What if I make a mistake on an attendance record I’ve already sent to the CCMS?
If you make a mistake, you need to cancel the incorrect attendance details and submit a new attendance record with the correct details in its place. You can cancel an attendance record as soon as you are aware of the error. When you cancel an attendance record DEEWR will automatically recover any CCB fee reductions previously paid against that attendance from your service. Cancelling attendances occurring in the previous financial year may result in the CCB entitlement being adjusted with the family if they have completed the reconciliation process with the FAO.
It will depend on the type of error whether you need to only cancel the attendance record or cancel and resubmit.
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You submit attendance reports for every child in care at your service on Monday every week and issue statements to families fortnightly.
On Friday Emmanuel phones to discuss his child care fees and you realise that although his child Toula was previously attending four days per week she has recently reduced her care to two days per week. You have continued to submit four days of care and therefore submitted two days of attendance to CCMS that Toula did not actually attend care.
To correct this error you cancel the attendance record for Toula for the week concerned and resubmit the attendance with the correct details to the CCMS. As you have already received CCB fee reductions for 4 days for this child for this week, this will be recovered from your next CCB payment (shown as a negative payment). However as you have resubmitted the attendance report correctly showing two days of care you will receive another payment of CCB fee reductions for the attendance of two days. |
If an absence occurs for a child before school and after school on the same day, is this recorded as one absence or two?
You are providing two separate sessions of care to the child so report the child as absent for the before school care session and the after school care session.
However, the FAO will only count this as one absence when calculating the child’s 42 absence days for the financial year. It is not possible to have more than one absence counted per day at the same service.
If a child attends before school care in the morning and is absent from after school care in the afternoon, this is still counted as one absence and CCB will be paid for both sessions if the child is eligible.
What happens in the case of two services claiming care for the same session time or same day for a child?
Two services may submit attendance records for the same child for the same session time or same day and CCB may be payable up to the family’s eligible hours limit.
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Maria has one child, Peter, in family day care 3 days per week.
One week Maria is required to travel interstate for work and takes Peter with her as there is no one to care for him at home. Maria has booked Peter into a long day care service interstate for the 3 days. While Peter is away the family day care scheme claims absences for the 3 days.
The interstate long day care service submits attendances to claim CCB for the 3 days that Peter is in care with them.
CCB could be paid at both services, providing CCB eligible hours are available and the absences being claimed by the FDC service are within the initial 42 days absence. If the eligible hours limit is reached, the family will need to pay full fees for the hours not covered by their CCB entitlement. |
What if a family does not provide a medical certificate for an additional absence until after the attendance is sent to the CCMS?
Families receive 42 absence days without the need to provide documentation such as medical certificates.
Once the first 42 absence days have been used, CCB can only be paid if the absence meets the additional absence criteria, and the service holds evidence that the absence has occurred under one of the permitted circumstances (where applicable).
If, after the 42nd absence day, a family provides evidence to support payment of CCB for the 43rd or subsequent absence days, and you have already submitted an attendance report for that week, you will need to cancel the original report and submit a replacement, showing that the absence was an additional absence and including the reason for the additional absence.
When would I use an exceptional circumstance reason for an additional absence?
The purpose of an exceptional circumstance is to help a family who has used all the initial absences due to the reasons below and then requires a holiday or break from care later in the year. Up to 20 additional absence days may be used in this circumstance.
The family will need to provide documented evidence that the child has used more than 30 of their 42 absence days for one of these reasons:
- an illness or illnesses
- rotating shifts or rostered days off
- court order, parenting plan or parenting order.
The evidence has been provided for the first 30 or more initial absence days so you don’t need to provide evidence to claim additional absences while they are having a break from care.
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Jasmine has had multiple illnesses during the year. She has been absent from care due to numerous bouts of asthma and tonsillitis and a hospital visit to have her tonsils removed. All 42 of her initial absences were quickly used and her Mum Julie has provided medical certificates as evidence for 35 absence days and has claimed several additional absences taken for illness.
It is January and Julie would really like to take Jasmine on a holiday to Queensland to visit her family but has no initial absences remaining. As Julie has already provided medical certificates for more than 30 of the first 42 initial absences, she does not need to provide any documentation for Jasmine’s absences whilst she is in Queensland. Jasmine is eligible to claim additional absences using an exceptional circumstance reason. |
Can I report an absence for a public holiday?
An absence can be reported for a public holiday if the child would normally have attended care on that day and a fee is charged for the day. It doesn't make any difference if the child attended care the day before or the day after the public holiday.
You may be closed and still report absences for public holidays because that’s the nature of public holidays – generally most businesses don’t operate but still have to meet staff costs etc. Family assistance law doesn’t distinguish between public holidays that fall during your closedown and other public holidays at other times of the year. But if it’s not a public holiday, the law says you have to be open in order to report the absence.
Can I report an additional absence for a public holiday?
Yes, but only if the child has used all 42 initial absences and it is an eligible additional absence reason with documentation to support their claim. For example, the child was sick on that day and the family provide a medical certificate. The child must normally have attended care on that day and you have charged a fee for the care.
Does a parent who is a shift worker receive additional absence days?
In the situation where a parent works rotating shifts and has booked and is charged for 5 days a week, but only uses three days care and wishes to receive CCB for the other 2 days, then the parent may claim these 2 days as absences. Each child receives 42 absences per financial year.
When these absences are exhausted, providing that the parent works rotating shifts and can support this work pattern with appropriate documentation, the family would be able to claim additional absences for this care.
There is no limit to the number of additional absences that can be used, providing that these absences are taken for specific reasons and the correct supporting documentation is provided.
A rotating shift does not cover situations where a parent works:
- One week on and one week off
- Two days one week and three days the next week, every fortnight
- Periods which include casual or on call types of employment
CCB is also payable for additional absence days where a parent has a rostered day off from full or part time employment and has written evidence from their employer to support the claim.
Is a school teacher eligible for additional absences due to a rotating shift?
School teachers do not fall into this category. The additional holidays teachers receive are annual leave, not a rotating shift. If you know in advance a teacher will not require care for their child during school holidays, you may be able to fill the vacancy. Offering the place to another family can reduce the number of days that the teacher needs to pay for care not provided or using their 42 absence days.
If a child with a permanent booking is on holidays and I am reporting absences for the child, can I offer the temporary place to another child and receive CCB on behalf of both families?
Yes. If you have a vacancy at your centre and you are not exceeding your licensed numbers, you can offer another child the place and claim CCB for the child attending and (if they are eligible) an absence for the child on holidays.