NT and WA floods: period of emergency declared

This content was published on Monday 9 January 2023. There may be more recent updates available.

We’ve declared a period of emergency for the early childhood education and care sector in parts of the Northern Territory and Western Australia following floodings. 

The period of emergency applies from 6 to 17 January 2023 for services and families in the following Local Government Areas (LGAs):

  • Victoria Daly Regional Council, NT
  • Shire of Broome, WA
  • Shire of Derby - West Kimberley, WA

See the list of affected LGAs on our website. We continue to monitor the situation and will provide updates here as required.

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.

Full 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.
  • Your state or territory government may provide support for individuals and businesses impacted by a natural disaster. Go to nt.gov.au or wa.gov.au.

For action