Absences from child care procedure.

Absences from Child Care Procedure

Parents must sign for all absences from childcare. The Director is responsible for keeping a record of these absences.

Procedure

Through our OWNA App families are notified if they have an absense to sign for on their child’s next day of attendance. Families can sign for these digitally.

Families will be regularly reminded that they need to sign their child in and out each day via the centre app and that absences can be recorded through the centre app and signed for.

Absences

Initial 42 days absence (based on a financial year 1stJuly – 30thJune)

Child Care Subsidy and Additional Child Care Subsidy are payable for up to 42 absence days for a child in a financial year, in relation to sessions of care where an individual still incurs a genuine fee liability to pay for the care. A reason does not need to be provided for a child's initial 42 days of absence.

Additional absence days

Once 42 absence days have occurred in a financial year, Child Care Subsidy and Additional Child Care Subsidy can only be paid for any additional absences where they are taken for a reason defined in the Family Assistance Law. These reasons can include any of the following:

• the child, the individual who cares for the child, the individual's partner, or another person with whom the child lives is ill

• the child is attending preschool

• alternative arrangements have been made on a pupil-free day

• the child has not been immunised against a particular infectious disease, the absence occurs during an immunisation grace period and a medical practitioner has certified that exposure to the infectious disease would pose a health risk to the child

• the absence is because the child is spending time with a person other than the individual who is their usual carer as required by a court order or a parenting plan

• the service is closed as a direct result of a period of local emergency

• the child cannot attend because of a local emergency (for example, because they are unable to travel to the service), during the period of the emergency or up to 28 days afterwards

• the individual who cares for the child has decided the child should not attend the service for up to seven days immediately following the end of a period of local emergency.

In shared care arrangements (where separated parents both claim Child Care Subsidy for the child's care), the allocation of 42 absences relates to the child, not to each individual claimant. Supporting documentation i.e., a medical certificate is required for additional absence days.

Reporting absences when a service is closed

If a service is closed for any reason other than a public holiday or a local emergency (as determined by the Department of Education state or territory office), the provider cannot report children as absent from care.

For example, if a service is closed for renovations on the premises or administrative reasons and the provider advises families that care is unavailable on that day, the provider cannot report children as absent and claim Child Care Subsidy for enrolled sessions of care.

A child who has not yet received care or who has ceased receiving care

Child Care Subsidy will not be paid for absences where a provider charges a family to reserve a place for a child who has not yet physically started care.

If a child is booked in to start at a service on a particular date, and does not start on that day, no Child Care Subsidy will be paid until the child physically attends a session of care.

Similarly, a childcare service is taken to have permanently ceased providing care for a child on the day the child last physically attends a session of care. This means that Child Care Subsidy will not be paid for absences submitted after a child last physically attends a session of care.

If a family has confirmed their child's last day at a service, but that child does not attend their last booked sessions of care, no Child Care Subsidy will be paid for any days after the child's last physical attendance at the service.

If a provider continues to charge fees for sessions on days after a child has left the service because the family did not give the agreed period of notice, Child Care Subsidy will not be payable for these sessions of care. If absences are reported in the above circumstances and Child Care Subsidy is incorrectly paid, these amounts will be recovered from the service.

Long absences

If a long absence is anticipated, the plans for this, and how it will be managed, can be specified in the Complying Written Arrangement. However, where a child does not attend a service within a period of eight weeks or more, the enrolment will be taken to have ended. Even where an absence longer than eight weeks is planned in the Complying Written Arrangement, a new enrolment notice will need to be submitted when care recommences after the absence. If a long absence is planned, the family may prefer to end the enrolment and submit a new notice when physical attendance recommences, so that the child’s initial 42-day absences are not used up.

For further information refer to the Current Child Care Service Handbook.

Source: Child Care Service Handbook

Revised: March 2024

*This procedure is the property of Eikoh Seminar Australia Pty Limited and must not be reproduced without the consent of management.