Revised Explanatory Memorandum
(Circulated by authority of the Minister for Education, the Honourable Dan Tehan MP)OUTLINE
The purpose of this Bill is to address feedback from the child care sector regarding access to Additional Child Care Subsidy (ACCS) (child wellbeing) in the context of the Child Care Package implementation that occurred on 2 July 2018 and more recently in submissions to the Senate Inquiry into the Family Assistance Legislation Amendment (Building on the Child Care Package) Bill 2019 (subsequently enacted as the Family Assistance Legislation Amendment (Building on the Child Care Package) Act 2019).
The Bill makes changes to ACCS (child wellbeing) to improve assistance to vulnerable and disadvantaged families and clarify and better reflect policy intent in several areas.
The Bill also makes two other minor technical amendments.
Schedule 1 - Amendments relating to ACCS (child wellbeing) and technical amendments
The Bill includes amendments, which specify that a provider's eligibility for ACCS (child wellbeing) also applies where a child is a member of a class prescribed by the Minister's rules. It is anticipated that children in formal foster care arrangements (under state and territory child protection legislation) will be in this prescribed class. Currently, in order to be eligible for ACCS (child wellbeing), providers must satisfy the requirement (among others) that the provider is not able to identify an individual who is eligible for CCS for the session of care for the child. These amendments will allow the provider to instead satisfy the requirement (among others) that the child is a member of the prescribed class. Provider eligibility for ACCS (child wellbeing) for children in the prescribed class is only available for up to 13 weeks, which includes the timeframe encompassing both the certificate and determination. This will mean that providers can receive ACCS (child wellbeing) on behalf of a child who is at risk of serious neglect or abuse ('at risk') for up to 13 weeks without having to wait for a foster family to work out its CCS eligibility and therefore will ensure these children have streamlined access to, and continuity of, child care. It is expected that the provider will work with the foster family to ensure that an eligible person is identified and a complying written arrangement is in place prior to the expiry of the provider eligible period (maximum of 13 weeks).
The Bill also includes amendments to extend the backdating of ACCS (child wellbeing) certificates and determinations from the current period of 28 days to up to 13 weeks in exceptional circumstances to be prescribed in Minister's rules. This will mean gaps in ACCS (child wellbeing) will be avoided for providers when a child is identified as 'at risk' and it takes longer than 28 days for the provider to provide a certificate or apply to the Secretary for a determination due to exceptional circumstances. The exceptional circumstances are anticipated to be circumstances, which are outside the provider's control and made it impractical for the provider to provide the certificate or apply for a determination within the required timeframes. The Secretary will assess each backdating application and make a decision on the appropriate length of time (up to 13 weeks) that the certificate or determination should be backdated. This measure better facilitates the access to quality early learning and child care by children who are at 'at risk'.
Further amendments will extend the period that an ACCS (child wellbeing) determination can be in place from 13 weeks to up to 12 months for classes of children to be prescribed in the Minister's rules. It is anticipated that children on long term child protection orders, including those in foster care, will be prescribed in the Minister's Rules made for this purpose. This will reduce the administrative burden on providers, families and state and territory governments by no longer requiring them to apply to Services Australia with supporting evidence every 13 weeks to extend the ACCS (child wellbeing) determination, in circumstances where the child's situation results in them continuing to be 'at risk' for up to 12 months.
Finally, the amendments will address minor technical drafting errors to:
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- provide exceptions to when the Secretary may vary the approval of an approved provider to remove an approved service under paragraph 197G(1)(b) of the Family Assistance Administration Act; and
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- correct the omission of the civil penalty amount (50 civil penalty units) in subsection 204K(6) of the A New Tax System (Family Assistance) Act 1999 (Family Assistance Act).
FINANCIAL IMPACT STATEMENT
There will be IT implementation financial implications for Services Australia to deliver all changes to the Child Care Subsidy System. The estimated cost is $16.8 million (from 2020-21).
An offsetting saving of $24 million will arise over the forward estimates as a result of a previous amendment to the Family Assistance Law (within the meaning of section 3 of the A New Tax System (Family Assistance) (Administration) Act 1999), which adjusted how CCS entitlements are reviewed and calculated when an individual whose relationship status changes throughout the year meets the CCS reconciliation conditions.