Sustainability assistance - Long Day Care fact sheet

In the 2007 08 Budget, the Australian Government committed an additional $15.7 million over four years to provide increased support to Long Day Care services. This measure increases Sustainability Assistance to Long Day Care services operating in outer regional, remote and very remote areas of Australia. This measure also makes Sustainability Assistance available to for-profit Long Day Care services that meet the eligibility criteria.

The Australian Government has also committed $3 million over three years to assist eligible Long Day Care operators to expand their existing facilities. For more information please see the Capital Funding to Long Day Care Services factsheet.

What is Sustainability Assistance - Long Day Care?

Sustainability Assistance is a payment to support Child Care Benefit (CCB) approved child care services in areas of need approved by the Department. It is designed to help communities retain access to child care where the operation of a child care service is not likely to be financially viable. The payment is time limited and subject to regular review of eligibility.

Sustainability Assistance is targeted towards small services in regional and remote areas which, because of low usage, are more likely to need assistance.

Sustainability Assistance is also targeted towards communities where a service is the sole provider of centre-based care, in regional and remote areas, areas of socio economic disadvantage, and which provide places for children 0 24 months.

Who is eligible for Sustainability Assistance?

In determining whether a service is eligible for Sustainability Assistance, a range of factors are taken into account. These factors may include:

The service's number of occupied places
Remoteness (as measured by the Australian Standard Geographical Classification)
Socioeconomic status of the community (as measured by the Socio economic Index for Areas)
Proportion of baby places for children 0 24 months included in the service
Whether the service is the only provider of centre-based care in the area.

How much funding is available?

Where a service is assessed as eligible, the amount of funding the service may receive is determined by the number of occupied places and their location. The rates for 2007-08 are shown in the following table:

Utilised places	Funding per year - Metropolitan/Inner regional	Funding per year - Outer regional	Funding per year - Remote and Very Remote
0 - 20	$36,997	$44,396	$48,096
21 - 40	$31,711	$38,054	$41,225
More than 40	$26,426	$31,711	$34,353

For example, an eligible Long Day Care service that provides 36 utilised places in an outer regional area would receive $38,054 in
2007-08.

How are occupied places calculated?

The number of occupied places is one of the key factors in determining eligibility and rates of Sustainability Assistance. It is related to the amount of care that has been provided by a service and is an indication of the amount of income a service receives through fees.

Each service that receives Sustainability Assistance will need to provide information about occupied places for each CCB statement period.

To calculate a service's number of occupied places, complete the following steps:

Work out the total hours of care charged for all children attending a service during the CCB statement period
Divide this figure by the number of weeks a service was open during that period, and
Divide by a service's normal operating hours per week.

The resultant figure is a service's number of occupied places for the CCB statement period.

What are my obligations if I receive Sustainability Assistance?

Centres that receive Sustainability Assistance will be required to provide information about the service to the Department at regular intervals. This includes information about the service's occupied places, other performance data and financial statements.

Reporting requirements will be identified in each service's funding agreement and will be a condition of funding.