On 7 July 2020, the Minister announced fee relief for Victorian families in response to the COVID-19 lockdowns. From 13 July until 31 December 2020, services open and located in an area of Stage 3 or higher – ‘stay at home’ restrictions are permitted to waive families’ out of pocket fees where a child is not attending due to COVID-19, and an absence is recorded.
Family Day Care operates across a large number of postcodes and demographics and as a result educators who support high income families receive little Child Care Subsidy and will not be in a position to waive the GAP fees.
Your educator will have a fee statment outlining their position on charging the gap fees on absences. Please ensure you sign it when you next see them so you can be clear about your charges moving forward.
Additional paid Absences for areas subject to stage 3 lockdown
From 13 July 2020 families can receive CCS for absences up to seven days before a child’s first, and after a child’s last physical attendance at a service, where they have been booked in for care, for any of the following reasons:
- any of the additional absence reasons
- the child, the individual who cares for the child, the individual’s partner or another person with whom the child lives is ill (no medical certificate required if the child has not used 42 absence days)
- the usual service is closed and the child is attending a different service under the same provider
- a family tragedy (a major event including the death of an immediate family member) has occurred,
For further details on absences please see the Absences Fact sheet and Frequently Asked Questions on the department’s website.
Areas subject to Stage 3 or higher – ‘stay at home’ restrictions are listed at vic.gov.au.