Bills Digest no. 177 2006–07
Family Assistance Legislation Amendment (Child Care
Management System and Other Measures)
Bill 2007
This replaced the 8 June
2007 version of this Digest which
contained an error on Page 7.(1)
WARNING:
This Digest was prepared for debate. It reflects the legislation as
introduced and does not canvass subsequent amendments. This Digest
does not have any official legal status. Other sources should be
consulted to determine the subsequent official status of the
Bill.
CONTENTS
Passage History
Purpose
Background
Main Provisions
Concluding Comments
Endnotes
Contact Officer & Copyright Details
Passage History
Family
Assistance Legislation Amendment (Child Care Management System and
Other Measures) Bill
2007
Date
introduced: 24 May
2007
House: House of Representatives
Portfolio: Families, Community Services and
Indigenous Affairs
Commencement:
Sections 1 to
3 and anything elsewhere not covered by the Table in
Clause 2 of the Bill, on the day the Act
receives Royal Assent. Schedules 1
and 3 from the day after the Act
receives Royal Assent. Schedule 2 from 1 July
2007.
This Bill presents amendments to
various Acts to provide the legislative support for the proposed
new Child Care Management System (CCMS). Amendments are presented
to the A New Tax System (Family Assistance) Act 1999 (FAA)
and to the A New Tax System (Family Assistance)
(Administration) Act 1999 (FAAA). These amendments
are necessary to not only provide the legislative support and basis
to run the new CCMS, but also for the conduct of proposed CCMS
pilot scheduled for the second half of 2007. The new CCMS is
proposed to commence from 1 January 2008.
Child Care Benefit (CCB) is government income supplement for
families with a child in child care. The rate of CCB that can be
paid for a child in child care is based on several factors:
- the family s annual adjusted taxable income,(2)
- whether the child is a school aged child,(3)
and
- whether the child is in approved(4) or
registered(5) child care.
Up to $148 per week can be paid for a non-school aged child in
approved child care for 50 hours per week or $2.96 per hour. Up to
$24.85 per week can be paid for a non-school aged child in
registered work related child care or $0.497 per hour.
The rate for a school aged child is 85 per cent of the
non-school aged child rate.
Where adjusted taxable income for the family is
less than $34 310 for the year, the maximum rate of CCB can be
paid.(6)
Only up to 24 hours per week CCB can be paid
where the parent does not meet the work test.(7) Where
the work test is met, up to 50 hours per week CCB can be
claimed.
Where the child is a school aged child, the rate
of CCB paid is 85 per cent of the CCB rate paid if the child is a
non-school aged child.
Child
Care Benefit payment can be claimed in several ways
Payment of CCB can be claimed in several ways.
CCB can be claimed by way of reduced fees charged by an approved
child care provider. The person claims CCB and the child care
provider is then told by Centrelink how much CCB the person is
entitled to and the provider then reduces the child care fee by
that amount. The parent pays the difference between the amount of
CCB provided to the child care provider and the provider s child
care fee. This difference varies according to the child care fee
the individual child care provider charges.
Providers of approved child care must meet legislative and
regulatory requirements regarding safety standards, staff
qualifications, child/staff ratios, health and safety requirements,
and child development, in order to obtain a licence to operate.
State and Territory governments set the requirements, monitor
performance and administer licences.
In the 2005-06 year, some 552,000 families used approved
Commonwealth funded child care services receiving
CCB.(8) The vast majority of these CCB payments would
have been made by way of fee reductions to the claimant s child
care fees rather than claimed as a lump sum at the end of the year
when the tax assessment is submitted.
CCB can be claimed as a lump sum at the end of the year in the
parent s tax assessment, after the approved child care provider has
advised how much child care was provided during the year. If a
parent chooses to claim CCB as a lump sum payment, they will have
to pay the full child care fees to their child care service during
the year. The CCB claim must be lodged within two years from the
end of the income year for which the parent is claiming the
CCB.(9)
CCB can be claimed for registered care by lodging a claim with
the Family Assistance Office (FAO) and providing the claimant s
receipts for expenditure on registered child care. The claim must
be made within 12 months of the care being provided.
