Providers must acquit funding received under the professional development and paid practicum subsidies.
On this page:
Understanding acquittals
What is an acquittal?
An acquittal is the process of reporting how you’ve spent funding received under the professional development and paid practicum subsidies. It helps us confirm you’ve used the funding correctly.
The acquittals process is mandatory if you got the:
- professional development subsidy
- paid practicum subsidy.
You must acquit all funding that you received under the subsidies, even if your service has:
- closed
- transferred to a new provider
- had its Child Care Subsidy (CCS) approval cancelled.
An acquittal is done when:
- you have no remaining funding, or
- you have unused funding to be recovered.
We’ll recover any unused funds through the acquittals process. We’ll issue an invoice to recover these funds after you have completed an acquittal.
Evidence
You don’t typically need to attach evidence when acquitting funds. However, you must keep appropriate records demonstrating correct use of funding in line with the guidelines.
We may undertake audit and compliance checks from time to time.
For the professional development subsidy, this could include:
- paid invoice or certificate of completion for named staff who attended training/course
- other documentation like confirmation email with date(s) of the professional development, application forms and grant agreement
- payroll records indicating the named staff or staff member backfilling them was paid on the day(s) of professional development.
For the paid practicum subsidy, this could include:
- documentation confirming date(s) of practicum placement for named staff at another service
- copies of their application forms and grant agreements
- payroll records indicating the named staff was paid for the week(s) practicum placement was undertaken.
There may be instances where a staff member is required to complete their placement at their place of employment. In this case the evidence can be:
- an email or letter from the higher education institution explaining why the placement is taking place at the same service
- supporting documentation from the service or educator to show why the staff member conducted their placement at the same service.
How to acquit 2023–24 funding
Final acquittals are due.
Providers who got a subsidy in the 2023–24 financial year must:
- use all funds by 30 June 2025
- complete a final acquittal within 14 days of using all funds.
The final deadline for acquittals is 31 July 2025.
If you’ve already completed a final acquittal, you don’t need to do anything.
If you haven’t yet completed a final acquittal, we will contact you. We’ll send a pre-populated form to the provider-level email address listed in the Child Care Subsidy System.
You must complete and submit the form to ECECworkforce@education.gov.au. The email will include detailed instructions about how to fill out the form.
How to acquit 2024–25 funding
We have engaged Deloitte to manage the 2024–25 acquittal process.
Providers who got a subsidy in the 2024–25 financial year can acquit funding through the grants portal.
We have contacted these providers with more information. If you got a subsidy in 2024–25 and have not received an email, please contact ececgrants@deloitte.com.au.
How to get help
If you have questions about the acquittals process or need help, contact ECECworkforce@education.gov.au.