Complying Written Arrangement (CWA)—enjoy a smoother process with Xplor Education

A mother reviews a Complying Written agreement on her smart phone.

5 December, 2022

A Complying Written Arrangement (CWA) is a formal agreement between a licensed Early Learning Childcare Centre provider and a parent or guardian, outlining the provision of childcare services in return for fees. Once a parent/guardian signs a CWA, it signifies that the child has officially commenced care with the government. Additionally, completing a CWA makes the child eligible for the Child Care Subsidy (CCS) for applicable sessions.

Important steps for parents/guardians

Before starting care at a childcare service, parents or guardians should complete their Centrelink Claim and Activity Test via MyGov.

A woman smiles while she enters information on her laptop computer, perhaps a Complying Written Arrangement (CWA)

Service providers and their clients enter into CWAs when the service charges fees that are government subsidy-eligible, enabling families to only pay their gap fee out of pocket. A few considerations:

Families will only be eligible for a subsidised fee for sessions covered through their CWA
Families CWA will automatically cease if their child does not attend a service for 14 consecutive weeks
Families entitlements will cease if their child does not attend care for 26 consecutive weeks

You can update CCS eligibility at any time through the CWA. In Xplor Education’s Office platform, you can update this via the Master Roll Screen if there is an incurred change to their booking pattern, or through the Government enrolment tab for all other updates.

For approval via the MyGov website, the CWA must include:

Child and Parent/Guardian Full Name, CRN and DOB
The start date of the agreement
Session details including days, start & end times and fees
Whether care is provided on a casual, weekly or fortnightly basis

What’s changed with the Complying Written Arrangement (CWA) process?

On 21 October 2022, the CWA process changed. In the past, an enrolment notice couldn’t be made unless a parent/guardian signed a CWA agreement 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.

You still need to generate a CWA in parallel for caregiver approval via the Xplor Education Home app.

A woman taps tablet as email icons flow from the screen.

Automated email communications with parents will facilitate the CCS enrolment procedure.

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 enrolment (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 Complying Written Arrangement (CWA) enrolment 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. If they don’t do this immediately, the primary carer will get an email reminder within 48 hours.

The redesigned CWA flow eliminates the “Draft” status, but this doesn’t affect draft CCS enrolments. Users can also create a new CWA enrolment 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. You can leverage Xplor Education’s features for automated Complying Written Arrangements to reduce the likelihood of errors and ensure your documentation aligns with regulatory requirements.

A father hugs his young daughter as he sits at a kitchen table, strewn with papers, a calculator and a laptop computer.

With Xplor Education, you can enjoy a streamlined Complying Written Arrangement (CWA) process. This enables you to save time on administrative tasks related to compliance and documentation. You’ll also benefit from an intuitive and user-friendly interface that simplifies the CWA process. We designed the Xplor Education’s platform to enhance the user experience.

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 enrolment fails to submit to the government, you’ll see an error message (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 remain updated 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 your centre doesn’t need to do anything else. This feature will automatically update in Office.

A woman and her baby touch a phone screen, perhaps signing their Comply Written Arrangement

Centralised documentation and storage

Enjoy the assurance of data security with Xplor Education’s platform, ensuring the protection of sensitive information within Complying Written Arrangements. Xplor Education prioritises the security and confidentiality of your documentation. In addition, you can access a centralised repository for all your compliance-related documentation. Easily retrieve and manage CWA records in one location, simplifying record-keeping and audit processes.

Significance of the change to the Complying Written Arrangement (CWA) process

This change eliminates several of the past roadblocks around the CWA process, such as:

CCS enrolment (CWA) being a lengthy and tedious process
Certain steps become 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

How can parents/guardians sign a Complying Written Arrangement (CWA) in the Home app?

Signing a CWA in Home is quick and simple. Please share this handy graphic with parents/guardians so they can follow the five easy steps to sign their CWA.

How can parents/guardians confirm their child’s CCS enrolment?

After they’ve signed a CWA, the second step is to confirm their child’s CCS enrolment. Again, this is a straightforward procedure when you know how. Parents/guardians can simply follow the eight steps in the following graphic to confirm their child’s CCS enrolment.

Complying Written Arrangement (CWA) 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.

Experience the benefits of Xplor Education’s Complying Written Arrangement (CWA) process with streamlined administrative tasks, enhanced compliance accuracy and secure, centralised documentation management. To learn more about how Xplor Education can streamline administration at your service, contact us for a free demonstration.

Zeus Martinez

Marketing Content Specialist

Wordsmith and storyteller at heart. Writing professionally since 2005. Living and breathing in the childcare education sector as a marketing copywriter for Xplor.