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Australian Childcare Alliance

Priorities!

What's urgent? What needs to be done asap? What might you have missed? Here's the important stuff in a nutshell:

  


For the month of August 2024:

For the month of July 2024:

  • ACA NSW calls on the NSW Deputy Premier to intervene in excessive regulatory workload. Despite NSW occupying about a third of the national proportion of all services, the excessively high number of confirmed breaches by NSW-based early childhood education and care services dwarfs all confirmed breaches by all other states and territories combined across the last 4 years.
  • Membership Fees Increase by 4% beginning 1 July 2024.
  • Nominations are now OPEN for the. Excellence in Early Childhood Education Awards 2024. The largest Awards for early childhood education and care services, educators, teachers, leaders and more are on again for 2024! Nominations are now open from 29 June 2024 and will close on 1 September 2024. The Gala Awards Night will be on 2 November 2024 which will be French-inspired (a nod to the 2024 Paris Olympics)!
  • It's time for all Child Care Subsidy (CCS) approved providers and services to complete the National Workforce Census (NWC). Completing the NWC is a requirement under Family Assistance Law (FAL)

 

For the month of June 2024:

  • Reminder to complete the  National Workforce Census. by 14 July 2024.  It is mandatory for all CCS approved providers and services to participate.   
  • Membership Fees Increase by 4% beginning 1 July 2024.
  • Latest Child Care Subsidy data now available. We’ve published data about the Child Care Subsidy (CCS) in the March quarter 2024. Each quarter we issue a summary report about CCS-approved care in Australia. The report includes data on child care usage, services, fees and subsidies in Australia. Go to the March quarter 2024 report.
  • NSW President announces scholarships and assistance to get affordable housing and electric vehicles. In addition to the State of our Sector awards winners on 22 June 2024, ACA NSW President Lyn Connolly took the opportunity to make the following announcements for the 2024/2025 financial year: Firstly, ACA NSW strongly recommends that ACA NSW members read the ACA National Committee's advice also released today. ACA NSW members will need to firstly log in and use their username and password to access.
  • The Inclusion Support Program (ISP) is receiving many incomplete applications. Here’s what you can do to ensure you submit your application correctly. ISP helps early childhood education and care (ECEC) services address barriers to inclusion. The program is receiving a high volume of incomplete applications, in particular for additional educators. This has a direct impact on processing timeframes. The Inclusion Development Fund Manager (IDFM) has developed a checklist for additional educator applications. Please use the checklist when submitting to ensure your application can be processed.
  • Using electronic devices in early childhood settings. A new National Model Code released earlier this month outlines a set of recommended child-safe practices for using electronic devices in ECEC.
  • ACECQA developed the code, in partnership with all governments, as part of a range of actions in response to last year’s child safety review
  • Changes with New Financial Year (FY2024/2025) From 1 July 2024, the following changes take effect: the Awards' wage rate increase by 3.75% (log in to access the 2024/2025 wage summaries); The statutory minimum Superannuation Rate will be increased from 11% to 11.5%; and the individual income tax rates and threshold changes (aka Stage 3 Tax Cuts). For any further information/clarification, please contact the ACA NSW team via 1300 556 330 or nsw@childcarealliance.org.au.
  • ACA NSW calls on the NSW Deputy Premier to intervene in excessive regulatory workload. Despite NSW occupying about a third of the national proportion of all services, the excessively high number of confirmed breaches by NSW-based early childhood education and care services dwarfs all confirmed breaches by all other states and territories combined across the last 4 years.

 

For the month of May 2024:

  • Reminder to complete the National Workforce Census. by 14 July 2024.  It is mandatory for all CCS approved providers and services to participate.   
  • The NSW Department of Education are offering grant writing workshops to assist in preparing your application for the Flexible Initiatives Trial. Register here.
  • Annual Service Approval fees payable by providers will be issued on 31 May 2024 and must be paid by 1 July 2024. 
  • The upgraded NQA IT System is now live but ECEC Services must register to access the new system
  • From July 2024 notice periods for A&R will be reduced to 5 business days. 
 


For the month of April 2024:

  • NSW Premier's ECE Scholarship will close applications on 3 May 2024
  • ECEC Connect sessions are being held again in Merrylands and Wagga Wagga on 14 & 16 May respectively. Register now.
  • A new Business Capability Development Program is open to small ECEC providers in the NSW areas of Campbelltown, Dubbo and Coffs Harbour. Applications close 24 May 2024.
  • The NSW Department of Education now have an ECEC resource library available to access.
  • Let’s Count”, a Government funded maths program for 3-5 year olds has been relaunched and updated to EYLF 2.0, accessible & free for ECEC professionals.
  • The Federal Department of Education has a short online course available to the ECEC sector to fully understand the notification requirements under Family Assistance Law. Register for Geccko here.

For the month of March 2024:

 

  • The NSW Office of the Children's Guardian are holding webinars on the Child Safe Standards, risk management, and reporting obligations throughout April. These can be accessed and booked here.
  • If you operate a vacation care service, you only have until 7April 2024 to register for the National Workforce Census
  • REMINDER that everyone working in your early childhood education and care service MUST have a valid Working with Children Check before they can commence employment.
 

For the month of February 2024:

 

 

For the month of January 2024:

 

 

For the month of November 2023: