Absences for Child Care Subsidy (CCS) and Additional Child Care Subsidy (ACCS) 007-17103134

Customers may contact Services Australia when their child care service has asked them to pay for disregarded absences (see the Resources page for definitions). Service Officers should tell the customer that absence days are not payable at the start or end of an enrolment.

If the customer does not agree with their absence days recorded by the child care service they can:

• contact their child care service to resolve the issue, or
• dispute the attendance report in their online account

See Child Care Subsidy (CCS) and Additional Child Care Subsidy (ACCS) - Viewing attendance reports.

If a child does not attend for a continuous period of 14 weeks:

• the enrolment is automatically ended, and
• any absences after last day of physical attendance will not be subsidised

This is an automatic process and customers should not be referred to their provider unless there is some information they disagree with.

See Resources for an example.

For assistance on how to view absences details before a child’s first or after a child’s last physical attendance in Process Direct, see Table 2, Item 4.

A customer who is receiving CCS or ACCS contacts their child care service to advise that their child will be absent from child care for that day. They provide the child care centre with a reason for the absence.

Prior to 5 April 2020, CCS is not payable for absent days:

• before a child actually attends care. This means if a child is absent between the enrolment start date and the date they first attend care, CCS is not payable for days prior to the attendance date
• after a child’s final day of attendance at care when the enrolment has ceased. This includes situations where enrolment has ceased due to non-attendance or the customer is required to give notice to the service that their child will no longer be attending

Examples:

• the customer advises the service their child will no longer attend from the current Friday, however the service’s practice is for 2 weeks to be provided. As the child’s last day of actual attendance is Friday of the current week 1, CCS is not payable for absent days the service may lodge for the following 2 weeks (notice period)
• an enrolment has been ended due to 14 continuous weeks of non-attendance. A reassessment will occur and any CCS paid for absent days submitted after the child’s last actual day of attendance will be recovered from the service, who may pass these costs onto the customer

Post 13 July 2020, CCS may be payable for absent days up to 7 days:

• before a child attends care. This means if a child is absent for an approved reason in the first 7 days between the enrolment start date and the date they first attend care, CCS may be payable for the absences prior to the first physical attendance
• after a child’s final day of attendance. This means if a child is absent in the first 7 days between their last physical attendance and the enrolment cease date for an approved reason, CCS may be payable for days prior to the enrolment cease date

Examples:

• the customer advises a new service they have just enrolled in that their child will not be attending their first week of care. They discuss the reasons why and the service determine it fits the approved absence reasons and updates this on the session reports. CCS is payable for the week prior to the child ever attending the new service
• the customer advises the service their child will stop attending in 2 weeks. The child attends the next week but can’t attend the 2nd week due to family tragedy. CCS is payable for the final week

CCS/ACCS can be paid for 42 allowable absence days or more if special purpose absences are available. Absence days can be used for any reason and are counted per child, per financial year and across services the child attends.

In response to COVID-19, 62 absence days were accessible for the 2019-20 year for all CCS eligible children. For the 2020-21 year, children attending Victorian child care services have access to 45 special purpose absences in addition to the standard 42 allowable absence days. Public holidays are counted as an absence and are not payable as an additional absence over the 42 day limit.

Also in 2021, special purpose absences were approved for child care services located in various States and Territories in addition to the standard 42 allowance absence days. The number of special purpose absences was different for each region, State or Territory and is viewable in Process Direct.

A further extra10 allowable absence days will be available to families nationally for the 2021-22 and 2022-23 years through to 30 June 2023, bringing the total number of allowable absences these financial years to 52 days.

Evidence may be required for CCS and ACCS for absences above the limit. The service will request any supporting documentation when required.

The child care service:

• records absence information
• decides whether the absence is an additional absence day (approved absence), once the child has reached 42 allowable absences
• provides parents with an update of how many absences they have used, this can be provided on the receipt or other statement provided by the service

Note: CCS and/or ACCS are not payable on unapproved absences over the 42 absence day limit unless special purpose absences are available.

The service includes absence days in childcare attendance/session reports.

CCS is paid directly to providers in arrears, to be passed on to families as a fee reduction. (It will reduce the fees that a family pays a child care provider for the care of their child).

Note: where an enrolment has ceased either through provider ceasing or automatically due to 14 continuous weeks of non-attendance, any CCS paid for absent days after the child last attended care will be recovered from the service, who may pass these fees onto the customer.

If it is identified that a child has had 42 allowable absence days, CCS or ACCS will only apply for the child for a further absence in the financial year if it is an approved additional absence.

Note: in response to COVID-19, 62 absence days were accessible for the 2019-20 year and 52 for 2021-22 and 2022-23 years.

