Attachment 2 General enrolment procedures – centre based care

Enrolment procedure

Enrolments will be taken throughout the year subject to availability. If there are no placements available, the child will be placed on a waiting list. When a place becomes available the family will be considered against the priority of access and their requirements – an offer of placement will be made to the most suitable child from the waitlist The family will be contacted by a council officer and enrolment will proceed.

Families are asked to specify requested attendance patterns on the child care waitlist application form. Once placed and enrolment is confirmed, these will become the child’s permanent days of attendance and payment will be required including absent days.

Casual bookings will be accepted from families currently enrolled subject to availability and charged in addition to regular booked days.

Annually in September / October places will be allocated according to the priority of access and the stated needs of the families (as best as practicable) for the following calendar year. Currently enrolled families will be contacted to confirm needs before consideration of waitlisted families against priority of access and available vacancies.

Once a place for a child has been confirmed, the family will need to:

  • Complete separate enrolment record for each child attending the service

Provide the following information:

  • child’s name, address, and details of any additional needs
  • information about themselves and any other parents, carers, or guardians
  • details of the people who can pick up the child
  • child’s birth certificate or other identity documents
  • details of any parenting orders or legal matters to do with the care or safety of the child (refer to Privacy and Confidentiality Policy)
  • the child’s medical health and AIR Immunisation History Statement status.
  • should clearly identify any additional or specific needs of the child
  • Parent/guardians will create or access their Centrelink / Services Australia online account to lodge a Child Care Subsidy claim for each of their children

 

The service and parent/guardian will complete and sign a Complying Written Agreement (CWA - refer to definitions), which includes:

  • The names and contact details of the approved provider and the parent / guardians(s)
  • the date the arrangement starts
  • the name and date of birth of the child (or children) if care will be provided on a routine basis and if so
  • details about the days on which sessions of care will usually occur
  • the usual start and end times for these sessions of care
  • whether care will be on a casual or flexible basis (in addition to, or instead of, a routine basis)
  • details of fees charged under the arrangement (providers can reference a fee schedule or information available on their website), which the parties understand may vary from time to time.
  • additional information can be included to support the individual’s understanding of their payment obligations.

Immunisation – No Jab No Play

The Immunisation Statement is assessed as outlined in the Immunisation enrolment toolkit for early childhood education and care services by the person responsible for the enrolment process on behalf of the approved provider.  Resources and templates - Immunisation enrolment toolkit (opens in new window)

The person responsible for the enrolment process advises the parent/guardian in writing whether a confirmed place is offered, and the enrolment can proceed.

Parents / guardians who do not have an up-to-date AIR Immunisation History Statement and whose child is not eligible for the grace period cannot be offered a place and are referred to Australian Childhood Immunisation Register or to an immunisation provider (refer to attachment 3).

Child Care Subsidy enrolment process

Enrolling children is a requirement under family assistance law for all children who attend centre based care (or have an arrangement for care) regardless of their parent’s or guardian’s eligibility for Child Care Subsidy.

Priority of access

Enrolments for centre-based care will be accepted according to the following 'Priority of Access' guidelines below.

Priority 1 - a child at risk of serious abuse or neglect

Priority 2 - a child of a single parent who satisfies, or of parents who both satisfy, the work, training, study test under section 14 of the A New Tax System (Family Assistance) Act 1999

Priority 3 - any other child.

Within these main categories, priority will also be given to the following children:

  • Children in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families
  • Children in families which include a person with a disability
  • Children in families which include an individual whose adjusted taxable income does not exceed the lower income threshold or who or whose partner are on income support
  • Children in families with a non-English speaking background
  • Children in socially isolated families
  • Children of single parents.

Within these priorities, particularly priority 2, priority will be given to:

  • Children of Moyne Shire Council educators/teachers, which results in a direct increase in the number of education and care places available at a service
  • Education and Care compliance-based roles which ensure regulatory requirements are maintained
  • Any child currently enrolled, who is due to progress to the next age group or has requested additional/alternative days
  • Siblings of a child already attending a centre-based care service (enrolled in the last 12 months not new enrolments)
  • Residential proximity to the service (using Google maps)
  • Children of families who reside or work in Moyne Shire.

Requiring a child to vacate a place

Under the Priority of Access Guidelines, a childcare service may require a Priority 3 child only to vacate their place to make room for a higher priority child. Families must have been notified of the following:

  • advise given to the person liable for the payment of the childcare fees, when the child first entered care, that the service followed this policy, and
  • at least 14 days' notice of the requirement for the child to vacate the place.

Waitlist

Due to the unpredictable nature of childcare waitlists, we are unable to guarantee that a place will be available when families require care, nor can we provide estimated times of when positions will be offered. Many factors influence the waitlist such as the days required, how many children leave the centre in each period, individual family circumstances, flexibility of parents preferred days and priority of access guidelines.

Vacant positions will be filled according to the Priority of Access criteria above.

A place will not be offered to current families if fee accounts are in arrears or if there has been a history of non-fee payment or continual late fee payment.

When vacancies occur, and after Priority 1 and 2 have been assessed, places are offered to third priority applicants in order of the date that the application was received.

Families are not required to contact the service regarding their position on the waitlist unless their details require updating. Contact will be made with families should a position become available.

When a family is offered a position at a service, they will be given a maximum of seven working days to accept the position. If no contact can be made or the offer is declined, the family will return to the waitlist and the vacancy will be offered to the next family on the list.

Waitlist applications for unborn babies will be accepted. Families are required to provide an estimated date of birth of the unborn child and confirm their child’s birthdate to ensure they remain on the waitlist.

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