The Child Care Management System (CCMS) 007-03080010

Under CCMS, Approved Service Providers (ASP) provide child care information via specialised software via the internet to the Department of Education on a weekly/fortnightly basis. The Department of Education sends this information to Services Australia for the calculation of:

• eligibility for Child Care Benefit (CCB) for approved care
• Grandparent Child Care Benefit (GCCB)
• payment of Special Child Care Benefit (SCCB)
• JET Child Care fee assistance (JETCCFA)
• Child Care Rebate

Services Australia returns these calculations to the Department of Education to enable the Department of Education to then pay child care fee reductions for these payments to the ASPs.

For Services Australia to receive CCMS data from Department of Education, the customer must complete one of the following:

• claim for CCB for approved care (CCF) for reduced fees
• lump sum CCB claim for approved care

The customer must also advise their Approved Service Provider/s (ASP) of their and their children's Customer Reference Numbers (CRN).

Claims for CCB are finalised without linking the ASP to the child's record as CCMS services do not have a CRN to identify them within the Centrelink system.

Payments are then made once the customer has advised their ASP of their and their children's CRNs and the service includes this information (and other details) on their attendance reports to Department of Education.

The Department of Education is also able to collect information from the CCMS about the national supply and usage of child care which is used to update the Child Care Availability System.

From 1 July 2009, CCMS has replaced the Child Care Operator System (COS). COS has been decommissioned so child care services will no longer be able to lodge any claims relating to periods prior to transition to CCMS.

COS attendance can be viewed on the customer's record by selecting the child, selecting Child in Care Details (CICD) screen and then placing a 'U' next to the child care service with ASP displayed next to it. The attendance will display on the Child Care Usage APP (CIUA) screen.

Education is responsible for the resolution of enquiries from Approved Service Providers (ASP) in relation to procedure, policy, approval of services, system issues and payment of CCB fee reduction. If an ASP contacts they are to be referred to the Department of Education.

The Department of Education CCMS Helpdesk will attempt to resolve all enquiries, and can work with Services Australia CCMS Support Team if there are eligibility issues that require investigation.

Services Australia is primarily responsible for resolving customer enquiries relating to CCB, Grandparent Child Care Benefit (GCCB) and Special Child Care Benefit (SCCB) and will continue to process new claims and customer entitlement changes. If a customer queries CCMS information they are to be referred back to the relevant ASP.

Weekly attendance details reported by Approved Service Providers (ASP) can be viewed by customers registered for online accounts using the View Child Care Details option (staff can access via the staff portal), or on the customer's record in Customer First.