Queensland Department issues reminder for services to lodge quarterly kindy funding claim

The Queensland Government has issued a reminder to all long day care (LDC) services that offer an approved Kindergarten program and stand alone Kindergartens to lodge their quarterly kindergarten funding scheme claim.

The Queensland Kindergarten Funding Scheme (QKFS) supports services with the cost of delivering an approved kindergarten program, and to help ensure the cost of kindergarten is not a barrier for families with the overall objective of improving lifelong learning outcomes for children and facilitating effective transition to school.

In order to be eligible for the funding a service must meet eight eligibility criteria, three for the service and five for the child.

To be eligible for QKFS funding, the service must:

• hold a current service approval under the National Law
• have approval to receive the Commonwealth Government Child Care Subsidy
• hold a rating of ‘Working towards the National Quality Standard (NQS)’ or higher, if the service has been assessed against the NQS by the Department of Education.

To be eligible for QKFS funding, each child must be enrolled and participating in a kindergarten learning program which:

• is delivered by a qualified early childhood teacher
• offers an accredited kindergarten learning program based on the Queensland Kindergarten Learning Guideline (or alternative accredited by the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority)
• is provided for children in the year before Prep (please use the kindy calculator   to check whether a child is of eligible age)
• is provided for at least 600 hours a year, typically for 15 hours per week and for 40 weeks a year
• has a fee structure that is not a barrier for families to access the kindergarten program.

These criteria must be applied individually to each child enrolled in the learning program each week to be considered eligible as part of the QKFS quarterly claims processing.

There are three different subsidy payments available under the QKFS including:

• Standard per child subsidy
• Rural and remote, and low socio-economic subsidies  
• QKFS Plus kindy support subsidy – available to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and Health Care Card holders.

It is essential that a service maintain records so as to be able to demonstrate to the Department how each child enrolled in the kindergarten learning program meets the eligibility criteria, as, if a provider can’t demonstrate eligibility, the department will reclaim all funding in full.

The Department operates a Service Review Program (SRP) to provide support and advice to long day care services that are approved KPPs, and to ensure compliance with the QKFS funding requirements. Decisions regarding a service’s compliance are made during the service review process conducted by the SRP.

For more information please refer to the QKFS funding requirements (PDF, 7MB).