28 AprUpdate on late fees when receiving the Aust. Gov’t Education and Care Relief Package
The intent of the weekly payments is to enable access to free child care for families of the priority groups like essential workers, during the COVID-19 crisis. The weekly payments should be the full amount a provider/service will receive, unless services apply for and meet the criteria for a supplementary payment. Also noting that the Relief Package is complementary to other Government business support payments, like JobKeeper Payment a provider may receive.
While providers/services receive payments under the Relief Package, they should not be changing their service offer and/or increasing or adding new administrative fees. A provider’s usual service offering generally includes consumable items such as meals, wipes, or art supplies as part of the cost of providing a session of care. For example, if nappies were included as part of the session fee your service usually provided, nappies should continue to be provided without any extra cost to families.
Some services also charge administrative fees. These fees do not form part of the session of care fee that a family’s Child Care Subsidy was calculated on, meaning that services can continue to charge administrative fees, for example, late pick-up fees. However, services are not to increase these fees for the duration of the Relief Package or add new ones that were not listed in a family’s Complying Written Agreement.
