Jobs for Families Child Care Package IT changes

The new Jobs for Families Child Care Package is coming, and with it a whole new IT system to support the changes due to take effect from 2 July 2018.

The government has earmarked $175.3 million to support development of the new integrated Child Care IT System, which is being project managed collaboratively by the Departments of Education and Training, Human Services, and Social Services.

With a firm deadline of 2 July 2018 for implementation, the new system is being built in the SAP environment and the government says it will support the new child care system by:

• Providing a simpler user interface for families and child care services
• Simplifying, streamlining and automating administration of child care payments and programs
• Ensuring effective compliance and minimising fraudulent use of taxpayer funds

If all goes according to plan, testing and transition activities supported by the new system will start between April and June next year.

The government says the new system will deliver a range of benefits for providers including a reduction in red tape, enhanced access to information, and improved compliance functionality, including identifying providers engaging in high risk behaviours, to reduce incidences of overpayment and non-compliance.

Families Portal

When the system goes live in July next year it will include an integrated Families Portal to enable families to interact directly with the government. Resources and services to be built in to the portal include information on the Child Care Subsidy, eligibility assessments, tools for parents to claim subsidy and information on enrolment and attendance.

Families will be guided through the transition via a communications campaign and helpdesk facility which will hopefully help to direct queries away from providers.

Third Party Software

Providers will continue to use third party software to access the new integrated Child Care IT System. The system will include a Provider Portal to enable services to access information or apply for approval under Family Assistance Law. However, the government says this portal will not offer the functionality that many registered third party software products provide and is likely to be accessed by a limited number of child care operators.

Software registration for the new integrated Child Care IT System will be available in the lead up to the July 2018 implementation. A list of registered CCMS software is available here.

Community Grants Hub - Child Care Grant Programs

When the system goes live in July next year child care providers will be able to use the Community Grants Hub to access child care grant programs under the new child care package, including the Community Child Care Fund. The existing Inclusion Support Portal will be modified to also support child care providers to make claims. Child care providers will continue to be supported through dedicated help desk facilities for service and technical issues.

We will keep you posted on changes and developments as they come to hand and the likely impacts of this new system on how services operate.