Is there gov’t support for COVID-19 childcare losses?
COVID-19: Childcare Centre Support
This is an excerpt from the Special Government Webcast held at 11:30am on 19 March 2020.
IMPORTANT: Service Closure
You will be notified by the state or territory regulatory authority if your service should be closed. If you voluntarily chose to or are advised to close your service by authorities, you must notify your state or territory regulatory authority within 24 hours.
The Community Childcare Care Fund (CCCF) is designed to help support childcare providers affected by unforeseen factors, and centres can apply for up to $25k if they feel they’re losing business to COVID-19.
Here are the highlights:
- The funding can be used to help cover business costs or losses in situations where occupancy has dropped as a result of families reducing hours or dropping out of care.
- The level of funding for each service will be determined on a case-by-case basis.
- The assessment period is typically 2-3 days for applications of less than $10,000. For services seeking larger grants, there is a slightly longer assessment period.
- Once approved and an agreement is signed, funds are generally released within 24 hours.
Important notes:
- CCS and ACCS cannot be used to support business viability in times of hardship, including in the circumstance where a service closes due to COVID-19
- If a service closes, attendance reports cannot be submitted for CCS and families should not be charged fees
To learn more about this funding or to apply, go to www.education.gov.au/cccfspecialcircs.
If you have any questions about the CCCF, please contact the CCCF Program team via CCCFSpecialCircumstances@dese.gov.a
Further information
- Please visit the Department of Education, Skills and Employment Frequently Asked Questions for more information for providers and services and Coronavirus (COVID-19) for the latest education and training sector fact sheets.
- The CCS Helpdesk is available to assist with information for services to help them manage the impacts on their business. Please email the CCS Helpdesk on ccshelpdesk@dese.gov.au, send in your query via an online form or call 1300 667 276 between 9.00 am — 5.00 pm (AEDST), Monday to Friday.
Please make sure that if you are a child care provider or service you have subscribed to receive communications from the Department of Education, Skills and Employment.
