From 22 July, changes to the Child Care Subsidy Minister’s Rules 2017 (Minister’s Rules) were made to provide families with preschool children with more options for affordable before-and-after hours care and help families make informed financial decisions about early childhood education and care.
From 22 July, Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) services can also provide care primarily to preschool aged children either side of preschool sessions. Previously, an OSHC service could only provide care primarily to school aged children.
This change will create more flexibility and different models of care for preschool aged children. It will provide greater access to wrap around care to help meet families’ needs.
From 22 July, large providers will have an additional month to report financial information, increasing from 3 to 4 months from the end of their reporting period.
This change helps to reduce regulatory burden by aligning due dates with the other government reporting requirements.
From 22 July, early childhood and education providers can advertise their charitable activities to prospective families.
This new exemption to the ban of certain types of inducements allows providers to advertise their social impact.
From 1 September, Family Day Care (FDC) providers will need to notify us:
- of the location where care is provided by their FDC educators
- when a FDC educator is no longer engaged by their service.
This change will improve the accuracy of the information held by the department relating to educators engaged by the provider.
From 1 September, early childhood education and care providers must notify us of fees at least twice a year.
Providers must notify us in December and July, to ensure fees are correctly updated or remain accurate.
This change will improve fee transparency. The change will help families make informed financial decisions about early childhood education and care.
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