As stated above, most CCB claimants using approved child care
claim their CCB by way of reduced fees from the child care provider
on an on-going basis during the year rather than as a lump sum at
the end of the year when they lodge their tax return. As explained
in the Explanatory Memorandum attached to the Bill, this process of
reducing the on-going child care fee charged to a parent by an
approved child care provider requires frequent and on-going
communication between the provider and the FAO.(10) Most
of this information exchange is conducted by mail (letters, disks
and paper form).(11)
In order to allow the charging of a reduced child care fee to
the parent, an approved child care provider is paid in advance by
the way of four lump sum advances of CCB in each year. These
periods of advanced payments in the 2006-07 year are:
- 3 July to 1 October 2006,
- 2 October to 31 December 2006,
- 1 January 2007 to 1 April 2007, and
- 2 April to 1 July 2007.
For each advance period, the approved child care provider is
paid an advanced amount based on the provider s report to the FAO
(statement of child care usage) for the previous quarter, setting
out the usage of child care for each child in that quarter. This
process requires a significant amount of information exchange
between the approved child care provider and the FAO.
This Bill of 70 pages is accompanied by an Explanatory
Memorandum of 87 pages. The size of the Bill and the length of the
Explanatory Memorandum provide some indication as to the magnitude
of the changes proposed with the new CCMS. Instead of child care
providers communicating with the FAO and Centrelink by mail, as is
currently the case, the CCMS will require approved child care
providers to communicate by a new integrated child care management
computer system and processes the CCMS. The CCMS will also provide
the basis for the payment of CCB to approved child care
providers.
One of the most substantive changes with the CCMS is that it
does change the way CCB is to be paid to approved child care
providers. Currently, approved child care providers receive lump
sum advance payments of CCB paid quarterly to them and they then
provide reduced child care fees to eligible parents. These
quarterly lump sum advances will no longer be made. Rather, CCB
will be paid to these child care providers weekly in arrears for
the child care used in their centre by CCB eligible parents over
the past week. This regime of weekly arrears payments will require
far more regular on-going communication between child care
providers and the FAO about child care usage and it is proposed
this communication be done via computer using the CCMS.
There is no flexibility or option provided with the CCMS if a
child care provider wants to become an approved child care provider
and provide reduced child care fees (reduced by CCB) on an on-going
basis to parents, they will be required to use the
CCMS.(12)
The CCMS will require approved child care providers to have the
appropriate software in their computers and for their staff to know
how to use the software to communicate the correct child care
information to the FAO. In short, the CCMS will become the main
systemic method of delivering CCB to families.
This issue of weekly reporting might become a significant issue
for some providers. The lack of appropriately qualified, experience
and trained staff has been reported as an on-going large issue for
the child care industry, in all sectors.(13) The weekly
reporting requirements under CCMS will require staff do a lot of
data entry and this will place an extra burden on the staff
resources for all child care providers. The National Childcare
Workforce Study of July 2006 found.
Overall, there is a projected net shortfall of
7,320 staff by 2013. Long day care has an estimated shortfall of
6,490 staff by 2013, outside school hours/vacation care are
projected to have a shortfall of 1,011 staff, and occasional care
services have a projected shortfall of 894 staff.
Preschool/kindergarten are projected to have an oversupply of 1,075
staff.(14)
Child care providers will be provided with an
Enrolment Advance payment when they enrol a child for child care
and that child is recognised by the FAO system (that is they have a
customer reference number). Notification of a child enrolment will
be via the CCMS. The Enrolment Advance is recoverable when the
child leaves child care.
The Explanatory Memorandum does not detail how
much the Enrolment Advance will be.
The proposed change from quarterly advances of CCB to weekly
arrears payment of CCB via the CCMS does have benefits for
government. CCB paid will more closely and accurately be tied to
the actual child care use by a parent and therefore there should be
a reduction of overpayments of CCB by way of human error or fraud.
It will provide more up-to-date data to government about child care
usage and lack of usage, so that government planning and budgeting
for child care needs will be better informed. This data is
important and will allow the government to make more informed and
up-to-date decisions about allocating unused child care places to
areas of need.
Since the passage of the Family Assistance, Social Security
and Veterans' Affairs Legislation Amendment (2005 Budget and Other
Measures) Act 2006.(15), the government now has the
flexibility to change or move the placement of unallocated child
care places to areas of greater need.
