Application for Exemption From

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DSS1587.05.15

Application for exemption from the requirement that the educators of a family day care service only provide sessions of care in the state or territory in which the service has a service approval under the National Law and Family Assistance Law

Background

Applicants are required to hold a Provider and Service Approval issued by the State or Territory Regulatory Authority under the requirements of the National Law in the jurisdiction where the Regulatory Authority is located, before their service can be approved for the purposes of the family assistance law(and so receive Child Care Benefit (CCB) on behalf of families using the service).

An amendment was made to the Family Assistance Law on 3 December 2014 to require that Family Day Care services must ensure that their educators provide sessions of care only within the state or territory in which the service has a service approval granted by the relevant Regulatory Authority under the Education and Care Services National Law (National Law). This new eligibility rule is at paragraph 10(1A)(e) of the Child Care Benefit (Eligibility of Child Care Services for Approval and Continued Approval) Determination 2000.

A service may apply to the Secretary for an exemption from this rule. If an exemption from the rule is determined, this will mean that the new eligibility rule does not apply to the service. An example of where the Secretary (or delegate) might determine an exemption is where a service is in a cross-border location and can make a business case that the service needs to provide care in the other state or territory.

There are a number of towns in Australia which are located close to a state or territory border. These are often referred to as ‘cross-border’ towns. An example is Coolangatta in Queensland and Tweed Heads in New South Wales. Family Day Care services operating in a cross border town (or cross border area) may want to have their principal office located in one state and have educators working in the other state, or even educators working in both states.

The Department of Social Services’ policy is that exemptions from the new eligibility rule will usually only be given where, for example, the serviceapplying for the exemption:

is supporting educators in an adjacent state or territory who are generally located no more than 50kms from the service’s principal office (i.e. as noted on the Service Approval and CCB Approval documentation)
has provided evidence of its capacity to provide regular monitoring and training of educators located in both states
has provided a justification/business case for seeking an exemption to operate a cross-border operation(this might include matters such as whether there are other services in the area or the level of unmet demand for child care in the area)
does not have a history of non-compliance with the National Law or with the Family Assistance Law, or has not been identified by the department to be at high risk of serious-non-compliance with Family Assistance Law.

Who should use this form?

This application form is designed for Family Day Care services which are located in or near a cross-border town and are seeking to be exempted from this new eligibility rule.

Where do I send this form?

A Family Day Care servicemay seek an exemption by emailing the attached form,along with all documentation that supports the exemption claim, to:.

What happens if an exemption is determined?

If the exemption isdetermined, the Family Day Care service will be advised in writing, including details of the period of time for which the exemption applies. If refused, the service will be advised in writing of the reason(s) for refusal.

If an exemption is determined, theFamily Day Care service must notify the relevant state office of the Department of Social Services of any changes to the details in itsexemption application form, for example, if one or more educators move to another location. Other obligations to notify the Secretary of changes to the service which exist under the family assistance law will continue to apply such as:if the service’s principal office re-locates, the service closes or is sold or there is a transfer of ownership.

If an exemption is determined, the Secretary may impose on the service one or more condition(s) for the continued approval of the service under subsection 199(2) of the A New Tax System (Family Assistance) (Administration) Act 1999.

Disclaimer

The information provided in this form will be used to help the delegate to determine whether to exempt your service from the new eligibility rule. Notwithstanding the completion and the acceptance of this form, the Secretary is under no obligation to provide a service with an exemption from the requirement that its educators only provide sessions of care in the state or territory in which the service has its service approval under the National Law.

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DSS1587.05.15

Application for Exemption from the requirement that the educators of a family day care service only provide sessions of care in the state or territory in which the service has a service approval under the National Law and Family Assistance Law

Part 1 – Service Details

Please provide details of the Family Day Care service applying for an exemption on behalf of an educator employed by the service.

