following support is available in affected regions during the CCS period of emergency:
Note: a gap fee waiver is a type of provider discount. Approved providers must report the type and amount of prescribed discounts in session reports if they have been applied for the session.
Click here for more information about support during a CCS period of emergency.
.svg)
