Explaining the Child Care Subsidy (CCS) rate and entitlement 007-20090908

In Process Direct:

• select the Child Care icon or go to the Child Care Subsidy Activity List (CCP) screen to show Entitlement
• toggle between Previous Period and Next Period to identify where a change in CCS rate percentage may have taken effect. This may point to the date on which an income estimate has been updated. Changes to eligible hours are also visible when toggling between Previous Period and Next Period
• selecting 'I' information next to the percentage will indicate the reason for the rate drop
• grant/cessation dates of Additional Child Care Subsidy (ACCS) will be visible in the Entitlement show
• if child has a Status of Not Eligible, see Cancellation, rejection and not effective codes for Child Care Subsidy (CCS) and Additional Child Care Subsidy (ACCS) for further details on the description of the code

There can be multiple reasons for customer's CCS rates and out of pocket expenses to change.

After checking the customers entitlement, has the change resulted in:

Check:

• Income estimate
• TFN requirements
• Portability
• 1st income confirmation deadline
• 2nd income confirmation deadline
• Child age/school status
• Immunisation

Check:

• Commencement of debt withholding
• Income estimate
• Multiple Child Subsidy (MCS)
• Child age/school status
• Additional Child Care Subsidy (ACCS)
• Exceptional Circumstances Coding
• 26 week rule

Check:

• Activity Test Details
• Child age/school status
• Additional Child Care Subsidy (ACCS)
• Exceptional Circumstances Coding
• Income estimate

Check:

• Absences
• Multiple child Customer Reference Numbers (CRN)

Process Direct

• Go to the Debts Activity List (DEBTS) screen or select the Debts icon to open the Debt Management application
• Select the Arrangements tab to view the arrangement type for the customer
• If withholdings are in place:
• Arrangement Type will show as 'Withholding'
• Benefit Type will show as 'CCS'
• Relevant dates may correspond with an increase in out of pocket expenses for the customer

Customer First

• Go to the Debt List (OPDL) screen to view a CCS or legacy child care debts with an outstanding balance
• Select the CCS debt and type ‘OPAL’ into Next > [Enter]. This will show:
• if there is a repayment arrangement in place, and
• CCS withholdings of 20% (or another percentage if the customer has changed it)
• To view repayments, select the debt on OPDL and key ‘OPPR’ in Next > [Enter]
• To view details about the CCS debt, select the debt on the OPDL screen and key ‘OPDSD’ in Next > [Enter]

See Table 8 in Recovering Child Care Subsidy (CCS) debts in Process Direct.

Return to Identify possible causes.

In Process Direct:

• go to the Annual Income (FTI) screen to show the history of income estimate updates
• the Start Date column indicates the date on which the estimate was provided, but all income estimate updates, if favourable or unfavourable, take effect from the start of the next CCS fortnight
• Note: the FTI table only shows details for that individual. If the customer is partnered, use to select the partner and go to FTI in their record

Income thresholds and cut offs are available in Combined Family income for Child Care Subsidy (CCS).

Changes to a families combined income to above the lower income threshold can impact the number of subsidised hours of child care see Automatic Activity test results.

Return to Identify possible causes.

Families with more than one CCS eligible child aged 5 or under may get a higher subsidy for:

• their second child, and
• any younger children

In Process Direct, go to the Child Care Subsidy Activity List (CCS) screen and open the Entitlement twisty.

In the Multiple Child Subsidy column on the right end of the table:

• Standard Rate Child will show for the eldest child aged 5 or under
• Higher Rate Child will show for younger children who are eligible for the higher rate
• N/A will show if MCS is not applicable to the relevant child. Reasons for N/A showing are:
• child/ren are 6 years of age or older
• customer only has 1 MCS eligible child, who is a Standard Rate Child
• income is above the Higher CCS High Income Threshold (HCCS HIT) from 10 July 2023
• MCS column is blank will show if:
• the period is before 7 March 2022 (MCS implementation date). Note: all children will always show as blank before this date.
• the child leaves the customer’s care
• CCS eligibility is cancelled

The Subsidy % column holds the applicable percentage rates for each child.

