Darwin Family Day Care - Home Based Child Care for ages 0 - 12 years old

For Parents - Child Care Benefit (CCB)

Overview

· Child Care Benefit is a means tested child care subsidy designed to reduce the cost of child care.

· Families apply to the Family Assistance Office for the subsidy and

are income assessed to determine the subsidy percentage

and

complete the Work, training and study test to determine the number of hours of child care that you can claim the subsidy for.

· ‘Liinking’ through the Family Assistance Office to Darwin Family Day Care is required to have the subsidy applied or to claim at the end of the financial year. Click here to learn more about ‘linking’.

Calculations

Child Care Benefit is not a total fee relief. Families are required to pay the difference between the total cost of care and the Child Care Benefit subsidy; this is known as the gap fee or parent portion.

Child Care Benefit Fee Calculation formulas as of 3^rd of July 2006 follow:
Note: Calculations are provided by the Family Assistance Office and may change.

Standard Hours 38 hours or over	$148 x child care benefit% x non school aged 100% = $ Child Care Benefit Subsidy school aged 85%
Non Standard Hours and Standard Hours up to 37.75	$2.96 x child care benefit% x non school aged 100% x 133.33% = $ Child Care Benefit Subsidy school aged 85%

Linking

The Family Assistance Office (Centrelink) requires all families to be ‘linked’ to the Child Care Service they are using irrespective of whether they are claiming Child Care Benefit at the end of the year or as reduced fees.

Basically this is why:

The FAO provides the family with the number of eligible hours and child care benefit percentage that they can claim.

Family Assistance
Office / Centrelink

> When a family ‘links’, the FAO notifies Darwin Family Day Care in a bulk listing of the families Child Care Benefit Assessment, every Monday. Notification must be directly from the FAO (Centrelink), it cannot be processed without the official notification.

The family ‘links’ by either :

-in person at a Centrelink or Medicare office,

' by telephone on 13 61 50

: online at www.familyassist.gov.au and quoting Darwin Family Day Care’s provider number 555-000-252A.

Family

>The FAO pays a bulk payment of the Child Care Benefit to Darwin Family Day Care.

> The family pays the parent portion to the careprovider or full fees depending on their preferred option.

Care Provider

> Darwin Family Day Care processes the timesheets and pays the careproviders the Child Care Benefit portion based on the notification from the FAO.

Reduced Fees

Families can choose to receive Child Care Benefit as a fee reduction. The level or percentage of fee reduction is based on an income of assessment (families must estimate their adjusted taxable income for the year).

The actual amount of Child Care Benefit is calculated at the end of the financial year. What this means is that if families have underestimated their income and it is determined after the Tax Office processes their tax returns that the actual Child Care Benefit entitlement is lower, families will be required to payback the overpayment and vice versa.

Many families that have unknown or fluctuating incomes choose to pay full fees and claim Child Care Benefit as a lump sum at the end of the financial year. It is possible to switch from claiming Child Care Benefit as reduced fees to lump sum at any time by informing the office.

Remember if the family is not ‘linked’ to Darwin Family Day Care you can not claim Child Care Benefit and will be required to pay full fees.

Lump Sum Families

Families can choose to pay the full fees of child care and claim any reduction as a lump sum at the end of the financial year. This option is generally used when families are unable to predict their income and want to avoid an overpayment of Child Care Benefit or are high incomes earners.

If families elect to claim Child Care Benefit as a lump sum, Darwin Family Day Care will lodge a Notification of Full Fee Paying Customers form with the Family Assistance Office. It is possible to change to reduced fees if the family’s circumstances change.

Remember if the family is not ‘linked’ to Darwin Family Day Care you can not claim Child Care Benefit at the end of the financial year. Child Care Benefit can only be claimed from the period that the family is recorded as linked to Darwin Family Day Care with the Family Assistance Office to the child care service provider.

What can go wrong!

Problem	What this means
Family is not linked when they commence care	Family will pay full fees for each child until Darwin Family Day Care receives the official notification of the Child Care Benefit percentage and number of eligible hours from the Family Assistance Office. It is possible to have the parent portion adjusted if the notification is received within 28 days, however the full fee is required until this time.
The family uses more than their eligible hours of child care	If a family uses more child care than their assessment of eligible hours, they need to pay full fees on the excess hours. i.e. Child Care Benefit assessment states that each child is eligible for 24 hours and each child uses 35 hours in one week, the Child Care Benefit fee reduction will apply to 24 hours of care and the full fees for the additional 11 hours.
Children become ‘unlinked’ or are ‘excluded’	Children may cease to be linked for a number of reasons. Generally it is due immunisation. Child Care Benefit is linked to Medicare and will be cancelled if a child is not immunised within 90 days of the due date. Families need to pay full fees for a child that is not linked or excluded.
No Customer Reference Number or have not completed an income assessment or new child not registered with Centrelink/Family Assistance Office	There will be potential delays in the Family Assistance Office providing Darwin Family Day Care with the Child Care Benefit assessment notification. During that time families will be required to pay the full fees. Families that already receive the Family Tax Benefit A or B can easily be assessed for Child Care Benefit by calling 136150. Otherwise there are forms that are required to be lodged with the Family Assistance Office.
Have not notified of changes of circumstances	The family may incur a debt with the Family Assistance Office if they continue to claim Child Care Benefit at a rate that is not consistent with their current circumstances i.e. pay rise, begin work etc . Families can update information on line at www.familyassist.com or by calling 136150.
Human Error when linking	There have been instances with Centrelink Call Centres providing incorrect information. Please note that it is necessary to quote Darwin Family Day Care’s Service Provider number (555-000-252A) and every child from every family is required to be linked in order to claim Child Care Benefit as reduced fees or as a lump sum at the end of the financial year. Families have experienced inexplicable difficulties and it is therefore recommended that check their notifications sent to them and contact the Family Assistance Office

The materials presented on this website and in the publications provided are distributed by the Darwin Family Day Care Inc as an information source only.
Darwin Family Day Care Inc makes no statements, representations, or warranties about the accuracy or completeness of, and you should not rely on, any information contained in this publication.