FAQ
HAVE A QUESTION FOR BLUEFIT KIDS?
Our FAQ section is here to help you out. Check below to see if we’ve already provided the information to resolve whatever questions you may have. Of course, if you can’t find what you’re looking for here, we’re always happy to have a chat. You can find your closest service to get relevant contact information, where one of our friendly and knowledgeable team members will be happy to assist you however possible.
NEW ENROLMENTS
No enrolment fee is required to receive a place with BlueFitKids
When you are offered a permanent booking, BlueFit Kids will email you our enrolment confirmation. You will have 72 hours to complete accept the permanent position at the service.
Yes, we are a registered childcare provider which means that eligible families are able to claim the Government benefit relating to your childcare.
We have provided a quick ‘How to complete the enrolment form’ step by step instructions.
Child Care Subsidy
The (CCS) is the main way the Government assists families with their child care fees. The CCS helps parents with children aged 0 – 13 who work, train, study and/or volunteer.
There are certain requirements that must be satisfied for an individual to be eligible to receive the Child Care Subsidy (CCS) for their child. These include:
- The age of the child (must be 13 or under and not attending secondary school)
- The individual, or their partner, meeting the residency requirements
- The combined family income meeting the specified requirements
- The child meeting immunisation requirements
- The activity level of your family
- Follow this link to guide you through making a claim for childcare subsidy: https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/individuals/services/centrelink/child-care-subsidy
- Important information is required to assist with making your claim:- MyGov and Centrelink online account or access to speak over the phone or in person at a Centrelink office- Claimant and child CRN (customer reference number)- Family income and activity details- Supporting personal documents
- Once you have received your childcare subsidy assessment letter from Centrelink, you will need to:- Provide us with your and your child’s CRN details so we’re able to make a connection to Centrelink to ensure you can receive CCS payments. It is important that we receive both CRN’s as a connection can’t be made using only one.- Once a connection to Centrelink is made, you will need to approve BlueFit Kids as the provider so the subsidy flows through. You may also contact Centrelink for assistance with confirming details and enrolment.
There are three things which will determine your level of subsidy:
- Your family income (combined or individual depending on your family status)
- The activity level of your family. Your activity level is the ‘recognised activities’ that enables a family to claim a subsidy (e.g. work, study or training) up to a maximum of 100 hours per fortnight based on the parent with the least number of hours.
- The type of childcare your child will be attending. BlueFit Kids is classified as Outside School Hours Care.
For more details, and to obtain an estimate of what your Child Care Subsidy could be, visit the Child Care Subsidy website or contact the Family Assistance Office on 136150
Families are entitled to 42 absence days per child, per financial year. You may also be entitled to additional absence days in certain circumstances (e.g. illness of a child, a parent or sibling). In shared care arrangements, the allocation of 42 absences per financial year relates to the child, not each individual claimant.
For additional support, such as the Temporary Hardship or the Transition to Work payments, please contact Centrelink directly.
A new claim needs to be made for each of your children even though it is based on your combined family income and activity.
It is a good idea to start your claim process as soon as you are considering starting your child in childcare. Claims can take over 28 days to process so the sooner you make the claim, the more likely the claim will be approved by the time your child starts in care. The claim needs to be made through Centrelink.
If you don’t have enough CCS hours to cover all your care per fortnight, then your fees may be different each alternate week. Your activity levels relate to the number of hours of care that subsidy is applied to each week. For example; If both guardians are working full-time (80hrs per fortnight), they may be entitled to 100hrs of subsidised care per week. If their child attends 5 days per week at a service that operates for 11 hours each day, they will use 55hrs in week 1 leaving them with only 45hrs for week 2. This means the fees charged in week 1 will be lower than week 2. This would only occur in our Holiday Programs.
The start date of your agreement may be earlier than your childcare start date as this connection can be made prior to the commencement of care. Even though the agreement date may be earlier, no childcare subsidy will be paid until attendances have been sent to Centrelink in your first week of care.
Your letter of assessment will note if you have an annual cap or not. The cap is not applied to all families and is dependent on the income associated to the claim. If your family earns $186,958 or less, you won’t have an annual cap on your subsidy. If your family earns between $186,958 and $351,248 your subsidy will be capped. This means Centrelink will subsidise your fees up to the annual cap of $10,190 per child each financial year.
