Apply

Centre based services eligible to apply for IDF Subsidy for an Additional Educator are services that have been approved for the provision of the Child Care Subsidy (CCS). Services apply for funding for an Additional Educator on the online IS Portal. Approved services include:

• Centre-Based Day Care
• Long Day Care
• Occasional Care
• Outside School Hours Care including before, after and vacation care

An application for IDF Subsidy for an Additional Educator applies to a care environment at the service.

The IDF Manager will assess the service’s application for funding against the eligibility requirements set out in the ISP Guidelines and notify the service of the outcome of the application. The IDF Manager will consider the following in their assessment:

• The details of the barriers to inclusion presented in the care environment, identified through the service’s Strategic Inclusion Plan (SIP)
• The additional and ongoing high support needs of the child (or children)
• The degree to which an Additional Educator is the most appropriate solution to the identified inclusion barriers
• The child is included in a care environment with typically developing peers
• The educator to child ratio in the care environment for which the service is seeking an Additional Educator - and how it relates to the ratios recommended under the National Quality Framework for that age group. To receive IDF Subsidy a service must meet the educator to child ratios as outlined in the National Regulations (or relevant state or territory legislation) within the particular care environment where IDF support is requested, before the funding of an additional educator will be considered
• How the increased educator to child ratio will assist educators to implement strategies to address inclusion barriers and facilitate inclusion of all children
• The request for IDF Subsidy is in line with the purposes of this funding stream and does not include any non-approved purposes
• Whether the application has been endorsed by the IA
• Any other inclusion support provided to the service for the same care environment.

To apply for the subsidy for an Additional Educator, all children will be required to have documentary evidence, dated within 12 months, that confirms the child has additional and ongoing high support needs This may include children with a diagnosed disability (including developmental delay), or a current and ongoing assessment for disability, or other additional needs (under 6 years of age). Documentary evidence may include (but is not limited to):

• The child’s health care card stating the disability code (CD)
• Evidence to show the child is a current National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) participant under Section 28 of the NDIS Act 2013
• Diagnosis by a qualified medical practitioner or registered psychologist
• A report or supporting documentation signed by an allied health professional, registered nurse or nurse practitioner, Maternal and Child Health nurse, social worker/family counsellor of the current and ongoing assessment of a child
• Supporting documentation, such as a diagnostic report, signed by a qualified medical/health practitioner, registered psychologist, or social worker

Documentation that supports permanent disability, as assessed by the IDF Manager, will not be required to be submitted with future applications by the same service.

Please refer to the Documentary Evidence Information Sheet for further information.

Adding documentary evidence to the SIP

The IS Portal is in the process of being updated in relation to the labelling of document types. At this time, when adding documentary evidence for a child, in the SIP under the Children Tile, please select ‘Health Care Card’, ‘NDIS Participant’, ‘Permanent disability’ or ‘Undergoing assessment’ as the document type to enable submission.

Prior to applying for the subsidy for an Additional Educator, a service must develop a Strategic Inclusion Plan (SIP) in collaboration with the IA. If the development of a SIP identifies inclusion barriers for which an Additional Educator is required to address the inclusion barrier, the service may make an application for the subsidy for an Additional Educator.

An application for the Additional Educator subsidy will not be able to be submitted by a service unless they have identified in the SIP, the inclusion strategy of IDF funding in the Barriers and Strategies.

Step 1: Create an Inclusion Support case (IS Case) on the portal

Step 2: Complete the Children and Enrolments page

Select which child/children from the SIP should be linked to the Case. To apply for the subsidy for an Additional Educator, all children will be required to have:

• A signed ‘Permission to Share Personal Information’ form (Family Consent Form), and
• Documentary evidence that confirms the child has additional and ongoing high support needs.

These documents must have been attached to the SIP. The IS Case cannot be submitted without this information.

Step 3: Complete the Care Environment page

Complete the Care Environment and the Daily Profile to provide information about the specific care environment.

Step 4: Complete the Care Week Profile page

The Care Week profile provides information about the sessions of care for all eligible children in the IS Case. The service must add a session of care for the days the eligible child is enrolled, which indicates:

• The normal in and out time
• Whether the child’s attendance varies each week
  • No – the child attends this session each week
  • Other – the child has an irregular pattern of attendance
  • Rostered care – the child’s attendance depends on parents roster
  • Week On/Week Off – the child attends this session each fortnight
• Whether the child attends the kindergarten/preschool program (if the service has indicated in the Inclusion Profile that the care environment delivers a program)
• How many hours of support is requested from the IDF Subsidy for this session

Step 5: Complete the Day Summary page

The Day Summary provides an overview of the support requested each day, which provides the sum of the total requested hours each week, for each payment type. Where more than one child with additional and ongoing high support needs is in attendance in the same care environment, the service can explore the use of a shared care arrangement. A shared care arrangement occurs where one Additional Educator is employed to increase the educator to child ratio to enable all educators to support the inclusion of more than one child with additional needs in the care environment.

Step 6: Authorised Personnel

The authorised personnel is the person who can be contacted at the service regarding the IS Case. More than one authorised personnel can be added to the case.

Step 7: Notes

The notes page allows general notes to be added about the IS Case by the service, IA and IDF Manager. Notes are not mandatory, however they can assist communication between the service, IA and IDF Manager.

Step 8: Endorsement and submission of application

The IA must endorse or not endorse the IS Case before submitting it to the IDF Manager for assessment. Before endorsing the IS Case, the IA must review the content of the IS Case. The endorsement and notes from the IA will be considered as part of the IDF Manager’s assessment of the IS Case.

The IDF Manager will assess the information in the IS Case and SIP, including the relevant Inclusion Profile and Barriers and Strategies associated with the care environment to determine the funding support required by the service. The service will be advised of the outcome, by the IDF Manager, within 15 business days.

If funding is approved

The service will receive an email with an Approval Letter attached, providing the details of their approved IS Case. This will be sent to the Service Provider email address listed on the SIP.

If funding is not approved

The service will receive an email with an Application Declined letter attached. This will be sent to the Service Provider email address listed on the SIP.