The major changes for child care providers will be:
- payment of CCB received weekly in arrears rather than quarterly
in advance,
- the need to have a compatible (registered with the FAO)
computer system to communicate with the FAO and Centrelink using
the CCMS,
- the need to train and educate staff in the use of the
CCMS,
- the need to submit weekly reports to the FAO about child care
usage,
- child care providers will no longer be required to calculate
the amount of the fee reduction (the amount of CCB) that
individuals will be entitled to. This is the amount that the
provider s child care fee is reduced by. The CCB entitlement for
individuals will be calculated by the FAO and advised via the CCMS
to the provider. This will be a saving for providers.
- child care providers will be provided with an Enrolment Advance
payment when they enrol a child for child care and that child is
recognised by the FAO system (that is they have a customer
reference number). Notification of a child enrolment will be via
the CCMS. The enrolment amount is recoverable when the child leaves
child care.
The costs to providers will vary between
providers depending on each provider s current level of computer
use and competency and staff familiarity with computer
programs.
The Australian Government supported 588 866 child care places in
2005, an increase of 4.8 per cent on the number in
2004.(16) The majority of Australian Government
supported child care places were:
- outside school hours care places (44.4 per cent),
- centre-based long day care places (42.0 per cent),
- family day care places (12.8 per cent),
- occasional care places (0.5 per cent), and
- other care places (0.3 per cent).
State and Territory governments supported at least 204 932 pre
school places in 2005-06.(17)
In 2005-06, over 111 413 children aged 12 years or younger
attended State and Territory government funded and/or provided
child care and 788 904 children aged 12 years or younger attended
Australian Government approved child care services. Some children
attend both Australian and State/Territory funded child care and
some services receive funding from both Australian and
State/Territory governments.(18) Some information on the
complexion of the child care industry is provided in the
Productivity Commission s 2007 Report on Government
Services.(19)
The child care provider industry is not homogeneous and is very
diverse see Table 14.1 above. Funding to assist child care
providers with the implementation of the CCMS has been itemised as
$18.8 million.(20) The capacity for individual providers
to incur the expense of moving to the new computer CCMS environment
will vary between providers and it is probable that providers in
the not-for-profit sector will have less financial capacity for
this move than private providers. There is no indication in the
Explanatory Memorandum or in the information about CCMS provided by
FaCSIA,(21) about how the allocation of the $18 million
is to be dispersed. Some in the child care industry have
recommended that this financial assistance be targeted to the
not-for-profit providers.(22)
In the 2006-07 Budget, the government announced the development
of an improved child care payment and management system, the
CCMS.(23) The Government then said that final funding
will be announced in the future, following consultation with the
child care sector, but the Government did commit in the 2006-07
Budget to provide $50.8 million in funding over four
years.(24)
The Explanatory Memorandum details that the costs of the changes
entailed in the Bill will be $40.4 million in 2006-07, $40.8
million in 2007-08, $3.7 million in 2008-09 and would also result
in a saving of $2.3 million in 2009-10.(25) This is a
net total of $82.6 million.
The expenditure in the first two years arise from the
implementation costs of the new CCMS, part of which is funding to
support child care providers in their transition to the new CCMS
processes. As stated above, the funding to assist child care
providers with the implementation of the CCMS has been itemised as
$18.8 million.(26)
It is proposed to fully implement the new CCMS from January 2008
but to test and refine the system and processes by way of a pilot.
The CCMS pilot will occur in the second half of 2007 before
implementation. The stages of the CCMS implementation are:
- Stage 1 - pilot to selected Long Day Care(27) and
Family Day Care(28) providers, to commence from July
2007. The pilot will be in two phases; a Simulation Phase where
CCMS will be used by child care services but no live payments will
be made; and a Live Payment Phase, expected to commence from late
2007 where a small group of child care providers will commence
using the CCMS for day-to-day Child Care Benefit (CCB)
processes.
- Stage 2 - On completion of the pilot, CCMS will be implemented
to Long Day Care and Family Day Care. From January 2008, services
will move to CCMS with the final services moving to CCMS by July
2008. Those services that participate in the pilot will be the
first to transition to the new CCMS.
