Support Payment Announced For Early Childhood Services Affected By Floods

The Australian Government has announced a $10,000 ECEC Flood Support Payment for services in flood-affected regions that close for more than 7 days.

The Australian Government has also declared new Local Area Emergencies (LAE) for more areas in New South Wales and Queensland following flooding and severe rainfall. We've also extended existing LAEs.

For a full list of emergency declarations and list of regions and dates eligible for support: Current LAE

Support Payments

ECEC Flood Support Payments of $10,000 are available to services in flood-affected regions that close for more than 7 days due to flooding. If your service is located in an eligible region, you will receive an offer before 18 March.

Services must meet the following conditions to be eligible for the payment:

• be located in an LAE-declared region after 23 February
• close for more than 7 days due to flooding – this could be due to physical damage to buildings, staff shortages or school closures
• waive the gap fee for families for the duration of the flood-related closure
• agree to provide priority access to families impacted by flooding, for example if a family relocates temporarily but wishes to resume their enrolment in the future.

Services that need further support can apply for a Community Child Care Fund (CCCF) Special Circumstances grant. Applicants should apply for a CCCF grant after an event has occurred and they have accessed other disaster support.

Absences

Children who live, or attend a service, in an LAE-declared region will get extra allowable absences for the duration of the LAE. They will be automatically applied in the Child Care Subsidy (CCS) System shortly.

This means families won’t have to use any of their 52 allowable absences during the LAE.

Gap fees

Services in an LAE-declared region can waive the gap fee if a child does not attend, or the service is closed.
Services outside an LAE-declared region can waive the gap fee if a child that lives within an LAE-declared region does not attend care.

Financial support for families

Affected families may be eligible for extra help with the cost of child care through the Additional Child Care Subsidy (temporary financial hardship). Families must apply directly to Centrelink.

For more information: Emergency Declarations