Centrelink will back date payments up to 28 days.
- The Department of Education has provided extensive Frequently Asked Questions on their website
- For in-depth details on the Child Care Subsidy visit their website or contact the Department directly on 1300 566 046
- The details of my child’s enrolment are incorrect, e.g. the days enrolled do not match/ there is an extra casual day recorded or not recorded/ the day rate is incorrect
- Prior to disputing the details in myGov, please contact us on 1300 112 583 so we can discuss any issues with your child’s enrolment and if so, what steps need to be taken to correct them.
- There are no enrolment details in myGov
- Please check that you have given BlueFit Kids the correct CRN numbers for both the claimant and your child, and that you have completed your myGov assessment, so you are registered to receive the CCS. Whoever made the claim for childcare subsidy is considered the claimant even though in some cases the claim is based on a combined family situation
- My CCS connection has ended
- This may be due to taking extended leave (more than twelve weeks or 6 weeks if you are outside the country). All CCS payments will be automatically be ceased by Centrelink if a child has not attended care for more than twelve weeks. A new connection will need to be made upon return to the centre.
OUR TEAM
BlueFit Kids aims to deliver 1-10 educator to child ratios in all states and territories.
Existing enrolments
All bookings can be changed without charge with 24 hour notice.
Yes. Please call 1300 112 583, who will find out the availability within another service.
Please keep your child at home if your child is presenting with any illness. If a child arrives at our service and appears unwell, the Educators will make sure the child is kept comfortable and will contact you to collect your child as early as possible.
Our menus are adapted to cater for children’s specific dietary and cultural requirements and needs. Our menus are available on display at the service. Should you have any queries, please do not hesitate to let our Educators know.
Waitlist
Contact our Customer Care Team 1300 112 583 to book.
We encourage you to enrol your child early to secure your preferred dates.
Yes. We do ask that you make an appointment to visit the service, so please contact 1300 112 583 team or complete and enquiry form.
FEES
The daily fee depends on the service they attend and the care type they are enrolled in.
Billing is conducted automatically every Fortnight on a Friday, for prior fortnight in arrears. To complete your enrolment with BlueFit kids you will be required to setup a direct debit account with our debiting provider DebitSuccess. You can elect to pay your fees by credit card or direct debit. You can change your billing details at any time by calling 1300 112 583 or alternatively updating through via logging in to your account that you registered with.
We charge a late collection fee of $1 per minute after our closing time.
Immunisation
No. From the 1st January 2018, any new BlueFit Kids enrolments will require the child to be fully up-to-date with their immunisations, or be on a catch up schedule, or have a medical exemption to be enrolled into care. Documentation supporting the child’s immunisation position, must be provided at the time of enrolment.
Children who are not vaccinated will not receive the Child Care Subsidy.
The following documents will be accepted by BlueFit Kids to show that their child’s immunisation status.
- AIR Immunisation History Statement – those that are fully immunised for their age
- AIR Immunisation Medical Exemption Form – those that have a medical reason not to be vaccinated, or
- AIR Immunisation History Form – those that are on a recognised catch-up schedule
No other documents will be accepted and the enrolment cannot be confirmed without one of these.
A copy of your child’s immunisation details can be obtained at any time by:
- using their Medicare online account through MyGov
- using the Medicare Express Plus App
- calling the Australian Immunisations Register (AIR) General Enquiries Line on 1800 653 809.
- Parents should automatically receive their child’s AIR Immunisation History Statement in the mail after they complete their immunisation schedule (sometime after 4 years of age).
Overseas immunisation schedules may differ from the Australian schedule and cannot be accepted.
- If a child was immunised overseas, their immunisation record will need to be checked by a GP who will upload the information to the Australian Immunisation Register, and provide an AIR Immunisation History Form aligning their immunisations to the current Australian schedule and what immunisations the child needs to catch-up on.
- Parents can then request an updated AIR Immunisation History Statement to reflect this and submit to BlueFit Kids. NOTE: A doctor’s letter is not acceptable – only an AIR Immunisation History Form or a catch up schedule will be accepted.
Please visit the National Immunisation Program website which outlines the vaccinations and when they are due.