There are 4 types of payments. They are fees, donations, optional charges and home-based educator top up payments.

Definition of a fee

A fee is a payment that is required as a condition of enrolment and can be enforced. It excludes home-based educator top up payments but includes any other compulsory payment regardless of the type: wages, salary or any other payments made by the parents/caregivers to either the educator or the service provider.

Enforcement is when a service or educator withholds or withdraws enrolment, withholds or withdraws parts of their service (for example children not permitted to take part in certain activities) or attempts debt recovery.

Parents must not pay fees for 20 hours ECE

Parents must not be charged fees for hours claimed as 20 Hours ECE.

Services that offer 20 Hours ECE to all eligible children must ensure all hours for children covered by 20 Hours ECE have no charge.

The service provider must ensure parents do not pay a fee for hours covered by 20 Hours ECE, either to the service provider or to the educator.

Home-based educator top up payments

Home-based educators may require payments from parents to ‘top up’ the amount of 20 Hours ECE funding pass-through from their service provider to match their hourly fees for hours outside of 20 Hours ECE. Further information on home-based educator top up payments can be found below.

Parents can be charged fees for hours outside 20 hours ECE

Parents can only be charged fees for hours outside of the 20 Hours ECE maximum of 6 hours per day and 20 hours per week per child. 

Provision of fee information

Rates (and changes to rates) must be documented and provided to parents/caregivers.

Home-based service providers must make their 20 Hours ECE educator pass through part of documentation provided to parents/caregivers.

Definition of a donation

A donation is a voluntary payment. There is no obligation to pay and there is no enforcement of payment.

Services may request donations

When requesting donations, services must ensure that donations are not described as fees, or by any other term that implies that they are compulsory.

Definition of optional charges

Optional charges are a request for a payment that parents may choose whether or not to make for a specific purpose, which can be one-off or ongoing, that:

• is for the education and care of the child and
• is above what is required to meet the regulated standards and
• can be separated out and measured.

Optional charges should reflect the real and actual costs of the additional item or activity.

Parents must have a choice about whether they want to pay for the additional item or activity covered by the optional charge. They must be informed in writing that agreeing to an optional charge is not compulsory, and they must not be penalised for choosing not to pay an optional charge.

Agreement to optional charges

When a parent agrees to pay an optional charge, the specific items covered by the charge, and the agreement to pay the charge must be part of the enrolment process and recorded on the enrolment agreement.

An agreement to pay ongoing optional charges must include information about how long the agreement will last and/or what the rules are about making changes to the agreement.

Once an agreement to pay has been reached then services may enforce payment.

Acceptable optional charges

Optional charges can only be requested for:

• aspects of provision that are not required by regulation 
• additional staff beyond the minimum regulated adult/child ratios
• items that parents may either provide for their own children, or pay for the service to provide.

Services must ensure that the activity or item offered exceeds/is over and above what is required by regulation.

For example:

• specific teaching resources such as a dance or music teacher
• excursions and entrance fees
• transport
• sunscreen lotion
• clothing items such as sun hats
• food.

Optional charges cannot be requested for the administration of 20 Hours ECE, wage administration for Home-based educators or home management. More information on this can be found on this website.

20 hours ECE

Following the reintroduction of the 100% funding band on 1 January 2021 services will no longer be able to request additional payments from parents to help contribute the cost of having more than 80% certificated teachers.

Requesting optional charges for excursions and transport

An optional charge should only be requested for excursions if:

• i. There is a direct cost associated with the excursion (e.g. an entry fee) and/or
• ii. Travel is required to get to the destination, specifically any distance greater than what could be considered reasonable to reach by walking.

Any optional charge for an excursion must be for the education and care of the child and be able to be separated out and measured.

Costs must be itemised so parents can see how the optional charge is to be spent. Requesting a nominal hourly rate for unspecified excursions and transport does not meet the intent of an optional charge.

Optional charges can be requested at any time after enrolment. Therefore, if requested at the time of planning the excursion, the charge can reflect real and actual costs.

Unacceptable optional charges

Optional charges can not be a condition of initial or continued enrolment, or requested for:

• aspects of provision that are required by legislation
• general contributions towards the cost of high quality education and
• care provided by the service or due to the service being well regarded
• home management (in the case of ECE provided in the child’s own home)
• wage administration
• wage top-ups
• administration of 20 Hours ECE
• excursions that do not meet the criteria for excursions and transport.

Following the reintroduction of the 100% funding band on 1 January 2021 services will no longer be able to request additional payments from parents to help contribute the cost of having more than 80% certificated teachers. 

Enforcement of payment

Once a parent has agreed to pay an optional charge, the service or educator may enforce the payment as they would enforce a fee.

Parents who choose not to pay optional charges

If a parent chooses not to pay an optional charge, the only action a service or educator can take is to withhold the additional feature(s) covered by the optional charge. By choosing not to pay an optional charge, parents are agreeing to not have access to that additional activity or item.

Parents who choose not to pay an optional charge must receive at least the standard of service required by the regulations. It is the responsibility of the service providing 20 Hours ECE to ensure parents do not pay a fee for hours covered by 20 Hours ECE, either to the service provider or the educator (in the case of a Home-based service).

Changing optional charge agreements

Services must allow reasonable opportunities for parents to review their decisions regarding optional charges. Either party may initiate a change to the agreement and any changes must be documented in accordance with record keeping requirements. One-off optional charges are agreed at the time parents are asked by the service.

Any change to agreements on optional charges is a change to the enrolment agreement.

Definition of home-based educator pass through

Home-based services pass-through a portion of the 20 Hours ECE funding to home-based educators. This 'passthrough' per funded child hour may be lower than the educator’s usual hourly fee. Where the pass-through is lower than their hourly fee for hours outside of 20 Hours ECE educators may charge a home-based educator top up payment per child.

Definition of home-based educator top up payments

Home-based educators may require payments from parents to ‘top up’ the amount of pass-through from their service provider to match their hourly fees for hours outside of 20 Hours ECE.

The home-based educator top up payment must be no more than the difference between the pass-through and the hourly fee for each child for the hours outside of 20 Hours ECE.

Where a parent is the employer of an educator, the home-based educator top up payment still applies as a cost to the parent, but is not directly charged by the educator.

The home-based educator top up payments can only be charged for the hours of 20 Hours ECE.

Example

For example, an educator charges $10 per hour per child for hours outside of 20 Hours ECE. The service they are contracted to ‘passes-through’ $6 per hour for each child from the 20 Hours ECE funding. The educator can require parents to pay the difference of $4 per hour directly to the educator.

Enforcement of payment

Once a parent has agreed to pay home-based educator top up payments, the home-based educator may enforce payments as they would enforce a fee.

Unacceptable home-based educator top up payments

If an educator is an employee of a home-based service provider, home-based educator top up payments must not be charged.