- Stage 3 - Implementation of the CCMS to the Outside School
Hours Care(29), In-Home Care(30) and
Occasional Care(31) sectors with implementation planned
to commence from July 2008.(32)
The FaCSIA CCMS Fact
Sheet explains how the CCMS pilot will work:
Pilot Stage
The pilot will be in two phases; a Simulation
Phase commencing in July 2007, and a Live Payments Phase expected
to commence in late 2007. During the Simulation, FaCSIA will
simulate business processes including training, information and
support products, transition processes and helpdesk support without
impacting on the way in which Child Care services, participating in
the Simulation, currently operate.
The Live Payments Phase will commence upon
successful completion of the Simulation Phase and, as the name
suggests, will involve using the CCMS for day-to-day Child Care
Benefit processes. This phase will involve an incremental
transition of Child Care Services that have participated in the
Simulation to the CCMS, and will complete the assurance
process.
Participation in both phases of the pilot will be
based on nominations from Child Care services.(33)
Items 1 and 2 alter the description of absences
in the FAA. Currently, a child is allowed up to 30 days absence in
a year from child care and the parent still be entitled to CCB for
those days. The definition of absences in the FAA is to be altered
to allow up to 42 days absence in a year and more than 42 days in
prescribed circumstances. Child care providers still charge fees
for absences, so this move to allow CCB payment for absences from
30 up to 42 days advantages CCB claimants. It will allow child care
providers more flexibility than the current 30 days.
Items 8, 9 and 10 alter the FAAA to empower the
Secretary to approve software for the use of the CCMS and the form
and construct of information a child care provider is required to
provide.
Item 11 replaces the current section 48 in the
FAAA with a new section 48 that sets out the fee reduction process,
setting out roles and requirements for child care centres and the
FAO. This new section 48 is the core of the new fee reduction
process to be implemented by the new CCMS. Items 12 to
17 amend several notice provisions in the FAAA, with the
main one being item 12, which no longer requires
the child care centre to calculate the amount of the fee reduction,
being the amount of CCB payable to an individual.
Item 18 provides for the calculation of
entitlement to CCB by way of a fee reduction to be made by the
FAO.
Items 21 and 22 amend provisions in the FAAA
ensuring the amount of CCB an individual is entitled to is passed
on by the child care provider as a fee reduction.
Item 23 inserts provisions that empower the FAO
to require an approved child care provider to provide information
to the FAO about child care usage by individuals and the form of
that information.
Items 33, 34 and 35 provide that amounts of CCB
incorrectly paid by way of a child care fee reduction can be a debt
against an individual and can be recovered from the individual.
Item 36 inserts provisions setting out that an
amount provided to a child care provider and not passed on to the
individual who is qualified for that amount is a debt against the
child care provider. Item 39 and 42 to 44 set out
how debts against a child care provider can be recovered. They
include two new debt recovery methods: reduction of fee amounts or
of enrolment advances that would otherwise be paid to the
provider.
Item 82 inserts new provisions into the FAAA
about the enrolment of a child with a child care provider for child
care. The provisions feature the requirement for the approved child
care provider to notify the FAO when a child registers with the
provider for the provision of child care and the person wishes to
claim CCB as a fee reduction. Item 83 inserts
provisions setting out obligations for the child care provider to
pass on fee reductions and to charge no more than fees for the same
services had no fee reduction apply.
Item 86 requires the child care provider to
issue receipts to the child care user and the details the receipts
are to contain, including the fee charged and the fee reduction
amount, being the CCB amount.
Item 87 sets out the requirement for child care
providers to provide reports to the FAO, including the content and
timing of the reports.
Item 90 inserts new provisions into the FAAA
setting out the method of payment of weekly amounts to the child
care centre, being weekly remittances of CCB to be the fee
reduction amounts to be passed on to individuals who are using the
provider s child care services. These provisions cover the payment
of these weekly amounts and the adjustment of amounts upon any
recalculation of CCB payment rate and also enrolment advances.
Items 92 to 99 contain transitional provisions
to facilitate the conversion of an approved child care provider
into the new CCMS arrangements. Not all centres will commence on
the same day and not all will commence from 1 January 2008. Child
care centres will come on-line as they acquire the necessary
computer systems to operate inside the CCMS communication and
payments arrangements.