Family Day Care Service Name

Name of the child care service (trading name):
Full legal name of the service operator/provider:
ABN of the service operator/provider:
CCB Approval ID of the service operator/provider:

Service Location

Principal Business Office Address (as noted on the Service Approval and CCB Approval documentation)

Floor / Building / Unit / Apt Name:
Unit Number: / Street Number: / Street Type:
Street Name:
Suburb/Town: / State: / Postcode:
Main Telephone Number: / Mobile:
Email Address:

Service Postal Address

Is the postal address the same as the principal business office address? / Yes / No

If no, please complete the following details below:

Floor / Building:
Street / PO Box:
Suburb / Town: / State: / Postcode:

Service Staffing Information

Number of educators engaged by or registered with the service:*

Information on coordinators:

Service Provider Personnel ID
(as used in CCMS) / Name / Days worked
(e.g. Monday to Friday) / Hours worked (i.e. 9am to 5pm) / Fulltime/
Part time / Is this person also employed as an FDC educator?
Has your service had a condition placed on your approval from the State or Territory Regulatory Authority? / Yes / No
If so, please provide details on the condition(s).

*If the service has had their educator number increased or decreased, with approval from the State or Territory Regulatory Authority, the service should provide the documentation that supports this increase/decrease.

How many educators are located across the border from the state or territory where the Family Day Care principal office is located?
How many coordinators are located across the border from the state or territory where the Family Day Care principal office is located?

Please include details of any educators located more than 50 kilometres from your service’s principal office and their location/distance from the service.

If there are more than two educators, please include these details for all educators in a separate document and include this with your application.

Attachment with details of additional educators included? / Yes / No
Name: / Educator’s service provider personnel ID:
Location: / Distance from your service’s principal office:
Name: / Educator’s service provider personnel ID:
Location: / Distance from your service’s principal office:

Local Child Care Market Information

Is this the only Family Day Care service in the cross-border towns or area? / Yes / No
If no – how many Family Day Care Services are there and how far away are they?
If no – what other types of child care services are available in the cross-border towns/area?

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Part 2 –Supporting Information

Justification for providing care across the border

Please document your service’s circumstances and provide a justification/business case for seeking an exemption to operate across a state/territory border.

Additional information may be scanned and attached to this document.

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Part 3 –Service Certification

Certification by authorised personnel

Please note that giving false or misleading information is a serious offence. Under section 137.1 of the Criminal Code Act 1995(Commonwealth), giving false or misleading information is an offence with a penalty of imprisonment for 12 months.

If approved, the service must notify the Department of Social Services of any changes to the details given in this exemption application form, for example, if one or more educators move to another location. Other obligations to notify the Secretary of changes to the service which exist under the family assistance law will continue to apply: such as if the service’s principal office re-locates, the service closes or is sold or there is a transfer of ownership.

This form needs to be signed by two Authorised Personnel from your organisation.Authorised Personnel are those persons from your organisation that have been identified to the Department as having the authority to make changes to an organisation’s/service’s details.

As the authorised personnel for this service, we confirm the above details are correct. We understand that the completion of this form does not imply approval of exemption to only operate in one jurisdiction.

Authorised Person 1

Name: / Position:
Signed: / Date:

Authorised Person 2

Name: / Position:
Signed: / Date:

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Part 4 – Operator/Provider Undertaking

The operator/provider acknowledges that:

it is a requirement to provide accurate information to the department and that the giving of false or misleading information is a serious offence;
the applicant's legal obligations as outlined in the Legislative Extracts for Approval and Continued Approval under the Family Assistance Law on the departments website sitehave been read and understood;

any breach of the applicant's undertakings and legal obligations may result in the imposition of sanctions, including cancellation of service's approval and, in some cases may also incur a civil penalty and/or criminal prosecution; and
some of the information provided in this application may be disclosed to the Department of Human Services for Child Care Benefit payment purposes and may be disclosed to other persons/authorities where authorised by the family assistance law or other legislation.

The operator/provider:

authorises the department to verify any information provided in this application; and

consents to the disclosure of the information collected as part of this application and any decision made in relation to this application to any Regulatory Authority operating in a State or a Territory.

Applicant

Name: / Position:
Signed: / Date:

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