where a child does not attend a service within a period of 14 weeks or…

Child Care Subsidy will not be paid for absences where a provider charges a family to reserve a place for a child who has not yet physically started care.

In addition, if a child is booked in to start at a service on a particular date but does not attend on that day, no Child Care Subsidy will be paid until the child physically attends a session of care.

Similarly, a child care service is taken to have permanently ceased providing care for a child on the day the child last physically attends a session of care under an enrolment. This means that absences submitted after a child last physically attends a session of care are not eligible for Child Care Subsidy.

If a family has confirmed their child’s last day at a service, but that child does not attend their last booked session of care, no Child Care Subsidy will be paid for any days after the child’s last physical attendance at the service.

If a long absence from care is anticipated, the plan for this, and how it will be managed, can be specified in the Complying Written Arrangement (including, for example, any changes to fees). However, where a child does not attend a service within a period of 14 weeks or more, the enrolment will be ceased. Even where an absence longer than 14 weeks is planned in the Complying Written Arrangement, a new enrolment notice will need to be submitted when care recommences after the absence. If a long absence is planned, the family may prefer to end the enrolment and submit a new notice when physical attendance recommences so that the child is not reported as absent (using up the child's initial 42 days of absence). 

Reference: Childcare handbook