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Introduced today, the Early Childhood Education and Care (Strengthening Regulation of Early Education) Bill 2025 proposes several major amendments to the Family Assistance Administration Act 1999 to strengthen oversight and regulation of early childhood services receiving the Child Care Subsidy (CCS). It prioritises quality and safety, strengthens Australian Government monitoring and enforcement powers and introduces the new Direct Gap Fee Collection (DGFC) requirement. The Explanatory Memorandum can be found here.
Direct Gap Fee Collection (DGFC) requirement (effective 1 January 2026)
From 1 January 2026, all family day care providers will be required under Family Assistance Law (FAL) to collect Child Care Subsidy (CCS) gap fee payments directly from families through a DGFC model. The legislation will require that the gap fee must be paid into a bank account nominated and controlled by the provider or through a payment gateway nominated by the provider (e.g. via management software).
Expanded powers of entry and monitoring
Authorised officers will have new powers to enter family day care premises without consent during operating hours if the Secretary determines entry is necessary for monitoring. This departs from previous requirements (which allowed entry only by consent or with a warrant) and aligns with state-level regulatory powers.
Quality and safety as core approval criteria
The Bill mandates that quality and safety must be central to assessing new and ongoing CCS provider and service approvals. The Secretary of the Department of Education gains explicit powers to refuse approval or revoke existing approval for providers with a poor quality/safety record and consider a provider’s history of non-compliance, serious incidents, and complaints, even from services previously operated.
Public disclosure of regulatory actions
The Department will have the power to now publicly disclose conditions imposed on a provider, reasons for refusal to approve or add a service, and details of infringement notices, including nature of the breach and fine imposed.
New delegation powers for monitoring and audits
Senior departmental officers (Executive Level 1 and above) can now be delegated authority to apply for monitoring warrants and appoint independent auditors for large providers.
Next steps
It should be noted that while the legislation has not yet passed, due to the focus on improving child safety using powers under Family Assistance Law (FAL), the Bill has strong bipartisan support and will likely pass without amendment. However, FDCA will wait until the legislation is passed to provide a comprehensive breakdown of the details of the Bill.
For any concerns or feedback, please contact FDCA at enquiries@fdca.com.au or on 1800 658 699. FDCA will continue advocating on behalf of members and ensuring the practical implications for the family day care sector are clearly communicated to government stakeholders.
Did you know that approximately one in ten Australian children aged between 18 months and 3 years has a medically diagnosed food allergy? In addition to food, some children may also experience allergic reactions to insect stings or medications.
To support the safety and wellbeing of children and young people with allergies, the National Allergy Council provides best practice guidelines for the prevention and management of anaphylaxis in education and care settings. A comprehensive range of free downloadable resources, including guidelines, templates, and sample documents, are available through the Allergy Aware website. This site also serves as a valuable resource hub, offering evidence-based tools and training materials, along with links to state and territory-specific information.
Regulation 90 of the Education and Care Services National Regulations states that all approved providers are required to have a policy in place for managing medical conditions in children, even if no child currently enrolled has a known medical condition. For a refresher on your obligations, refer to ACECQA’s Information Sheet on dealing with medical conditions in children.
Staying allergy aware is a critical step toward creating a safer environment for every child in your care.
On Thursday 17 July, FDCA circulated an important email bulletin to all members that provided an update on the current issue of Child Safety.
The bulletin covered a range of topics such as:
The bulletin also provided an insight into FDCA’s work across a wide range of stakeholder groups and the current public discourse surrounding the child safety issue.
To view a copy of last week’s bulletin, please click here.
We encourage members to check their inbox for exclusive member offers that have recently been sent to FDCA educators and services members for the FDCA 2025 National Conference.
All members were sent an email bulletin last week containing all the details you need to be able to secure your FDCA 2025 National Conference tickets at discounted rates.
All your early learning and networking needs under one roof!
At the FDCA 2025 National Conference, not only will you have access to over 20 unique workshops, tailored to suit the needs of the family day care sector, you also have the rare opportunity to network with fellow family day care professionals from across Australia.
We know that networking and professional learning are two things that can be very difficult to access in the family day care sector, so we’re proud to be able to bring them together via the conference.
To find out more about the FDCA 2025 National Conference, including an amazing lineup of keynote speakers, workshops and more, click here.
To support compliance and to help families and educators understand when Child Care Subsidy (CCS) can be claimed, it's important to be aware of prescribed circumstances where CCS is not payable. These are outlined in Section 8 of the Child Care Subsidy Minister's Rules 2017 and identify sessions of care that are not eligible for subsidy. Below are some key examples:
Understanding and applying these rules helps ensure that CCS is used appropriately, protects public funding, and maintains fairness for all families and services.
Geccko offers a short course titled 'Session Reports’ that may assist in strengthening your understanding of CCS reporting requirements and avoiding common errors. You can access this course here.
If you have questions or require clarification, we encourage you to reach out to your service or visit the Department of Education website.
As a member of FDCA, did you know that you have access to a range of FREE customisable marketing resources that you can use to promote your family day care?
For many early childhood professionals and services, the time and cost involved in developing marketing materials is daunting.
FDCA’s Market My Business Hub provides you with easy access to professionally crafted customised marketing resources to promote your business. With newly updated material and more options than ever available, you can order customised digital material so that you can have it printed as you see fit.
What’s available in the Market My Business Hub?
All material in the Market My Business Hub has been designed on the back of extensive market research and sector consultation, so you can be sure that the material you order will resonate with your audience.
With a wide range of digital resources available in the Market My Business Hub, members can access:
To access the Market My Business Hub, click here to enter your FDCA Member Zone.
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