Department of Ed declares CCS period of emergency for Broome and East Kimberly

The Federal Department of Education has declared a Child Care Subsidy (CCS) period of emergency for families and services in the Shire of Broome (WA), the Shire of Derby-East Kimberley (WA) and the Victoria Daly Regional Council area (NT) for the period 6-17 January 2023 to provide support during the flooding. 

“The period of emergency declared by my Department will ensure important support is made available to early childhood education and care services and families,” said Minister for Education Jason Clare.

The decision follows the activation of Commonwealth and State disaster recovery funding to support communities impacted by the flooding. The following support will be immediately available for early childhood education and care (ECEC) services and families in affected regions during the period of emergency:

• Services can continue to get CCS if they close as a direct result of the emergency.
• Services can waive gap fees if a child doesn’t attend, or their service is closed, during the emergency.
• Children will get unlimited allowable absences for the duration of the period of emergency.

The following support will be available to help services and families recover:

• Families may be able to access additional absences, if they’ve exhausted their allowable absences, after the emergency.
• Families experiencing temporary financial hardship due to an emergency that happened in the last 6 months may be eligible for Additional CCS. Families should apply through their Centrelink online account.
• The Community Child Care Fund special circumstances grant helps services stay open when something unexpected happens, such as an emergency. Affected services should apply after an event has occurred and they have accessed other disaster support.

Details of the support available are on the Australian Government Department of Education’s website.

The Australian Government provides payments and help for people affected by natural disasters. Eligibility criteria is available on the Services Australia website.