Floods: period of emergency declared for early childhood education and care sector in another 23 LGAs in Victoria

This content was published on Wednesday 19 October 2022. There may be more recent updates available.

We’ve declared a period of emergency for the early childhood education and care sector in another 23 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in Victoria. This is due to recent severe weather and flooding.

The LGAs are Ararat Rural City, Ballarat City, Banyule City, Boroondara City, Brimbank City, Colac Otway Shire, Glenelg Shire, Golden Plains Shire, Greater Geelong City, Hume City, Indigo Shire, Manningham City, Melbourne City, Moorabool Shire, Mount Alexander Shire, Moyne Shire, Swan Hill Rural City, Warrnambool City, Whittlesea City, Wodonga City, Wyndham City, Yarra Ranges Shire and Yarriambiack Shire.

The period of emergency applies from 18 October to 24 October.

We continue to monitor the situation and will provide updates as required.

See our Emergency support by region webpage.

Sector-specific support

The following support is available for services and families in affected regions during the period of emergency:

  • services can continue to get Child Care Subsidy (CCS) if they close as a direct result of the emergency
  • services can waive gap fees if a child doesn’t attend, or their service is closed, during the emergency
  • children will get unlimited allowable absences for the duration of the period of emergency.

The following support is available to help services and families recover after an emergency:

  • Families may be able to access additional absences, if they’ve exhausted their allowable absences, after the emergency.
  • The Community Child Care Fund (CCCF) special circumstances grant helps services stay open when something unexpected happens, such as an emergency. Affected services should apply after an event has occurred and they have accessed other disaster support.
  • Families experiencing temporary financial hardship due to an emergency that happened in the last 6 months may be eligible for Additional Child Care Subsidy. Families should apply through their Centrelink online account.

Details of support are available on our website.

Other government support

Services in affected areas may also be eligible for other government support:

  • The Australian Government provides payments and help for people affected by natural disasters. Find out if you’re eligible for support on the Services Australia website.
  • The Victorian Government may provide support for individuals and businesses impacted by a natural disaster.