Schedule 2 provides for civil penalties for
breaches of family assistance law. The Explanatory Memorandum
states that the capacity to refer to civil penalties is new in this
context but does not say why it is considered necessary. The
Explanatory memorandum does say it will enhance the range of
penalties.(34) Currently, there is access to criminal
penalties for child care providers. It may be that the arrangements
between the government (FAO) and child care providers currently,
and also under the CCMS arrangements, are essentially commercial
arrangements involving commercial enterprises being required to
pass on public monies to individuals by way of child care fee
reductions. In this environment the application of criminal
penalties is limited and civil penalties provide more scope for the
non-compliance with family assistance law. However, the Explanatory
Memorandum does not outline or explain this so this is
conjecture.(35)
Item 6 presents provisions requiring approved
child care providers to provide information about past child care
use and prospective child care use and empowering the FAO to
specify the form, manner and timing of this information.
Item 7 inserts new provisions into the FAAA to
provide for the pursuit of civil action against a child care
provider who has breached the family assistance law requirements.
The provisions empower the courts (the Federal Court or the Federal
Magistrates Court) to determine the amount of the financial
penalty. Provisions in item 7 also refer to the
issuing of infringement notices, time limits on civil action at
four years and the suspension of approval authorisation for a child
care provider if 10 or more infringement notices have been issued
in a 12 month period.
Item 1 refers to the percentage of CCB payable
to school aged and non-school aged children.(36) Where a
child is of school age, they only qualify for 85 per cent of the
CCB rate that would be paid, where the child is a non-school aged
child. However, there are different school start arrangements and
terminology in different States.(37) The amendment
presented in item 1 to the FAA will apply an
assumption that every child is a school aged child from the age of
6 and therefore only 85 per cent of the CCB rate payable, unless
the parent advises otherwise. This is different to the current
arrangements, where the non-school rate is applied after the parent
advises the child has commenced school. This will reduce
overpayments that have occurred in the past but will also probably
result in some underpayments.
Item 24 inserts provisions into the FAAA to
empower the FAO to suspend a child care provider s approval
immediately where one of the prescribed circumstance set out in the
provision is met. These circumstances are where the provider has
failed to meet a State or Territory law relating to the provision
of child care; they commonly refer to health and safety
requirements and other building code requirements. Immediate
suspension may also be necessary where the FAO is of the opinion
there is an imminent danger to a child or some other event
requiring immediate action. These circumstances are not set out in
the provisions, so it is really an open cheque book as to what
these circumstances might be and is therefore probably a matter to
be described in policy guidelines. To be fair, it is probably too
difficult and too cumbersome to spell out in legislation every
circumstance where it might be considered appropriate to suspend or
cancel a provider s approval, consequently the provisions
appropriately provide broad powers.
This Bill provides the legislative support for the biggest
system and process changes to the delivery of CCB since the payment
commenced from 1 July 2000.(38) It could be seen as
taking the interface between government (FAO and Centrelink) and
child care providers out of the dark ages of using mail to modern
computer based processes.
The Explanatory Memorandum says in several places that the
assessed costs of some of the proposed changes have been assessed
as minimal .(39) This is a bit simplistic, especially
for some of the cost items for child care providers. Of course,
costs for providers will vary between providers because their
current internal records management systems and processes are so
very diverse. For some providers, the costs will be significant,
for others, the costs will be minimal. It is possible some
providers looking at significant costs may decide to not to venture
into the new world of CCMS and close their operations.
One of the most significant changes for child care providers
will be the funding change from quarterly bulk advances of CCB to
remittances paid weekly in arrears. Some providers may not have the
financial reserves or resources to tolerate such a change,
especially during the transition period, and may also opt not to
venture into the new world of CCMS. The other main change for
providers will be the recording of child care use data on to
computer records compatible with the CCMS and the lodging of weekly
reports. For those providers already using computers for child care
records the changes will be less onerous and demanding than for
those owners who only use paper records, more commonly the smaller
providers. In the face of these new requirements, some providers
looking at significant costs may decide to close their
operations.
The Explanatory Memorandum does refer to the potential in the
future to consider electronic sign in and sign out
processes.(40) This does have the potential to target
CCB payments more even closely to real-time use of child care
services and this may provide savings to government outlays. At
present, there is no real rigor to the sign in and sign out time
recording, which is conducted between the parent and the child care
provider.
