The Federal Department of Education and Training announced on 19 July 2018 a set of circumstances where subsidies would be paid directly to families.

These include:

• when a parent has updated their activities in the activity test, and the service provider then backdates a session report, AND
• when a child starts at a service without a parent having lodged their CCS claim or having confirmed their enrolment.

This decision seems at odds with the recommendation put forward by the Productivity Commission in relation to subsidies being paid for families. It also assumes that the service provider has charged full fee to that point in time.

It also means that the service provider will not know when when the parent is paid the subsidy.

Again this is not a satisfactory solution and ACA will continue to advocate for a better outcome and keep you informed.

PLEASE NOTE THAT as the new CCS cannot be claimed as an annual lump sum at the end of the tax year, Centrelink will only backdate payments for care provided up to 28 days before the date the family submitted their claim.

By way of reference, if you want to escalate this issue yourself, you can contact the following:

• Federal Minister responsible for Centrelink is the Hon Michael Keenan MP. You can also contact his office via (02) 6277 7200 or his parliamentary contact form;
• Federal Minister for Education is Senator the Hon Simon Birmingham. You can contact his office via (02) 6277 7350 or his parliamentary contact form.