24 June 2026

2026 Excellence in Family Day Care Awards - Second Round Released!

Earlier this week we announced the second round of educators, services and service staff who have been nominated in the 2026 Excellence in Family Day Care Awards so far - A big congratulations to all!

Nearly 3000 nominations have already been placed for this year's Awards program, which is a testament to the amazing work done across Australia by educators, services and their staff.

Members that have been nominated after June 18will receive their official nomination email and be placed on the nomination list when the third round of nominations are released on 6 July. Nominations will close on 2 July.

To nominate someone or a service that you believe deserves to be recognised in this year’s Awards, click here. 

To help promote the Awards, you can access a range of resources via the FDCA website that will assist you to spread the word and build awareness of the Awards and family day care.

Have You Sent Your Families an End of Financial Year Reminder?

Families who received Child Care Subsidy (CCS) during the 2024–25 financial year need to confirm their family income with Services Australia by 30 June 2026.

If families do not confirm their income by this date, their CCS may stop, and they may need to pay full child care fees.

Families can confirm their income by:

• Lodging their tax return, or
• Advising Services Australia that they are not required to lodge a tax return.

Encourage your families to act now to avoid any interruption to their CCS payments.

For more information, visit the Services Australia website.

Upcoming Vacation Care – Are Your Bookings and Enrolments Ready?

With the upcoming vacation care period approaching, now is a good time to review enrolments, bookings and documentation to help ensure care can be provided smoothly and Child Care Subsidy (CCS) is applied correctly.

Services and educators may wish to review the following in line with their policies and procedures:

• Ensure families have provided up-to-date enrolment and contact information.
• Check that booking schedules accurately reflect the care required during the vacation period.
• Check whether any updates are required to Complying Written Arrangements (CWAs), enrolment records or booking arrangements to reflect changes in the care patterns during the school holidays.
• Confirm CCS enrolments are active and accurately reflect the care being provided.
• Review and update risk assessments, transportation documentation and any other relevant records to ensure they remain current and, where applicable, reflect children returning to care during the vacation period.

Taking a few moments to prepare now can help reduce enrolment issues, minimise administrative follow-up and avoid delays to CCS payments.

For further information, visit the Department’s website to read more about enrolments and how to update them.

Edition 110 of JiGSAW - Coming Soon!

The next edition of JiGSAW will be released over the coming days and marks the 110th release of the magazine - which aims to celebrate family day care and the many wonderful individuals who care for and educate children across the country every single day.

Among a jam-packed edition, we are pleased to bring you a variety of deeply insightful inclusions from some of our very own members, as well as informative pieces from within the sector.

All of the regular inclusions that you know and love are back, as well as the launch of the 2026 Excellence in Family Day Care Awards, an article to assist you with the upcoming tax time and much much more. 

Keep an eye on your inbox for the release of edition 110!