Enjoy the improved CWA (Complying Written Arrangements) process in Xplor
Everything you need to know about recent changes to signing CWAs.
A Complying Written Arrangement (CWA) is an agreement between a provider at an Early Learning Childcare Centre and a parent or guardian for providing childcare services in exchange for fees. Once a provider and parent or guardian have signed a CWA, a child is considered to have started care. A childcare session must be paid under a CWA to be eligible for receiving a Child Care Subsidy (CCS).
Before starting care at a service provider, parents/guardians should complete their Centrelink Claim and Activity Test in MyGov.
Service providers and their clients enter into CWAs when they decide to charge for childcare services. Two main purposes can be accomplished with a CWA:
- When a parent or legal guardian signs a complying written arrangement (CWA) with a licensed childcare provider, the child is considered to have started attending the program.
- An eligible care session is one for which a parent or guardian has incurred an expense due under a CWA.
CCS eligibility can be updated at any time through the CWA. For approval via the MyGov website, the CWA must include:
- Information on the caregiver and the parents’ contact information
- The start date of the agreement
- The child’s or children’s full names and dates of birth
- Start and end times, as well as session days
- Whether care is provided on a casual, ad hoc, or regular basis
- A detailed breakdown of fees to be charged under the arrangement
What’s changed with the CWA process?
On 21 October 2022, the CWA process changed. In the past, an enrollment notice couldn’t be made unless a CWA agreement was signed through the Home app. Now, an enrolment notice will automatically be sent upon successful completion of a new CCS enrolment (CWA) on the Government Enrolment page.
CWAs will still be generated in parallel for caregiver approval via the Home app.
And the CCS enrollment procedure will be facilitated by automated email communications with parents.
Throughout the entire CCS enrolment (CWA) process, primary caregivers will get four types of automated emails instructing them on the next step to take. When each of these conditions is met, an email will be sent out immediately:
- The CCS enrollment (CWA) notice is “Pending” or “Pending Eligibility”
- The CWA agreement has not been signed for more than 48 hours
- The CWA agreement has been revised in both Office and Home
- The CWA agreement is approved
What does this mean for you?
Faster CWA enrollment processing with fewer errors
Submitting a CCS enrolment (CWA) for a child changes its status to “Pending” or “Pending Eligibility.” To simplify the CCS Enrolment process, primary carers will first sign their CWA through MyGov. They can then navigate through to Home to finalise. And if this isn’t done immediately, the primary carer will get an email reminder within 48 hours.
The redesigned CWA flow eliminates the “Draft” status, but draft CCS enrolments won’t be affected. Users can also create a new CWA enrollment to override their previous draft if they wish.
Previously, errors would only appear after the parent had signed into the CWA in the Home app. But now, any errors are immediately identified, preventing the CCS enrolment from being created and enabling admins to remedy a problem quickly.
Lessen backdating
Office users can choose CCS enrolment (CWA) start dates (current or past date only).
CCS enrolling (CWA) notification start date is no longer based on a parent’s approval (in the Home app). Previously, parents/guardians approved the CWA after their arrangement start date, which meant admins had to manually backdate the start date.
Proactive CCS enrolments
If the new CCS enrollment fails to submit to the government, an error message will be displayed (e.g. Individual CRN and DOB do not exist).
Previously, error notifications didn’t appear until a parent/guardian stopped receiving CCS payments.
Smoother enrolment experience for parents
Parents/guardians will be kept up to date throughout the CWA process via automated emails, with instructions, CCS and Office support resources if they need more help.
There are no items to action, and nothing else is required on your centre’s part. This feature will automatically update in Office.
Significance of the change
This change eliminates several of the past roadblocks around CWA process, such as:
- CCS enrolment (CWA) being a lengthy and tedious process
- Certain steps getting lost between either parent or guardian
- Parents having trouble locating the CWA, and the two-step process posing a difficulty for them
- Backdating was unavailable to admins
Support Info
Please refer to this support article for further assistance on CWA approvals. If you have any questions or concerns about the new CWA process, you can contact the Xplor Support Team via support@myxplor.com, on (03) 8652 1963 (between 8 am–6 pm AEDT), through your Office setup or the chat icon on the Support page.
Zeus Martinez
Marketing Content Specialist
