If you are in this position, you may be eligible to apply for a funding review from the department.
What is a WRP funding review?
A process whereby the Department of Education assesses the WRP entitlement based on the information and evidence submitted by the provider, and issues a top up payment to meet the entitlement for each quarter they are eligible.
It is designed to accommodate for providers in unique circumstances, for whom the standard payment calculation method is not appropriate.
Am I eligible for a WRP funding review?
Firstly, to be eligible you must be a provider that is in receipt of the Worker Retention Payment (WRP). You cannot apply for a funding review before this stage of the grant.
Further, you must operate a service(s) that fulfils one or more of the below eligibility requirements:
- Service has a unique staffing profile, or
- Service has stand-alone jurisdiction-funded preschool rooms, or
- Service fits into definition of First Nations, is remote or very remote, or receives the Community Child Care Fund and has a unique operating model where session reporting is not used, or
- Service Provider cannot be provided consistent and smoothed funding by the Department across a financial year.(i.e, services that have intense seasonal occupancy fluctuations).
How do I apply?
To apply for a WRP funding review, you must first email your request to the CCS Help Desk at ccshelpdesk@education.gov.au.
The Help Desk team will then send you the relevant form to fill in and return to them accordingly. (This form is not publicly available)
The form should appear under the “My Applications” tab in Smarty Grants – see below.
However, before contacting the Department, ACA recommends gathering the key information you’ll need for the application to help avoid processing delays. This ensures your request is complete and can be assessed more efficiently once it reaches the Department:
- Your relevant WRP application number(s)
- To be the person with management or control for the provider
- Your service CRN(s)
- Recently recorded Child Care Subsidy hours
- Total approximate Child Care Subsidy hours claimed in a past typical four week period*
- Total paid staff hours recorded in a past typical four week period*
*You can select the date range you would like to provide this information for. It cannot fall within the current month or previous month.
If you’re unsure where to start, you can contact ACA first, and we can guide you through what information to have ready so your request can be processed as promptly as possible.
Our team can be reached on 1300 856 379 or by email at wrp@childcarealliance.org.au
Application Tips
There are 2 questions in the application will provide you with the opportunity to explain why you believe your service is not receiving adequate funding, as below:
1. Why do you believe standard WRP funding is inadequate?
2. Please provide information on why you will not be adequately compensated by the WRP session-funding formula on an ongoing basis.
In response to the above, we recommend providing a high level, detailed explanation of your service and what may make it unique, including reasons such as:
- You have a highly qualified workforce
- You operate over ratio
- You service families and children with unique needs
- Any other compelling circumstances you feel contribute to your service being underfunded
We also recommend to put an estimated figure of how much you are underfunded by thus far and/or will be underfunded by on an ongoing monthly basis.
Evidence Requirements
The application will require the you to present a typical 4-week period that reflects total staff and child hours of how your service typically operates.To support this 4-week period example, the below data attached as a word document, pdf or excel spreadsheet as evidence.
Ensuring this evidence is accurate and reflective of your circumstances is key to avoid processing delays or rejected applications.
Evidence, which specifies the modern award classification of each eligible worker employed at the services listed in this application (such as payroll data).
Evidence such as payroll data to support the total paid staff hours you have provided
Please note that evidence must reflect the relevant modern award classifications for employees, under the Childrens Services Award (MA000120 Fair Work Ombudsman), or under the Educational Services (Teachers) Award (MA000077 - Fair Work Ombudsman).
Application Outcomes
The Department of Education will assess your eligibility against their criteria and notify you of your outcome in writing.
Please note that there is no estimated processing time for funding review applications, as each case is assessed individually.
What happens if I am approved?
If you are approved for a funding review, the Department provides top ups on a quarterly basis.
They will provide you with quarterly reporting forms in Smarty Grants (see below).
Within quarterly reporting form, you will ask the below information, to be entered into an excel spreadsheet:
- Employee name of number
- Employee Award Classification
- Eligible Hours Worked By The Employee
- Which Service The Employee Works At
- Service CRN
Please note that payment process that Providers should check that the Service Names and Service CRNs being used are accurate. This information is available in the table of each Provider’s CCS approval letter or in the Child Care Subsidy System via the PEP or via Providers’ third-party software.
Quarterly top-up payments are processed in the same payment run as regular Worker Retention Payments, which usually occur at the end of each calendar month.
When a provider submits their quarterly data, the department aims to assess the information and process any top-up payment within that same month.
If this is not possible, the payment is generally included in the next scheduled payment run. For example, if data is submitted in January, the department aims to process the top-up payment in January or, if necessary, in February.
Need more help?
If you’re unsure where to start, you can contact ACA first, and we can guide you through what information to have ready so your request can be processed as promptly as possible.
Our team can be reached on 1300 856 379 or by email at wrp@childcarealliance.org.au