• Before 10 July 2023:
• For the Standard Rate Child, the CCS percentage will be capped at maximum CCS of 85%
• For the Higher Rate Child, the CCS percentage is up to 30% higher than the Standard Rate, capped at 95%
• From 10 July 2023:
• For the Standard Rate Child, the CCS percentage is based on the Standard income test, capped at 90%
• For the Higher Rate Child, the higher rate of CCS is based on the Higher CCS income test, capped at 95%

Selecting the 'I' information hyperlink will show a breakout window with further information on how the CCS percentage has been calculated. The Resources page also has a graph showing the standard and higher rates of CCS and how the CCS percentage is affected by family income.

Also see the Resources page of Changes in circumstances and date of effect for Child Care Subsidy (CCS) and Additional Child Care Subsidy (ACCS) for examples.

See Entitlement for Child Care Subsidy for more information.

Return to Identify possible causes.

TFN requirements

CCS cannot be granted without a Tax File Number/s being supplied or an exemption being approved.

• TFN exemptions will be reviewed 2 weeks before the expiry. If appropriate, the customer can seek a further exemption at that time, see Exemption from providing Tax File Numbers when claiming Child Care Subsidy (CCS)

TFN mismatch

• To determine if a TFN mismatch has occurred, go to either:
• the Mutual Customer Identification Progress Stage (MCIPS) screen in Process Direct. TFN mismatches and matches will show in the Mutual Customer Identification Progress Stage Details table, or
• the Mutual Customer Identification (MCI) screen in Customer First. The most recent MCI status will show at the top of the screen
• If CCS is granted with a TFN mismatch, entitlement will reduce to zero after 56 days and will not be reinstated until TFN(s) are supplied. CCS entitlement will be reinstated from the date the nil rate applied. See Mutual Customer Identification (MCI) results for family assistance customer mismatches

TFN match

If a TFN mismatch has been resolved and MCI is now showing a match for the customer and/or partner but Child Care Subsidy (CCS) is still at a zero rate, from the CCS Entitlement table complete a Reassess Customer to make sure the outcome is correct.

Any CCS zero rate periods before the current financial year will be reassessed at reconciliation.

If an error is encountered 'Message not found (in main memory)' when reassess is selected, the reassessment is already occurring in the background.

If the zero rate is incorrectly applying, return to Identify possible causes and escalate via Roxy if it is determined the zero rate should no longer apply.

In Process Direct:

• select the Child Care icon
• Open the Activity Test twisty to view the customer and partner ATD details
• Toggle between Previous Period and Next Period to see where different values have been coded for customer and/or partner. A date change in ATD may correspond with a change in Entitlement
• A second table also shows if any exemptions to the Activity Test have been applied

To view historically coded information, go to the Activity test details (ATD) screen and select Show History. Previously deleted lines can be opened and viewed by selecting on the left of the table.

Note: close Show History before navigating to partner record.

Return to Identify possible causes.

• Go to the Immigration Movements (RSIM) screen to view immigration movements for the customer
• Note the most recent dates: if the most recent departure date is more than 6 weeks ago, the customer's CCS rate may have reduced to 0%
• Note: this table only shows information for the individual whose record is open. To view partner or child immigration movement information, select the relevant person from the relationship burger and go to the respective RSIM tables
• After investigating, if the customer and/or child has returned to Australia and CCS is still at zero rate, from the CCS Entitlement table, complete a Reassess Customer

Note: the reassess function may take 24 hours to take effect. Do not escalate unless:

• 24 hours has passed since actioning the reassessment in Process Direct, and
• the outcome is still incorrect

If an error is encountered 'Message not found (in main memory)' when reassess is selected, the reassessment is already occurring in the background.

The reassess customer function will only reassess CCS for the current CCS year. It will not reassess CCS entitlement for previous CCS years.

More details can be found in Family Tax Benefit (FTB), Child Care Subsidy (CCS) and Paid Parental Leave scheme customer/child going overseas.

Return to Identify possible causes.

