The Australian Government has implemented a strengthened compliance framework to ensure the integrity of child care payments made to families and services. With around $13 billion being invested in child care over the next four years, it is essential that child care services are aware of, and comply with, their responsibilities under the family assistance legislation.
The Framework sets out the three key strategies employed by the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) to encourage, enforce and strengthen compliance with responsibilities specified in the family assistance legislation. The strategies include:
- Prevention – educating services and families about their responsibilities and putting in place procedures and systems to minimise the risk of incorrect payment and fraud
- Deterrence – conducting unannounced visits and imposing sanctions and penalties where services engage in non compliant activities
- Detection and Recovery – undertaking compliance reviews, investigating fraud, and where required, recovering child care payments through legal proceedings.
A copy of the Child Care Payment Compliance Framework can be accessed from the following links: PDF 
(208.1 KB) | RTF 
(407.7 KB)
The key child care compliance activities undertaken by DEEWR Compliance Officers include:
- educating services about their obligations under family assistance law
- conducting unannounced visits to approved child care services to monitor compliance with their obligations
- investigating possible child care fraud
To date, the most common non-compliance issues identified in reviews of child care services include:
- problems with attendance records, such as failing to note the times in and out of children in care and parents not signing/verifying children’s attendance or absence where appropriate
- allowable and approved absences not being clearly recorded on attendance sheets and services failing to report allowable absences to the Family Assistance Office
- services claiming Child Care Benefit for absences before a child has commenced care or after the child has ceased care
- receipts not meeting the legal requirements, for example, not including information such as the names of the children covered by the receipt, the period to which the fee payment relates and the amount of CCB fee reductions for the period covered by the receipt.
DEEWR is also responsible for managing services’ compliance with the Child Care Quality Assurance System. For more information see Quality Child Care.
Depending on the seriousness of the issue(s) identified at the service, the consequences of non-compliance can range from education for the more minor issues through to prosecution for criminal offences. The graduated responses to non-compliant activity are listed below:
- education
- warnings
- sanctions, including meeting additional conditions, or suspension or cancellation of a service’s Child Care Benefit approval
- civil penalties and infringement notices
- prosecution where criminal offences are involved
- recovery of fraudulently received payments through legal proceedings
In most cases, services will simply require further education and guidance so they can meet their responsibilities under the family assistance legislation or a child care funding agreement. However, when serious issues of non-compliance are identified further investigation and follow up compliance action will be undertaken.
Most child care services work hard to provide quality child care and follow the rules to ensure that families receive their correct entitlement to Child Care Benefit. However, there are a small number of services who engage in unfair and/or illegal practices which can result in the wrong entitlements being paid.
For information on your service’s obligations in relation to Child Care Benefit please read the attached brochure:
- Important Information relating to Child Care Payment Compliance for services PDF (1.6 MB)
If you believe your child care service is participating in inappropriate practices and you want to advise the Department you can:
- Call the Child Care Compliance Tip-off Line on 1800 664 231, or
- Email childcarecompliance@deewr.gov.au, or
- Write to: Office Secretariat
Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations
GPO Box 9880
CANBERRA ACT 2601
For issues relating to the quality of care provided by an approved child care service, for example, the relationships between children and their carers or the quality of programs provided, you can:
- Call the National Childcare Accreditation Council on 1300 136 554, or
- Write to: The Chief Executive Officer
National Childcare Accreditation Council
Level 3, 418a Elizabeth Street
SURRY HILLS NSW 2010
If you wish to report issues relating to the licensing of the child care service, for example, health and safety issues, the adequacy of space and equipment in the centre or staff to child ratios you will need to contact the State or Territory Government Department responsible for child care licensing and regulations.