To view a child care absences in Process Direct:

• select Child Care
• open the Entitlement Usage twisty
• open the Absences sub-twisty

Within the Absences Twisty there are two tables:

• Absences table: to view and calculate all absences (including special purpose) the customer/child has used. See Item 2
• Special Purpose Absence table: to view more detail about the special purpose absence event. See Item 3

The table displays:

• Total Absence Days: this will display and calculate the total amount of absences that each child has used. This will include all absences recorded. For example:
• special purpose
• annual, and
• unpaid
• Absence Cap: allowable absence cap
• Absences in Cap Before Evidence Required: the amount of absences in the annual absence cap that each child has before they are required to provide evidence. This number does not include any special purpose absences available

Note: the Total Absence Days field includes all paid and unpaid absences. This means there may be times the total count is more than 42 annual absence cap.

To calculate how many sessions of care the child has been absent; select the blue hyperlinked number in the Total Absences Days column.

• Total Absences Days: Each child’s enrolment ID displays under the Total Absences Days column. The number next to the enrolment ID is the total number of sessions absent, not the total amount of absences. For example, if a child is absent from before and after school care on the same day, this will be 2 sessions absent but will only count as one absence. This is because the care was provided on the same day
• Days with multiple absences: Number of days with multiple absences
• Other: Total number of session of care for other enrolment(s) that has recorded absences for that child but with a different carer
• Number of records shown: Total number of sessions of care with recorded absences displayed. This is inclusive of Special Purpose Absences
• Paid: If the child has a green tick recorded in the Paid column and the Reason and Event ID columns are blank, this means the absence will be counted towards their 42 annual absence cap
• Absence Reason: If a child has Activity Test Results Exhausted recorded in the Reason column, this means the customer has exhausted their eligible hours for CCS. This absence will not count towards their allowable absence count
• Absence Evidence: Absence evidence has been submitted for that session of care
• Adverse Event ID: If a child has an Event ID recorded against an absence, this means the absence will be counted as a ‘special purpose’ absence and that will be an allowable absence above the 42 annual absence cap

Note: customers can have multiple enrolments for one child. Children in shared care could be attending multiple services with both parents. Take care when calculating absences for these customers.

Select Close to cancel out of the absence view.

The table displays:

• Event ID: The ID number of the event the customers Special Purpose Absences is linked to
• Description: A description of the event the customers Special Purpose Absences is linked to
• Start and End Date: Start and End dates of the Special Purpose Absence event
• Special Purpose Absence Cap: The cap amount for the Special Purpose Absence Event
• Paid Absences: The amount of absences which have been paid
• Absence Balance: The balance of Special Purpose Absences remaining

To view a child care disregarded absences that occur prior to first physical attendance, or after last physical attendance, in Process Direct:

• select Child Care
• open the Entitlement Usage twisty
• open the Session Reports twisty
• use the calendar icon, or type the relevant dates within the Session Report Starts From fields
• Select Search
• Highlight the child’s relevant session reports, starting from either:
• before they first attended, or
• after they last attended
• Disregarded absences will display as either:
• Absence Prior To 1st Physical Attendance
• Absence Prior to Enrolment Cease Date

There are two pathways a customer can view absence related information via their online account. To view:

• per child, select:
• Menu
• My Family
• Child Care
• Child Care Subsidy Summary
• View details next to the relevant child
• Absences
• all children, select:
• Menu
• My Family
• Child Care
• Absences

Selecting Absences page will navigate to Child Care Subsidy Absences page.

Note: staff can view this detail via Customer Online View.

This page will display absence details for all the customer’s CCS eligible children by:

• Regular absences: the standard 42 allowable absences cap
• Event absence: special purpose absences

Using the financial year drop-down list user can select the relevant financial year. Current and previous financial years available for selection.

Regular absences table displays:

• Title: Regular absences
• Dates: Financial year
• Allowable absence: Allowable absence cap
• Days used: number of absences used from the allowable absences cap
• Days remaining: The amount of absences in the annual allowable absence cap before evidence is required for the child

Event absences table displays:

• Title: Event description
• Dates: the period that extra allowable absences are available
• Allowable absence: the amount of extra allowable absences available during the event period
• Days used: the amount of extra allowable absences that child has used for this Event.
• Days remaining: the total amount of extra allowable absences remaining for the child for the period of this particular event

Select Back to child’s details or Return Home to cancel out of the absence view.

Note: Child Care Attendance can be selected to view more detailed attendance/session information including the specific days that absences were reported.

Select:

• Menu
• Child Care Subsidy
• Relevant child
• Absences

This page will display absence details for all the customer’s CCS eligible children by:

• Regular absences: the standard 42 allowable absences cap
• Event absence: special purpose absences

Using the financial year drop-down list user can select the relevant financial year. Current and previous financial years are available for selection.

Regular absences table displays:

• Title: Regular absences
• Dates: Financial year
• Allowable: allowable absence cap
• Used: number of absences used from the allowable absences cap
• Remaining: The amount of absences in the annual allowable absence cap before evidence is required for the child

Event absences table displays:

• Title: Event description
• Dates: the period that extra allowable absences are available
• Allowable: the amount of extra allowable absences available during the event period
• Used: the amount of extra allowable absences that child has used for this Event
• Remaining: the total amount of extra allowable absences remaining for the child for the period of this Event

Select Cancel to Return Home.