• If investigating a customer's rate in Process Direct Customer Summary:
• select the Child Care icon and open the Entitlement twisty
• selecting 'I' information next to the zero percentage will indicate the reason for the rate drop
• if the 1st deadline rules are being applied, the following will show where reconciliation requirements have not been met: 'Income requirements not met for financial year 2019/2020'. This will show for the relevant CCS year as well as the current CCS year until reconciliation requirements are met
• If customer subsequently meets reconciliation requirements, 'I' information will indicate the CCS Monday the assessed rate of entitlement will restart: Income requirements met xx.xx.xxxx for 20xx/20xx
• If investigating a reconciliation result, the CCS Reconciliation Dashboard will also show the alert 'Non Lodger: Deadline 1' in the instance window if the relevant year income requirements have not been met

In the Debt Management Application:

• An undetermined Debt Reason CNL-Income Tax Return not lodged shows for customers who have:
• not lodged tax returns,
• told Services Australia they are not required to lodge, or
• lodged an RNN advice with the ATO but not provided their income to Services Australia
• The Total Amount field show the total entitlement paid in any week as CCS in the CCS year. For any weeks where ACCS has been paid, the whole amount for that week will not be included in the non-lodger debt

In the CCS Reconciliation Dashboard:

• A banner will appear in the instance window stating 'Non Lodger: Deadline 1'. The total entitlement paid in any week as CCS in the CCS year shows as a UND. DEBT. For any week that has a component of ACCS, the whole amount will be quarantined from the debt and still appear as Entitled
• Check the Tax Return Status tab and investigate according to Customer enquires about Child Care Subsidy (CCS) reconciliation outcome

Return to Identify possible causes.

• If investigating a customer's rate in Process Direct Customer Summary:
• select the Child Care icon and open the Entitlement twisty
• selecting 'I' information next to the percentage will indicate the reason for the rate drop
• If the 2nd deadline rules are being applied, the customers CCS will show as CAN from the first CCS Monday following the 2nd deadline
• If investigating a reconciliation result, the CCS Reconciliation Dashboard will also show the alert 'Non Lodger: Deadline 2' in the instance window if the relevant year income requirements have not been met

In the Debt Management Application:

• A determined Debt Reason CNL-Income Tax Return not lodged shows for customers who:
• have not lodged tax returns,
• told Services Australia they are not required to lodge, or
• who have lodged an RNN advice with the ATO but not provided their income to Services Australia
• The Total Amount field shows the total entitlement paid in the CCS year, excluding any periods where the customer was paid ACCS

In the CCS Reconciliation Dashboard:

A banner will appear in the instance window stating 'Non Lodger: Deadline 2'.

• If the customer later meets the income requirements, a new instance will show
• If the result is a debt or a zero outcome the instance will appear as a normal reconciliation instance
• If the result is a top-up, a banner will appear in the instance window stating 'No arrears paid due to 2DL NLG'
• The Reconciliation outcome tab will also show the total amount withheld due to 2nd deadline impacts. The total amount not paid to customer will show under 'Arrears withheld due to 2DL NLG'
• If a customer re-reconciles this will create a new instance in the Reconciliation dashboard

Check the Tax Return Status tab and investigate according to Customer enquires about Child Care Subsidy (CCS) reconciliation outcome.

Return to Identify possible causes.

In Process Direct:

• select the Child Care icon
• Open the Child School Details twisty to show the school level for relevant CCS children
• CCS is not payable for children attending secondary school, or who are aged 14 years and older, unless an exemption has been granted
• Children attending primary education will receive a lower hourly rate cap than children below school age

Return to Identify possible causes.

• Select the Child Care icon
• The Child Immunisation Details twisty will show immunisation status for all CCS assessed children
• If a child has entered an immunisation grace period, this will show in the Child Grace Period Details twisty
• Both twisties allow staff to toggle between Previous Periods and Next Periods to identify the date of change, which may correspond with an increase in child care fees advised by the customer
• Further information may also be obtained from the child's record: select the relevant child from and go to the Immunisation (CIM) screen

Return to Identify possible causes.

• Customers will notice an increase in out of pocket expenses if a previously granted period of ACCS has stopped
• Toggling between previous and next periods in the Entitlement show via the Child Care icon will show the dates from which ACCS has been applied to the customers entitlement
• Details such as grant dates and end dates for each type of ACCS payment can be viewed via the Child Care icon in Process Direct:
• ACCS Temporary Financial Hardship twisty
• ACCS Transition to Work twisty
• ACCS Grand Parent twisty
• ACCS Child Wellbeing twisty

Further detail about each of the specific ACCS assessments can be found at the relevant screen. Go to the:

• TFH Assessment (TFH) screen for Temporary Financial Hardship assessment information
• Transition To Work (TTW) screen for Transition to Work assessment information
• ACCS Grand Parent (CHGA) screen for ACCS Grandparent assessment information

Return to Identify possible causes.

