Gowrie NSW is committed to providing high quality education and care for all families and children and as such, must effectively manage resources to ensure they can reinvest into its programs and people. The organisation sets its fees to reflect the cost of providing high quality care. In order to remain financially sustainable, fees need to be collected from families on time.
This policy applies to the entirety of Gowrie NSW's Services, including Education and Care Centres, Outside School Hours Care services, and Preschools and includes families and their children, and children of Gowrie NSW staff.
All Gowrie NSW Childcare services are approved for Child Care Subsidy (CCS) purposes. It is the responsibility of the family to submit all necessary documentation to the centre to ensure CCS can be claimed.
Families must also confirm their CCS enrolment through MyGov. Where CCS has not been confirmed or where the eligibility criteria have changed for the family, full fees will be charged.
Families eligible for the child care subsidy (CCS) must attend on their first booked session of care at Gowrie NSW for CCS to be applicable to the bookings. Should the family not attend on their first day, CCS will not apply until the child’s first actual day of attendance. Full fees will be payable by the family.
Upon ending care with Gowrie NSW, families eligible for CCS must attend their last booked session of care for CCS to be applied. Should families not attend on their last booked day of care, cessation of care rules will apply so no CCS is paid from the last actual day of attendance to the last booked session of care. Full fees will be payable by the family.
Gowrie NSW fees are payable by direct debit from bank or credit card (Visa or Mastercard only, AMEX is not accepted) accounts or by a Centrepay deduction. Fees are paid in 1 week in advance at the start of the debit period. Gowrie NSW does not accept cash, cheque or any other non-electronic payment method. Upon enrolment with Gowrie NSW, a Direct Debit Request Authorisation Form is required to be completed, signed, and returned to the centre to secure the booking.
Fees are:
Should families require days of care different from booked days, casual care can be requested to the centre. Gowrie NSW does not allow swap days or make up days.
Family fee payments and their accounts are to be paid up to date. Continuation of a child’s place at any centre is contingent upon the family’s account being up to date.
Families eligible for CCS can claim up to 42 absence days for each child in the financial year. These can be for any reason and do not require proof.
Families can also claim additional absence days if they reach their allowable absence limit. Families may get additional absences if any of these apply:
Families will need to provide supporting documents, or full fees may apply.
Families will be notified at least 14 days prior to any fee changes that will affect the fees charged or the way fees are collected. ( CCS revisions excluded).
Families will be issued an invoice for fees payable on Fridays. The invoice is issued the week before the direct debit is collected, and contains the period in advance fees, as well as any previous outstanding balances, Childcare Subsidy rollbacks, and any additional bookings within the period. Should families book in additional sessions of care after the invoice has been issued, these charges will be reflected in the next invoice. It is the family’s responsibility to review the invoice before the direct debit is collected, and advise the centre of any discrepancies.
An enrolment fee is charged upon enrolment with Gowrie NSW. The enrolment fee will be specified to the family upon enrolment and is payable via direct debit on the first invoice issued to the family. The enrolment fee is non-refundable.
All families with children enrolled (including third party agencies and staff) in a Gowrie NSW centre may be required to pay a bond in advance to secure their enrolment. This amount will equate to two (2) weeks of full fees (no consideration of CCS) for the booked days of attendance.
Gowrie NSW reserves the right to offer the place to another family if the bond payment is not received prior to the date of commencement.
Bonds are payable by direct debit, from bank or credit card accounts or by Centrepay deduction.
EFTPOS payments (debit cards and credit cards – Visa and Mastercard only) is acceptable. Cash payments are not accepted.
The bond cannot be used to offset overdue fees. unless the child/ren has ceased enrolment
If a bond is paid to keep a place that is not utilised, Gowrie NSW has the right to keep the bond.
Bond refunds are processed after CCS is finalised and processed (not less than) 4 weeks after the child/children leaves the centre.
A casual booking is a non-recurring booking; a one-off booking for an extra day/s.
Casual bookings can be made provided to families where there are available places and sufficient staff to accommodate the additional booking(s).
Gowrie NSW reserves the right to revoke a casual booking where there is not sufficient staffing to accommodate the additional booking.
Families will be charged the casual booking fee for casually booked days. Where a family no longer requires the casual booking, they may cancel the booking at no charge at least 24 hours before the casually booked day. Cancellations within 24 hours or on the day will incur a charge of the full casual day fee.
Families are responsible for collecting their children prior to the centre’s closing time. A late collection fee of $30 for any late collection after the service’s closing time plus an additional $1 per minute after 15 minutes has elapsed, will be applied to the family’s account.
A $5.00 fee per child will be charged to the family’s account should they not inform the service of their child’s absence for any given day they are booked.
Families will be notified by the centre if their account falls in arrears. If payment is more than one (1) week overdue:
• families are notified in writing
• Gowrie NSW reserves the right to withdraw a child’s place at a centre.
Where the family is experiencing financial hardship, a payment plan may be entered at the discretion of the centre. All agreed payment plans must be done by direct debit or Centrepay deduction. In the instance where the payment plan is not adhered to or where no payment is received, Gowrie NSW reserves the right to withdraw the child’s enrolment or suspend care for the child. The child/children will not be able to attend the centre until the account is paid in accordance with the fee policy.
Families enrolled into Gowrie NSW’s Early Education and Care centres and preschools are required to provide four (4) weeks’ notice in writing to the centre to end care for their child/children, and must complete an end of care form.
Families enrolled into Gowrie NSW’s Outside School Hours Care services are required to provide two (2) weeks’ notice in writing to the service to end care for their child/ren and must complete an end of care form.
The notice period starts from the date the family notifies the centre in writing, or when the end of care form is completed, whichever comes first. The termination notice period does not include close down periods.
Any balance of fees owing by the family after care has ceased is deducted from that family’s bond.
Upon ending care with Gowrie NSW, families eligible for CCS must attend their last booked session of care for CCS to be applied. Should families not attend on their last booked day of care, cessation of care rules will apply where no CCS is paid from the last actual day of attendance to the last booked session of care. Full fees will be payable by the family.
Families are required to provide at least two (2) weeks’ notice in writing to request to reduce the number of days they are enrolled for. The notice period starts from the date Gowrie NSW is notified. Requests to reduce enrolled days are discussed with the Centre Director / Program Manager of the service and is upon approval by the Centre Director / Program Manager of the service. Gowrie NSW Early Education and Care centres and preschools have a minimum two (2) day bookings per week per child policy and families cannot reduce their child/children’s bookings to one (1) day per week.
Relevant Legislation/Regulations
Education and Care Services National Law Act 2010
Education and Care Services National Regulations, regulations 168 (2)(n) and 172(2)
Schedule 1: National Quality Standard, quality area 7, standard 7.3 and element 7.3.5
A New Tax System (Family Assistance) Act 1999 (or equivalent)
