FAQs

Child Care Subsidy, or CCS, is a payment, made by the Government, to reduce childcare fees: a family is always liable for the full fee, minus anything the Government pays.

CCS is based on both your/your partner’s work/study hours and the money the family brings in. Centrelink is the body which assesses this, and advises your entitlements to us, via a couple of Government ministries. It is assessed by individual child, so if you have a subsequent child, you need to apply separately for them.

You will be allocated a specific number of hours and a percentage, as well as a withholding amount. These are multiplied against the hourly rate cap for that service type, which is usually less than the hourly fee. Any amount of the fee, beyond that rate cap, is automatically gap fee, so the amount the family must pay. Any amount not covered by your CCS is also part of your gap fee.

The hours are the maximum hours, per fortnight, for which the Government will pay CCS for that child. This will usually vary between 0 and 100, depending on the hours the person who works or studies less in that family.

The percentage is based on the total income for that family. Basically, the more a family earns, the less the Government pays.

The withholding amount is usually 5%. This is kept by Centrelink to prevent overpayments, so debts, and is returned to families once reconciliation has occurred. (That roughly means when you do your tax and report that amount to Centrelink.)

There could be a number of reasons for this. It could be that Centrelink has not been provided with evidence of your child’s immunisation status, either directly by yourself or by Medicare. It may be that you or your partner are not meeting the work/study test, or that Centrelink believes you don’t. It could be you have not supplied sufficient details to Centrelink, either personal or financial details. It potentially could be something completely different. The only way to be sure is to call Centrelink directly: make sure you always get a receipt number when you are dealing with Centrelink.

The first reason that frequently comes up is the parent has not completed their CCS application for that individual child, or that Centrelink has not completed their assessment. The next most common reason is that the parent has not logged into the MyGov account, with Centrelink attached, to confirm the Enrolment Notice. Sometimes, it is because the child has been registered under the parent who is not enrolled for CCS. The only way to know for sure is to call Centrelink directly: make sure you always get a receipt number when you are dealing with Centrelink.

Foundations Family Day Care is not authorised to speak to Centrelink on behalf of any adult, child, or family. Our recommendation is that you make use of their callback service or visit a Service Centre. These, whilst still slow, are the quickest, most convenient options for getting your issue resolved. Centrelink call centres are open until 8pm for CCS issues. Make sure you always get a receipt number when dealing with Centrelink.

Please direct any feedback, compliments, or complaints either to your Educator directly, or to our Coordination Unit at 0421 599 416 or admin@ffdc.com.au. We are always open to hearing from families, and are committed to working with you to resolve any issues in a timely manner, as well as to further enhance the quality of our service. We especially enjoy receiving your comments about our wonderful Educators!

Foundations Family Day Care has published a newsletter in the past. After much consultation with our families, we found that the majority didn’t read the newsletter that we published, and found it to be time consuming, and our staff were spending time finding information which was taking them away from the children and their care. Instead, we focus on supplying important information directly via email, and, if extremely urgent, via phone calls and SMS. For more general news, have switched to a social media model of sharing news. You can follow us on Facebook, and read our blog here on our website for the latest information about our service.

Please speak to your Educator or the Coordination Unit prior to care being required. Where we have another Educator with a suitable vacancy on the days you need, in an area which works for you, we will arrange for you to attend that Educator instead. You won’t pay for your usual Educator, as they are unavailable. Instead, you will pay for a booking with your temporary Educator. Please be aware, if your normal and temporary Educators have different rates and minimum hours, you will pay the rates and booking of the temporary Educator

Each of our Educators programmes in a way that is unique to them and the children in their care and is based on the observations of learning, development, needs and interests of your child. Your child’s Educator is the best person to speak to for information about your child’s educational programme and documentation of learning. Our Coordination Unit is also able to provide more general information about the tools that all our Educators build into each child’s programme, such as Phoenix Cups and our Pre-Literacy Programme.

Yes: whenever we are running a training session which will be suitable for families, we advise families of the date, time and cost for that session.

We always do our invoices showing the previous two weeks (so what has been sent to the Government and what they have paid CCS on, if any), then the current 2 weeks (so you can see any payment we have received and the booking we are expecting for the current fortnight), and finally the coming two weeks (showing the booking in the system). It is important to always check that bookings and attendances, as well as payments received, are correct. If there is anything which does not look correct, please contact the Coordination Unit on 0421 599 416 during business hours so we can look into it for you. And no, you are not being double charged.

As soon as you think you will have trouble paying your bill, please get in touch with our Coordination Unit by calling 0421 599 416 or emailing admin@ffdc.com.au. We are happy to work with you to organise a payment plan which suits everyone. Being proactive is the best way to handle this situation, as this will prevent any missed invoices, CCS mispayments, or continuity of care issues.

Firstly, contact your Educator or the Coordination Unit. You will have to complete a Medical Management Plan (MMP), which you can get from your Educator or from the Health & Medical section of the Family Documents Library. There is no need to take this form to your doctor, however any additional information your medical practitioners supply will be useful and can be attached to the MMP. If your child needs to have medication whilst in care, the Medication Record (MR) also needs to be completed prior to any being issued. You can find the MR in the Health & Medical section of the Family Documents Library. Whilst these are legal requirements, they are also in place to ensure your child has the best and safest care with your Educator and Foundations Family Day Care.

It is important to keep your child home if they have any signs of illness, but it is even more important with a positive COVID diagnosis. You must advise the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) of the positive result, as well as your Educator and the Coordination Unit. We will then be able to guide you through the current requirements, which are updated frequently by the Government.

Whilst they can legally attend, being brought by someone who is not COVID positive, it is quite likely they are carrying the virus particles, if not actually in the early stages of the disease. With that in mind, it is safer for the Educator, their family, and the other children in care and their families, if you keep your child home with you.

No. If a child has any symptoms which may be COVID or Influenza (the 'flu), they must stay home. This is to prevent that illness spreading to the Educator, their family, the other children in care and their families. It is important to be aware that a number of our community have compromised immune systems, which is why they use Family Day Care: we don't want to take the risk of infecting them with something which they cannot fight off. Additionally, if your Educator or their family member becomes ill, they will not be able to provide care to anyone, not just your child.