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31 March 2021

2021 National Family Day Care Week - last chance to register your picnic!

Today is the last chance to register your picnic and join the National Family Day Care Week celebrations on Monday 3 May 2021 to Sunday 9 May 2021.

Register your picnic here!

Registrations close tonight at 11:59pm AEDT.

What is National Family Day Care Week?

National Family Day Care Week is one of the most important events on the family day care calendar, showcasing the essential role that family day care educators and services play in the development and wellbeing of over 107,000 Australian children.

How do I participate?

We’re asking educators and services to get involved by hosting a picnic. This can be at your home, your service’s office or a local park - the sky's the limit.

Once you register your picnic, Family Day Care Australia (FDCA) will send a media release to local media outlets in order to generate positive publicity about your picnic and about the importance of National Family Day Care Week.

The first 300 members to register their picnic with FDCA will receive a FREE Family Day Care Picnic Pack, including:

  • 12 x National Family Day Care Week postcard invitations
  • 24 x National Family Day Care Week stickers
  • 1 x National Family Day Care Week Picnic posters
  • 12 x National Family Day Care Week balloons

All members who register a picnic by the closing date will receive a 24 pack of National Family Day Care Week stickers, meaning there is something for everyone!

Make sure to include your membership number in your registration form.

‍The Benefits of National Family Day Care Week

By hosting your very own National Family Day Care Week picnic and sharing your celebrations on social media using the hashtag #FDCWeek2021, you will join a national campaign highlighting the enormous contributions that family day care makes to Australian families and children each and every day.

National Family Day Care Week also helps FDCA generate positive media coverage on the sector, which is an important part of our ongoing commitment to promote family day care as the natural choice for high quality education and care.

To find out more about National Family Day Care Week, visit www.fdcweek.com.au.

FDCA 2021 National Conference - 6 month payment plan closes today!

Our 6-month payment plan for the FDCA 2021 National Conference also closes TONIGHT at 11:59pm AEDT, so be sure to get in quick to take advantage of this exclusive offer.

The 6-month payment plan allows you to purchase your conference ticket with 6 payments of $104.00, and will end at 11:59pm (AEDT) on 31 March 2021.

Click here to book your payment plan and start planning your great escape.

Flexible refund policy for your peace of mind

To provide our members with a risk-free ticket purchasing experience, FDCA will ensure that any members who are unable to attend the conference due to COVID related circumstances will receive a FULL refund on their ticket purchase up until three weeks out from the conference.

This means you can take advantage of our 6-month payment plan offer today, knowing that we’ve got you covered.

For more information about the FDCA 2021 National Conference, click here.

NQF Review Survey open now

Complete our survey and ensure your voice is heard!

As part of the 2019 National Quality Framework (NQF) Review process, a second phase of national consultations has now begun, with the release of the Consultation Regulation Impact Statement (CRIS)

The proposals put forward in the CRIS could result in changes being made to the Education and Care Services National Law (the National Law), the Education and Care Services National Regulations (the National Regulations) or guidance materials covering the application of the legislation.

The CRIS is proposing some significant changes to the National Law and the National Regulations, which may have a considerable impact on family day care.

FDCA has developed a survey to ensure our members' voices are heard. The feedback from this survey will assist us to develop a submission to the CRIS that is broadly representative of the position of the family day care sector. FDCA encourages all members to review the proposed amendments being put forward in the CRIS and complete the survey by selecting one of the links below.

Click here to complete the educator survey

Click here to complete the service (coordination unit) survey

The CRIS explores a total of 21 issues relating to:

  • safety, health, and wellbeing;
  • family day care;
  • workforce;
  • understanding of quality ratings by families;
  • changes in fees within the NQF system;
  • oversight and governance of services and providers; and
  • proposed changes to the NQF arising from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.

In the survey, for each proposed amendment, you will first be asked if you would support regulatory changes in this area. You have the option of choosing "Support" or "Don't support" for each proposed option, or alternatively, you may elect to choose the "No change" if you prefer to maintain the status quo.

You will also have the option of providing free text feedback on any of the proposed measures at the end of the survey.

To have your voice heard in our national submission on behalf of the family day care sector, be sure to complete the survey.

Please note that the survey will close COB Thursday 8 April 2021.

Thank you for participating in the FDCA CRIS Consultation survey. Your feedback will allow us to present a strong and united position on the proposed changes, on behalf of the family day care sector nationally.

Greater Brisbane area lockdown update

A three-day lockdown is currently in effect for the Greater Brisbane area in QLD until 5:00pm Thursday 1 April. 

This lockdown is for residents in the local government areas of Brisbane, Ipswich, Moreton Bay, Logan and Redlands. Anyone who has been in these local government areas since Saturday 20 March is required to stay at home except for essential reasons. 

Early childhood services in the lockdown areas are able to remain open to provide care for children of essential workers and vulnerable children unless advised otherwise by Queensland Health. Schools in the lockdown areas closed on Tuesday 30 March 2021 except for children of essential workers and vulnerable children, and will reopen at the end of the term 2 break on Monday 19 April 2021.

For the latest information on the Brisbane COVID-19 outbreak , we encourage members to check the Queensland Health website here.

31 March 2021 deadline for families to confirm income for CCS

The Department of Education, Skills and Employment has provided the following information to assist members with communicating CCS balancing and confirmation of income to families.

Families who received Child Care Subsidy (CCS) for the 2018–19 financial year must confirm their income today, 31 March 2021.

The deadline was extended from 30 June 2020 to 31 March 2021 to provide families more time to confirm their income, due to COVID-19.

Families who do not confirm their income today will lose their access to CCS. This means providers will need to charge families full fees for any child care they use.

(Services Australia can restart a family’s CCS again but only after they have confirmed their income. This means families may miss out on CCS they may have otherwise got).

If families still haven’t confirmed their income by 30 June 2021 they will need to pay back all the CCS they got for 2018–19, and families will no longer be eligible for CCS from 12 July 2021 - meaning providers will need to direct families to make a new claim.

Families can claim CCS entitlements again once they have confirmed their income and they have either:

  • repaid any current or previous CCS or Child Care Benefit debt, or
  • entered into a repayment arrangement.

How do families confirm their income?

To confirm their income, families need to: 

If a parent separates from their partner, Services Australia will also need their ex-partner's income.

If a parent is concerned that their ex-partner/s won’t lodge their tax return by the deadline, they should call the Families line.

More than just great insurance!

When educators and services insure with FDCA, they become part of the largest community of family day care professionals across Australia.

Our insurance packages include access to all the benefits of membership to support you and your business to thrive, including:

  • Real-time business, administration and regulatory support 
  • The FDCA Locator Tool, to market your business to Australian families looking for care
  • Free, customisable marketing materials and resources to help your business stand out from the crowd
  • A peak body that defends and promotes your interests
  • Top tier events and networking opportunities

Trusted by educators and services for over 30 years, FDCA’s insurance packages will give you and your business the best possible protection - so that you can get on with the important job of providing quality education and care to children.

If you’d like to learn more about accessing your member benefits, or to simply have a chat with our friendly support staff, please call us on 1800 659 699 or send us an enquiry at enquiries@fdca.com.au.