COVID-19
Policy
Department of Education issues reminder: “CCS returning – are you ready?”
Jason Roberts
Jul 10, 2020
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The Federal Department of Education, Skills and Employment (DESE) has issued an “are you ready” reminder for services ahead of the return to Child Care Subsidy (CCS) and Additional Child Care Subsidy (ACCS) on Monday 13 July.
In order to help services prepare the Department highlights the following:
ACCS applications
- Ensure all ACCS (child wellbeing) certificates and determinations are in place for applications
- Inform families that they can now apply or reapply for ACCS payments that they may be eligible for
- Direct families to the Services Australia website for information in CCS (temporary financial hardship), ACCS (transition to work) and ACCS (grandparent)
- Provide families with the “Information for Families” sheets that explain the transition arrangement information required.
CCS and CCS restart
- Session reports submission can restart on 13 July 2020 but no session reports will be able to be submitted for 6 April 2020 to 12 July 2020 period
- Gap fees must be recovered from families after 13 July 2020 in all instances except for if a service is required to close as a result of a public health emergency directive at any time between 13 July 2020 and 31 December 2020 or the service is located in Victoria which is subject to the new lockdown measures
- Providers should have all enrolment details up to date in advance of CCS resuming
- The 14 week rule and absences will continue to apply so it is recommended services understand a families intentions relating to ongoing care as soon as possible
- Families can now receive CCS for absences up to seven days before a child’s first and after a child’s last physical attendance at service for a range of reasons listed here
- A fact sheet focused on absences can be found here and FAQ’s on absences here
Activity test
From 13 July 2020 to 4 October 2020, individuals who can no longer engage in the same number of hours of work, training, study or other activity recognised by the CCS activity test immediately prior to the COVID-19 crisis, can advise Services Australia they meet the requirements to access 100 hours of subsidised child care, per child, per fortnight for up to 12 weeks.
The Department of Education has also created a COVID-19 related poster that provides information for families and staff to help minimise the risk of transmission.
To read the update please click here.
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