The guidelines only apply to Child Care Benefit (CCB) approved child care services and must be used when there is a waiting list for a service and a number of parents are applying for a limited number of vacant places, or if the service is full and a Priority 1 or 2 child requires child care.
Priorities
- Priority 1: a child at risk of serious abuse or neglect
- Priority 2: a child of a single parent or parents who satisfy the work/training/study test under Section 14 of the 'A New Tax System (Family Assistance) Act 1999'
- Priority 3: any other child.
Within these main categories, priority should also be given to the following children:
- children in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families
- children in families which include a disabled person
- children in families which include an individual whose adjusted taxable income does not exceed the lower income threshold of $45,114 for 2017-18, or who or whose partner is on income support
- children in families from a non-English speaking background
- children in socially isolated families
- children of single parents.
A child care service may require a Priority 3 child to vacate a place to make room for a child in a higher priority group. They can only do so if the parents are:
- notified when their child first entered care that the service follows this policy
- given at least 14 days notice of the need for their child to vacate.
Outside School Hours Care
Outside School Hours Care is primarily for school children. A service may ask a child not yet in school to leave care if the parent of a child who is in school applies for a place.
Employer sponsored places
If a child care service is funded by an employer for their employees' children, the service can give priority to those children.