Enrolment

• Upon enrolment families must pay one week’s full fees less any Child Care Subsidy to which families are entitled.
• $100 Resource Fee
• $15 Hat Fee

Fees

Our child care fees are outlined in our fee schedule which is available from our office/administration area. Please note our fees may change from time to time.

Fees must be paid by the day you have nominated and:

• One week in advance

• Weekly, fortnightly or monthly in advance by Direct Debit or by Bank Transfer
• On the day you have nominated on the Payment Option Form

• In advance for every day that your child is enrolled at the service. This includes pupil free days, sick days, family holidays and public holidays but excludes periods when the service is closed including over the Christmas and New Year break period.

Due to administration costs incurred by the service, dishonoured payments will incur a charge of $10.00 will be billed to your account.

 
Child Care Subsidy

Child Care Subsidy is available to all families who are Australian Residents if the child meets immunisation requirements and parents meet eligibility requirements. Entitlement is determined by an activity test which determines the number of hours of subsidised care to which families are entitled.

A broad range of activities meets the activity test requirements, including paid work, self-employment, unpaid work in a family business, active job hunting, volunteering or studying. You can also include reasonable travel time to and from a place of activity to the centre. In two-parent families, both parents must meet the activity test, and subsidy hours are calculated on the lower number where parents have different levels of activity.

There are exemptions for parents who legitimately cannot meet the activity test requirements. 

The percentage of subsidy a family receives is based on their estimated combined annual income.

All families wishing to access Child Care Subsidy need to complete an online Child Care Subsidy assessment through their myGov account. Assessment asks families to provide information about their expected combined family income, activity level of parents and types of childcare service being used.

The Additional Child Care Subsidy may be available to help support:

• families needing help to support their children’s safety and wellbeing
• grandparents on income support who are primary child-carers
• families in temporary financial hardship
• families moving to work from income support

Families can claim Child Care Subsidy or Additional Child Care Subsidy online by signing into their myGov and completing a Child Care Subsidy claim. If eligible, the Subsidy will be paid directly to the service on families’ behalf and we will reduce the fees owed. This can occur after our service enters families’ enrolment information online, and families confirm their enrolment information through their myGov account. Until Child Care Subsidy details are available, families will need to pay full fees.

Families are entitled to receive Child Care Subsidy for up to 42 days where their child is absent, for example due to illness, public holidays, and parental leave. Evidence to support these absences is not required. Additional absence days may be available if they meet the situations outlined in the Family Assistance Law and there is evidence to support these.

Statements of Entitlement

We will issue monthly if requested Statements which include child/children’s full name/s, date of care, date of payment, daily and weekly hours of care, absences, hourly fees and hourly and daily fee totals and the number of hours fees were reduced (eg by Child Care Subsidy) and total reduction amount.  (Parents’ My Gov accounts will also have how much care families have received and how much Child Care Subsidy has been paid.)

Invoices

Invoices for fees payable in a period will be issued weekly. If families pay more than the fee amount required at the time, change will not be given but will be credited to the family’s account. 

Late Fees

Families who do not collect their child before we normally close for the day may be charged a late fee $10 for the first 10 minutes or part thereof, and $1 per minute after they arrive past our closing time. This fee covers the cost of employing the staff required to supervise a child outside our operating hours. It may be waived at the discretion of the Nominated Supervisor.

Termination

Should you wish to end your child’s place at the service, or should management make the decision to terminate your child’s place, 2 weeks’ written notice is required from the ending/terminating party? If you do not provide this notice, you will be charged 2 weeks’ fees. Children must also be signed in and out by parents/guardians on the last scheduled day of their attendance for the Child Care Subsidy to apply. If this does not occur families are required to pay full fees.

Overdue Fees

The Office Staff will issue a Friendly Fee Reminder by email or phone if the fees are not paid by the date nominated.  

You will have 24hrs to pay the account in full.

If account is unpaid by with in the 24hrs unfortunately your child’s place will be terminated immediately until full payment is made.

 If families are having difficulty making fee payments, they should immediately speak with the nominated supervisor to discuss fee payment arrangements. Information provided by families will be treated as strictly private and confidential.

In cases of non-payment of fees, where the service is unable to contact families about the debt, or families do not meet agreed arrangements for repayment of the debt and ongoing payment of fees:

• The Nominated Supervisor may immediately suspend or terminate the child’s place at the service. Families will be advised of this action in writing.

Where families do not meet agreed payment plans, and an outstanding debt remains, the Nominated Supervisor may use their discretion to engage a third-party agency to recover the outstanding amount.  The cost of this action may be added to the debt owed.