For Parents
- What is a Casual Vacancy?
Casual refers to a one-off vacancy that is available on a particular date for currently
enrolled families only. It does not infer occasional care and is not available for
families not currently enrolled at the centre.
- What is a Permanent Vacancy?
Permanent refers to a vacancy that is available on an ongoing basis. It can be secured
by already enrolled families or new families and will be confirmed on completion
of enrolment.
- Can I search for occasional or after school care on this site?
Currently, the site offers search results for long day care only. Centres may individually
offer occasional care through the Casual Vacancy option to currently enrolled families.
Other types of care such as ongoing occasional, kindergarten and family day care
may be added in the future.
- What if I click the ‘Book’ button by mistake?
It would be advisable to email or call the centre immediately to confirm your error
and that you are able to reverse your booking.
- My postcode doesn’t show any centres in my area.
When there are no centres in your chosen area, you have the option to email us with
the postcode you are searching and we will endeavour to contact the centres/council
in this area to encourage them to register on ChildCareNow.
- How do I know the availability information is up to date?
Centres are encouraged to update their vacancies daily. If you are unsure, you should
ring the centre and check with them directly.
- What is the Child Care Benefit (CCB) and how can I claim it?
Child Care Benefit (CCB) is a payment from the government to help families who use
approved and registered child care. All eligible families can receive some Child
Care Benefit. The CCB can be claimed as reduced fees from your approved child care
centre or as a lump sum. To find out if you are eligible, you need to contact your
local Family Assistance Office. For more information, contact the Family Assistance
Office on 13 61 50 or at www.familyassist.gov.au
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For Centre Operators
- What is a Casual Vacancy?
Casual refers to a one-off vacancy that is available on the particular dates specified
in the Casual tab and is ONLY for currently enrolled families. It does not infer
occasional care and is not available for families not yet enrolled or orientated
at your centre.
- What is a Permanent Vacancy?
Permanent refers to a vacancy that is available on an ongoing basis. It can be secured
through a booking by currently enrolled families and for new families, the booking
will be confirmed AFTER attendance at the centre and completion of enrolment forms.
- What if a booking is made by a family not yet enrolled with my centre?
Regardless of the type of booking (casual or permanent) it would be best to contact
the family as soon as possible to explain the need for enrolment and orientation
prior to leaving a child at the centre. This contact would be exactly the same as
if you received an enquiry over the phone from a new family wanting care.
- How will this site impact my waiting list?
Our site is designed to streamline your waiting list, not complicate matters. You
can continue to contact your waiting list when vacancies come available, and when
that is exhausted you can load the vacancies onto ChildCareNow.com.au to advertise
them to the public. You can also suggest to your waiting list parents that they
monitor your page on ChildCareNow.com.au. This may help to filter out those families
who really need a spot at your centre from those who are registered on numerous
waiting lists or whose circumstances have changed.
- How often should I update my vacancies?
Once your page is set up, the updating of vacancies should only take you a few minutes.
You should update your page as soon as an availability becomes known, and this information
is live on the internet as soon as you confirm your changes. Many centres update
their information twice daily, at the beginning and end of the day and this process
does not impact their daily routine.
- How will I know if I have a booking from the website?
When a parent makes a booking online, you will receive an email with the family
contact details. From this email you can determine if the family is currently enrolled
at your centre, or a new prospect and contact them accordingly to confirm the booking.
- What if a spot is double booked – done in person by my colleague and another
one via ChildcareNow?
A double booking is just as likely with or without using Childcare Now. You would
obviously update the website as soon as possible to reflect your latest numbers.
It is then at your discretion which family you approach to advise that an error
has been made and the spot is not longer available.
- I don’t want to show Casual Vacancies online
You need to put this issue in perspective of how many times you are able to satisfy
a parent by granting them an additional day of care – is it 10% of the time or 90%
of the time you get asked? Generally we hear it is about 10% of the time that you
are actually able to accommodate an extra day for a parent. By choosing not to display
Casual Vacancies means that you are keeping 10% of your parents happy, but what
about the other 90%? Some centres offer parents their money back when their child
is absent if they have been able to fill the spot. This system seems to work well
with both families and centre operators, as no one is out of pocket. It is your
choice and prerogative to charge families for absent days and assuming your policies
are transparent, your families should be aware of this process. We are confident
that by posting your Casual vacancies online you will be benefiting more parents
than you’ll be upsetting and one day, that parent who complained will need an extra
day too.
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