If the customer is reporting an increase in out of pocket child care fees, staff should check that the absences for the relevant child/children have not been exhausted. In Process Direct:

• Select the Child Care icon
• Open the Entitlement Usage twisty
• Open the Absences sub twisty to show tallied absences for each CCS assessed child
• Toggle between CCS years by selecting Previous Period or Next Period
• The absence cap for the relevant CCS year will show, as well as the number of absences remaining before evidence is required
• For additional breakdown, select the hyperlink figure in the Total Absences column. This will show the Absences table:
• Enrolment ID
• Service
• Absent Date
• Paid - if payment was made or not
• Reason - the reason the absence day was not paid

Note: the absence days per financial year relates to each child, not to each individual claimant.

More information can be found in Absences for Child Care Subsidy (CCS) and Additional Child Care Subsidy (ACCS).

Return to Identify possible causes.

For CCS to be paid to the customer’s child care provider they must:

• have been granted CCS, and
• confirmed their child’s enrolment, and
• have sessions lodged and received

If the customer is impacted by a multiple child CRN, the CCS entitlement and/or enrolment may have been completed for the same child using different CRNs e.g. the multiple CRN. If the CRN does not match between the CCS assessment and enrolment/sessions, CCS is not paid.

For example: CCS has been granted for the multiple child CRN and the enrolment/sessions have been received for the primary CRN. As the CRNs do not match, CCS is not paid.

To identify a multiple child CRN:

• check Display on Access (DOA) document identifying the correct CRN to use
• before creating a new child record, complete searches to confirm:
• spelling of child name(s)
• date of birth
• if have they been known by other names
• take extra care if a child has entered the customer’s care e.g. foster, grandparent carer

Where a multiple child CRN assessment has not been completed, refer the case to the Data Quality Unit (DQU).

If enrolment/session reports have been received for the multiple CRN, do not make any changes to the record. Refer for investigation to the CCS Level 3 Policy Helpdesk. See Remediating a multiple or intertwined Centrelink Reference Number (CRN) – Families.

Return to Identify possible causes.

Exceptional Circumstances are assessed to provide families access to additional child care during family crises.

Reasons for coding an exceptional circumstance include:

• ACCS percentage
• Child age or School status
• ACCS Activity Test Result
• CCS Activity Test Result
• Reconciliation Exception Activity Test
• Child level ATR override
• Immunisation
• Portability
• Residence
• Adjust CCS Child Percentage
• Tax File Number
• Non Lodger Exception
• Reconciliation Exception

In Process Direct:

• check the Exceptional Circumstance (EXC) screen to see if an exceptional circumstance has been previously coded for the customer or one of the children, or
• under the Child Care icon, open the Exceptional Circumstance twisty which may also indicate an EXC determination has recently ended

See Exceptional circumstances for Child Care Subsidy (CCS) and Additional Child Care Subsidy (ACCS) for further information.

Return to Identify possible causes.

If a child/customer has been cancelled due to the 26 week rule, the Entitlement twisty will show a Status of 'Not Eligible' with Status Reason '26W'.

If a customer asks about the cancellation, review the session reports submitted in the previous 26 weeks. To do this:

• Select the Child Care icon
• Open the Session Reports twisty to view the child/ren child care usage
• Adjust the session report start and end date to see when the most recent session of care was attended. Note: applicable sessions of care for the 26 week include allowable absences
• When reviewing session reports, check the Status Details of the session report to see what date the session of care was withdrawn/submitted. Note: if a session of care was withdrawn or submitted after the cancellation date, this will not affect the date of cancellation

See the Resources page in Cancellation of Child Care Subsidy (CCS) for examples of the 26 week rule.

If the customer still needs CCS, tell them to lodge a new claim for that child.

In Process Direct:

• select the Child Care icon
• Expand the Child Heritage twisty
• Use the arrows to toggle between Previous Period and Next Period to identify where changes may have taken effect

See Coding Activity Test details for Child Care Subsidy (CCS).

Return to Identify possible causes.