Applying Additional Child Care Subsidy (ACCS)
The following information is a guide for Woodland Campus Managers on how to apply for Additional Child Care Subsidy (ACCS) for families.
ACCS Additional Child Care Subsidy purpose is to subsidised %100 of the Woodlands Daily Fee to allow families to attend without being financially burdened and/or to allow children to continue to develop and be present in an educational environment at Woodlands.
Eligibility & Definition
A child is taken to be at risk of serious abuse or neglect if the child is at risk of suffering harm as a result of being subject to, or exposed to, one or more of the following events:
- serious physical, emotional or psychological abuse,
- sexual abuse,
- domestic or family violence
- neglect.
A Child Is At Risk If:
- the child is currently experiencing one or more of the events set out above, or
- the risk of the child experiencing one or more of the events in the future is real and apparent.
- A child may be taken to be at risk of suffering harm in relation to an event mentioned above even if the event occurred in the past.
- A child is also taken to be at risk of serious abuse or neglect where the child is in need of care and protection under relevant state or territory law.
Applying Additional Child Care Subsidy (ACCS) Instructions
1) Obtain Information & Evidence
Acceptable sources of evidence Organisations considered suitable to provide third party evidence in support of an ACCS (child wellbeing) claim include:
- State and territory government early intervention and support services for vulnerable children and families non-government organisations providing early intervention and family support services
- State and territory or private schools
- Other state and territory government and non-government organisations that are providers of relevant services including those related to mental health, family violence and family law, homelessness, drug and alcohol rehabilitation, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander services
- State and territory government child safety/protection agencies.
Professionals considered suitable to provide third party evidence in support of an application for ACCS (child wellbeing) determination include (this list is not exhaustive):
- Medical practitioners and registered nurses
- Hospital admission/emergency unit professionals
- Welfare agency personnel and social workers
- Psychologists and counsellors
- Physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech pathologists
- School principals and teachers
- Police officers
- Lawyers.
Acceptable types of evidence A range of evidence is acceptable for the purposes of ACCS (child wellbeing) including:
- Letters and statements
- Referrals
- Case plans
- Court orders
- Documentary evidence from a Child Safety/Protection Agency if relevant
- In their initial application for a determination, a provider may submit a statutory declaration if they have been unable to obtain third party evidence before making the first application to Services Australia. The statutory declaration needs to indicate why they have not been able to obtain third party evidence and the steps they have taken. A statutory declaration template is available on the Department of Education, Skills and Employment website.
Minimum basic information Any evidence provided in support of an application for an ACCS (child wellbeing) determination must clearly state:
- The name of the child
- The childs date of birth; or residential address; or name(s) of parent(s) to ensure that the evidence relates to the correct child
- The name and contact details of the organisation responsible for the document
the date the evidence was given. Where the evidence is a letter, statement, email or similar, it must also clearly state:
- The name of the person giving the evidence
- The persons title and/or position in the organisation
- Where appropriate for the type of evidence (e. g. a letter), it must be signed by the author.
Minimum details As a minimum, the evidence provided must give a high-level description of the circumstance that resulted in the child being at risk. The evidence provided should:
- Focus on the presence of risk of serious abuse or neglect (or evidence of actual abuse or neglect), for example by referencing indicators of abuse or neglect or risk factors
- Describe the childs circumstances in a way that they can be clearly linked to the definition of at risk
- Explain how the circumstances of the family are linked to the risk to the child (where applicable)
Highlight how the family's issues are a barrier to the family caring appropriately for the child thereby leaving the child at risk. If available, evidence should:
- Indicate the period that the child will likely be at risk for
- Give an indication that child care is part of the childs case management plan of an appropriate support organisation
- Outline an overarching support package that responds to the child continuing to experience any ongoing trauma resulting from past abuse or neglect.
2) Important Information To Be Aware Of
ACCS can only be backdated for 13 weeks with valid evidence and CCS will automatically apply to the account for the sessions in the past 13 weeks. Child/children need an active Government Enrolment (CWA) to enable the ACCS Additional Child Care Subsidy to be applied to the account.
Instructions to lodge Application in Xplor:
New Certificate Instructions
Summary: First-time applying for a new child/childern
- Click "New Certificate".
- Select the date for ‘start of certificate’ this will always be a Monday.
- Select certificate length ‘6 weeks’.
- Tick the risks appropriate to each child’s circumstances.
- Attach your evidence (support letter. ‘State of territory details’ is where you record the contact details and date of notice on the support letter.
- If you have been given the support letter tick ‘third party notified me’, if you have ‘notified a third party’ tick this box.
- Click ‘create certificate’.Down the bottom should say ‘certificate’ and approved’ it may not approve instantly. If it doesn’t submit please review the information this means something is missing. Create a new determination: A new determination is what is submitted to apply for a further 13 weeks of ACCS.
Additional Informaion:
- The family will not be approved for ACCS if they haven’t applied and been approved for CCS.
- Set yourself a reminder at least a week before any support letter is due to end. This ensures that families have a sufficient amount of time to arrange a new one.
- The first support letter is ALWAYS 6 weeks only. You can apply for an additional 13 weeks onwards by creating a new determination with another support letter. Create a new certificate:
Determination Instructions
Summary: On-going application for when the 13 weeks determination has ceased.
- Click ‘actions’ then ‘copy to determination’.
- All of your previously submitted information will show up. Change the determination link to ’13 weeks.,
- Add or change any extra risk reasons.
- Attach your additional evidence (support letter).
- Update state of territory details.
- If you have been given the support letter tick ‘third party notified me’, if you have ‘notified a third party’ tick this box.
- Click ‘copy to determination.