CCB is not a small program. In the 2005-06 year, some 552 000
families used approved Commonwealth funded child care services and
received CCB(41)and the total expenditure for CCB in the
2005-06 year was $1.519 billion.(42) Given that the vast
majority of CCB is delivered via fee reductions passed on by child
care providers, it is probably long overdue that this be managed
and processed electronically rather than by exchange of information
through the post. However, for many the changes are significant,
and the pilot to be conducted over the second half of 2007 will
reveal how significant. Some providers may find it all too
difficult and opt out of child care provision, especially the small
providers.
The figure of $50.8 million referred to on
page 7 that was announced by Minister Mal Brough in the 2006-07
Budget referred to a government commitment to a more rigorous child
care compliance strategy, not to the cost of the proposed new Child
Care Management System.
Endnotes
- The figure of $50.8 million referred to on page 7 that was
announced by Minister Mal Brough in the 2006-07 Budget referred to
a government commitment to a more rigorous child care compliance
strategy, not to the cost of the proposed new Child Care Management
System.
- Adjusted taxable income is net taxable income with income from
foreign income, employer provided fringe benefits and net rental
property loses factored back in.
- For CCB purposes, a school child is a child who attends primary
or secondary school or who is on a break from school (for example
school holidays) and will return to primary or secondary school
after that break. A school child includes children who attend the
following classes at primary school:
- kindergarten in New South Wales and the Australian Capital
Territory,
- preparatory in Victoria and Tasmania,
- preparatory or Year 1 in Queensland,
- pre-primary in Western Australia, or reception in South
Australia, or transition in the Northern Territory.
- Approved child care is care provided by a service
provider that participates satisfactorily in the Australian
Government funded quality assurance system and has been approved to
receive Child Care Benefit payments on behalf of eligible families.
Most long day care, family day care, before and after school care,
vacation care, some occasional care and some in-home care providers
are approved child care providers.
- Registered care is care for work related purposes that is
provided by grandparents, relatives, friends or nannies who are
registered with the Family Assistance Office. Registered care may
also include care provided by some private preschools,
kindergartens, some outside school hours care services and some
occasional care centres.
- Maximum rate of CCB for a
non-school aged child in approved care
If family income is less than $34 310, a
person can get maximum rate CCB for approved care.
|
Number of children in care
|
Per week (for 50 hours of care)
|
Per hour for each child
|
|
1
|
$148.00
|
$2.96
|
|
2
|
$309.35 ($154.67 per child)
|
$3.09
|
|
3
|
$482.84 ($160.94 per child)
|
$3.21
|
Maximum rate for a school
aged child is 85% of the non-school aged child rate.
If family income is more than $34 310, a
person can get a part-rate CCB.
Where family income exceeds an upper
income threshold, only the minimum rate CCB is payable.
|
Number of children in care
|
Upper income threshold
|
|
1
|
$98,348
|
|
2
|
$106,629
|
|
3
|
$121,130
(add $20,221 for each extra child in care)
|
The minimum rate of CCB for a non-school
child is $0.497 per hour up to 50 hours a week or $24.85. Rates
for a school aged child are 85% of the non-school aged
rate.
- The number of hours a person can receive CCB for
approved child care depends on whether they (and their partner)
satisfy the CCB work/training/study test. From 3 July 2006, between
24 and 50 hours of Child Care Benefit per week for each child in
care can be claimed where the claimant (and partner) have work, or
work related commitments, for at least 15 hours a week or at least
30 hours a fortnight, or have an exemption to this
requirement.
- Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous
Affairs, Annual Report 2005-06, Canberra, Australia, p.
193. http://www.facs.gov.au/annualreport/2006/index.html
Accessed on 8 June 2007.
- Peter Yeend, Family Assistance Legislation Amendment (Extension
of Time Limits) Act 2003, Bills Digest No. 38
2003-04, Parliamentary Library, Canberra, Australia, 10
October 2003.
http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/bd/2003-04/04bd038.htm#Contact
Accessed on 8 June 2007.
- Explanatory Memorandum, p. i.
- ibid., p. ii.
- ibid.
- Choice Magazine, Caring for Kids - Choice Survey of child
care, November 2006, pp. 14 15.
http://www.choice.com.au/viewArticle.aspx?id=105463&catId=100509&tid=100008&p=1&title=Childcare
Accessed on 8 June 2007.
Community Care Child Care Co-operative NSW, Responses to the
Proposed CCMS, Sydney 15 December 2006, p. 2. http://www.ccccnsw.org.au/index.html
Accessed on 8 June 2007.
