Inclusion Support

The Inclusion Support Program is designed to assist child care services to include children with additional needs by providing tailored inclusion advice and support from contracted Inclusion Agencies as well as funding to address more challenging inclusion barriers.

What is Inclusion Support?

It funds providers to build their ability to include children with additional needs in mainstream services so that these children can learn and develop alongside their peers.

Children with additional needs may include:

  • children with disability, including those undergoing assessment for disability
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children
  • children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds
  • children from a refugee or humanitarian background
  • children with serious medical conditions
  • children presenting with language and speech delays
  • children presenting with disruptive behaviour.

Future key proposed changes include:

  • children presenting with disruptive behaviour.
  • serious medical or health conditions (including mental health)
  • learning, language and speech delays
  • children presenting with challenging behaviours and/or trauma-related behaviours.  
  • Eligibility is also being expanded to now include children with a disability or awaiting diagnosis participating in a preschool program in a Centre Based Day Care service, where the child attracts Child Care Subsidy.

The four streams of support

There are four discrete streams of IDF support which have different eligibility criteria, application processes and approved funding purposes. The four streams of support are:

  1. IDF Subsidy for an Additional Educator
  2. IDF Subsidy for  Immediate/Time-Limited Support
  3. IDF Subsidy – Family Day Care Top Up
  4. IDF – Innovative Solutions

Who can apply for Inclusion Support?

Services eligible to apply for IDF Innovative Solutions Support are:

  • Long Day Care services
  • Outside School Hours Care services, including Vacation Care services
  • Family Day Care services
  • Occasional Care services
  • Mobile Services
  • Budget Based Funded Program services.

Who can apply for Inclusion Support?

The table above outlines the maximum hourly limits and approval periods that apply to a single educator subsidised by the IDF Subsidy for an Additional Educator.

What are non-face-to-face hours?

A capped number of Non-Face-to-Face hours will be available per IDF case. Non Face-to Face hours will allow the child care service to claim IDF where the child has not attended. A service is able to claim the subsidy for a limited number of hours during its approval period, where the child is absent. The maximum number of hours for which the subsidy is payable where a child is absent is 10 percent of the total number of approved hours in the service’s approval period. 

Once the service has exceeded this number of hours in its approval period, it will not receive any further subsidy for further hours that the child is absent from the service. Where a child is absent from the service, the educator funded by the IDF Subsidy for an Additional Educator should receive appropriate notice in line with award provisions

How do I submit my Inclusion Support hours?

Contact your third party software provider for help with:

  • How to query a case.
  • Activating and setting up your child care software product.
  • Assisting with updating provider/service details, checking or creating enrolments and linking personnel.

How will inclusion be paid to my service?

IDF Innovative Solutions Support is paid directly to the service, from the department, to the same payee details it has nominated to receive its child care fee assistance payments on behalf of families.  You will also be able to access these remittance advice receipts via your third party software provider. 

What is the IDF – Innovative Solutions Support? 

The IDF Innovative Solutions Support assists eligible ECCC services to fund innovative and flexible solutions to inclusion, where an identified barrier has been identified and it cannot be addressed by the support provided by an Inclusion Agency (IA). IDF Innovative Solutions Support is available to address barriers to inclusion where subsidising the employment of an Additional Educator. Allowing eligible services to propose innovative and flexible solutions to inclusion aims to empower services to carefully consider their inclusion challenge/s and take an active role in finding solutions; which builds inclusion capacity and capability.

Applicable options for innovative solutions funding are:

  • Bicultural Support – This may include but is not limited to funding to purchase translating and interpreting services, services from cultural experts or specialist advice on how to include a particular child.
  • funding for activities which facilitates outreach and connections to community support
  • funding to purchase translating and interpreting services 
  • services from cultural experts or specialist advice on how to include a particular child or children
  • support for eligible services unable to recruit additional educators due to workforce shortages.
  • Where necessary, applications for IDF Innovative Solutions Support will be prioritised for the following cohorts of children
    • Children with disability including those undergoing assessment for disability  
    • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children  
    • Children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds  
    • Children from a refugee or humanitarian background
    • Children with serious medical condition/s.  
    • Children presenting with language and speech delays  
    • Children presenting with disruptive behaviours

How much funding can I get for IDF Innovative Solutions Support?

The allowed range of a single application for IDF Innovative Solutions support is $300-$3,000. 

Applications over $3,000 will be referred to the department by the IDF Manager, for approval to consider the application expenditure above the $3,000 limit.