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Your child is absent during a Child Care Subsidy (CCS) period of emergency
You can get extra allowable absences during a CCS period of emergency. A CCS period of emergency can be different to an emergency declared for other support payments and services that we offer.
Read more about what is a period of emergency on the Department of Education website.
A CCS period of emergency is declared by the Department of Education and is put in place if all of these apply:
- affects a widespread area
- has a severe impact on the lives of a significant number of people in that area, and
- prevents children from attending a child care service or may make attending dangerous.
These extra allowable absences will be automatically applied. This means you won’t have to use your annual allowable absences during this time.
You can find out where and for how long there is a CCS period of emergency on the Department of Education website.
Gap fee waiver during a declared CCS period of emergency
If you get CCS, you generally need to make a co-contribution to your child care fees. You do this by paying the difference between your fees and your CCS amount. This is known as the gap fee.
There are some situations where a service provider can choose to waive a gap fee, this includes during a declared CCS period of emergency.
This waiver can apply if your child doesn’t attend child care, or if the service is closed, and it’s generally up to your child care service to waive a gap fee either partially or in full.
The gap fee doesn’t apply to families who get Additional Child Care Subsidy Child Wellbeing or Additional Child Care Subsidy Grandparent. That is because this subsidy generally covers 100% of the fee charged.
You should speak to your service to see if you’re eligible.
Find more information about payments and fees on the Department of Education website.
Using Centrepay deductions
If you pay your fees through Centrepay and if your service has decided to waive the gap fee, remember to suspend or cancel the payments for the relevant period.
Additional Child Care Subsidy
If you’re affected by an emergency and need extra help with the cost of child care, you may be eligible for Additional Child Care Subsidy Temporary Financial Hardship.