- Community Services Ministers Advisory Council, National
Children s Services Workforce Study,
Melbourne Australia, July 2006, p. 5.
http://hnb.dhs.vic.gov.au/children/ccdnav.nsf/childdocs/-F6E555C5D757CA2BCA256E18006497D4-CB1D86EE6722F836CA256E98001F4863-FFDB89DFB9F05F1DCA256F0B000DCE6C?open
Accessed on 8 June 2007.
- Peter Yeend, Family Assistance, Social Security and Veterans'
Affairs Legislation Amendment (2005 Budget and Other Measures) Bill
2006, Bills Digest No. 104 2005-06, Parliamentary Library,
Canberra, Australia, 2 March 2006. http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/bd/2005-06/06bd104.htm
Accessed on 8 June 2007.
- Australian Government Productivity Commission, Report on
Government Services 2007, Canberra, Australia, 31
January 2007, Part F Community Services, Chapter 14 Children s
Services, p. 14.6.
http://www.pc.gov.au/gsp/reports/rogs/2007/communityservices/index.html
Accessed on 8 June 2007.
- ibid.
- ibid.
- ibid., p. 14.8.
- Explanatory Memorandum, p. xvi.
- The Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous
Affairs, Child Care Management System.
http://www.facs.gov.au/internet/facsinternet.nsf/childcare/ccms.htm
Accessed on 8 June 2007.
- Community Care Child Care Co-operative NSW, Responses to
the Proposed CCMS, op. cit. p. 3.
- The Hon. Mal Brough, MP, Minister for Families, Community
Services and Indigenous Affairs, 2006-07 Budget - A
More responsive, quality child care system, Media Release,
Canberra, Australia, 9 May 2006.
http://www.facs.gov.au/internet/minister3.nsf/content/budget06_responsive_child_care.htm
Accessed on 8 June 2007.
- ibid.
- Explanatory Memorandum, Financial impact
statement.
- Explanatory Memorandum, p. xvi.
- Long Day Care is a centre-based form of child care providing
all day or part-time care for children of working families and the
general community. Long day care services provide care mostly for
children not yet attending school, but may also provide care for
school children before and after school and during school holidays.
Community organisations, local councils, private operators,
employers or non-profit organisations may run these services.
- Family Day Care services support and coordinate a group of
family day carers who provide child care in their own homes for
other people s children. The service also assists parents to select
an appropriate family day carer for their child. A family day care
service can provide flexible care, including all-day care,
part-time, casual, before and after school care, and care during
school holidays.
- Outside School Hours Care services provide care before and/or
after school and/or during vacation time. These services often
operate in school grounds. They may also be in other locations such
as community centres, halls, neighbourhood houses, recreation
centres or other types of child care services (for example Family
Day Care).
- In Home Care services provide a targeted form of child care
where an approved carer provides care in the child s home. It aims
to provide care for children within the family unit, and is only
available for families who do not have access to an existing child
care service, or where an existing service cannot meet their needs
such as parents who work irregular hours.
- Occasional Care is centre-based child care that supports
families by providing flexible care for children. Families can
access occasional care regularly on a sessional basis, or
irregularly. While occasional care is available to all children,
most of the children in care will not have started school.
Community organisations, non-profit organisations or local councils
may run Occasional Care services.
- Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous
Affairs, CCMS Pilot Fact Sheet, p. 1.
http://www.facs.gov.au/internet/facsinternet.nsf/childcare/ccms.htm
Accessed on 8 June 2007.
- ibid.
- Explanatory Memorandum, p. 53.
- ibid.
- For CCB purposes, a school child is a child who attends primary
or secondary school or who is on a break from school (for example
school holidays) and will return to primary or secondary school
after that break. op. cit.
- ibid.
- Lesley Lang, Dale Daniels and Peter Yeend, A New Tax System
(Family Assistance) Bill 1999, Bills Digest No. 175
1998-99, Parliamentary Library, Canberra, Australia, 10 May
1999.
http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/bd/1998-99/99bd175.htm#Contact
Accessed on 8 June 2007.
- Explanatory Memorandum, pp. xviii xix.
- ibid.
- Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous
Affairs, Annual Report 2005-06, op. cit.
- ibid., p. 191.
Peter Yeend
14 June 2007
Bills Digest Service
Parliamentary Library
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