Recording of census data summary

1. In the Preschool Census Service List, if more than one service displays, click the service that you want to enter census data for. The service’s details display on the Main Details, Service Location and Census Submission tabs. A service may have one or more service locations. Many services will have only one service location.
2. Click the Service Location tab.All of the service’s service locations display, as well as the four service location tabs (Service Location Details, Service Location Operating Details, Child and Staff). On the Service Location tab you can also see the Status of the service location, the number of children enrolled and the number of staff. These numbers include children and staff carried over from the August 2023 census and any newly enrolled children and any newly recorded staff. New services who have not yet entered census data into ECCMS will have no rolled over data.
3. If more than one service location displays, click the service location that you want to enter census data for. The service location’s details display on the Service Location Details tab. A centre-based service can only enter census data for one location. A mobile service that has more than one service location listed must record census data for each of those service locations. If the service has only one service location listed, you do not need to click it – the service location’s details will automatically display on the Service Location Details, Service Location Operating Details, Child and Staff tabs.
4. Update/record the service location’s total operating weeks and hours as well as other service related information on the Service Location Operating Details tab.
   1. If necessary, update the service location’s operating hours that have been carried forward from the previous census.
   2. Specify whether your service has a waitlist and if so, how many children aged 3 and above are on that list.
   3. Indicate whether your service is an Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation.
   4. Advise whether your service is delivering an Aboriginal language program.
   5. Advise whether your service participated in the free health and development checks for 4-year-olds through the NSW Government’s Health and Development Check in Early Childhood Education (HDC) program. If instead your service offered health and development checks outside of the HDC program, you must provide the name of the organisation who provided the checks and the areas covered by those checks.
   6. Indicate your service’s standard daily fees before fee relief has been applied by age and equity cohorts.
5. Delete, update and add child records on the Child tab.
6. Add enrolment days for each child.
7. Add attendance days for each child.
8. Delete, update and add staff records on the Staff tab.
9. Add teaching days for each staff member who delivered an Early Childhood Education program.
10. Click the service’s Census Submission tab. If all records have a Complete status, submit your census data.

For detailed information about recording data in the August 2024 Preschool Census, read all of this guide.

Introduction

This Quick Reference Guide outlines the steps for completing the August 2024 Census. For detailed information on completing the census, see the online help in the Early Childhood Contract Management System (ECCMS). To open the online help, click a Help icon on the top right corner of a window or section.

About the August 2024 census

Service location operating hours, child data and staff data from the August 2023 census, have been carried over into ECCMS. To complete the August 2024 census, you need to check the carried over service details and record all the required service location information. This year, that information includes whether your service provides health and development checks for 4-year-olds and what your service’s standard daily fees are.

Next you can delete records for children who were not enrolled and staff who were not employed during the August representative fortnight. Then you should review rolled over child and staff data and create records for newly enrolled children and new staff. After this you must record enrolment and attendance days for all children enrolled during the representative fortnight, and also record teaching days for all staff during the representative fortnight.

Health and development checks

This year you are required to advise whether your service participated in the free health and development checks for 4-year-olds through the NSW Government’s Health and Development Check in Early Childhood Education (HDC) program. Otherwise, if your service offered health and development checks outside of the HDC program, you must provide the name of the organisation who provided the checks and the areas covered by those checks.

For more information on the HDC program, see Health and development checks in early childhood services.

Standard daily fees by age and equity

In this census, you must record your service’s standard daily fees before fee relief has been applied by age and equity cohorts.

Your service’s standard daily fees are the fees charged for up to 600 hours of enrolment, before levies or other charges are added and before fee relief is applied.

The Start Strong for Community Preschool guidelines state that children who are eligible for equity loading must have access to lower daily fees than children who are not eligible for equity loading. Enrolments eligible for equity loading refer to children from these targeted cohorts:

• Children with an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander background.
• Children from low-income families.
• Children with disabilities or additional needs.

Update your service details

If any of your service or service provider details (e.g. contact details) in ECCMS are out-of-date or incorrect, you should update these details before entering census data. To update these details, you must access your service provider and/or funding specification record(s) via the Service Provider and Funding Specification menu options.

If you are unable to change service provider details in ECCMS yourself and need to correct out-of-date or incorrect information, contact the department on 1800 619 113 or ecec.funding@det.nsw.edu.au.

Preschool Not Operational or not listed

If a preschool location has a Census Status of Not Operational you cannot enter or submit census data for this preschool.

You must contact the department on 1800 619 113 or email ecec.funding@det.nsw.edu.au for help if:

• an operational preschool is listed as Not Operational
• an operational preschool is not listed
• a preschool is not operational during the representative fortnight but is listed for data entry.

Have a backup plan

Only an SP Admin user of ECCMS can submit census data. Therefore, if your regular SP Admin user will be away for the recording or submitting of census data, it is important to nominate another staff member who can act in their absence. This staff member will need to be given SP Admin permissions by the department and have a myID. For more information, see the ECCMS web page on the NSW Department of Education website.

To have the department set up a staff member as an SP Admin user or for general ECCMS login enquiries, phone the Information and Enquiries team on 1800 619 113 or email ecec.funding@det.nsw.edu.au.

Consent forms

Community preschools and mobile preschools need to complete two types of consent forms, one for each staff member and one for each child upon enrolment. This means on first enrolling. It is good practice to seek a renewal of the consent form every year a child attends. A new form should be completed if any of the details in the original consent form require updating. For links to the consent forms, see section 5.2 of the 2024 Start Strong for Community Preschools program guidelines.

Understand when ECCMS times out

If you are inactive in ECCMS for 30 minutes, your session will time out for security purposes, and although it may appear that you are still logged in, you will have to log in again. It is important to save entered data as soon as possible, otherwise you may lose it if your session times out.

Online help

The ECCMS census function has two types of online help to assist you with data entry:

• Tooltips – click a Help icon next to a field to display a description of what is required.
• Detailed online help – click a Help icon on the top right corner of a window or section to display comprehensive instructions and explanations.

Enter data for the August 2024 census

ECCMS will be open for data entry from Monday 22 July to Friday 23 August 2023.

You are required to enter data for the representative fortnight of Monday 29 July to Friday 9 August 2024.

Data collected in August 2024 consists of service operating details, enrolled children and their attendance/enrolment and employed staff.

To complete the August 2024 census, follow the steps in the below sections.

Select record census data for.

1. Otherwise, if your organisation has only one preschool service listed, you do not need to click it – the service’s details will automatically display on the Main Details, Service Location and Census Submission tabs.

Complete the following sections for each service in the Preschool Census Service List.

Select a service location

1. Click the Service Location tab. The Service Location tab shows a service location’s Status and the number of Children Enrolled (which may consist of new and/or carried over child records) and number of Staff (which may consist of new and/or carried over staff records).
2. If the service (e.g. a mobile service) has more than one service location listed, click a service location that you want to record census data for. A centre-based service can only enter census data for one location. A mobile service that has more than one service location listed, must record census data for each of those service locations. If the service has only one service location listed, you do not need to click it – the service location’s details will automatically display on the Service Location Details, Service Location Operating Details, Child and Staff tabs. If your service (e.g. a mobile service) has more than one service location, complete sections 3 to 12 for each service location that was in operation during the representative fortnight.

Check service operating details

Check the service location’s total operating weeks and the operating hours that have been carried forward, and update these if they are incorrect.

New services who have not yet entered census data into ECCMS will have no rolled over data.

1. Click the Service Location Operating Details tab.
2. Click Edit items on this page to open the window. If the Definition of Operating Hours... message displays, click OK to clear it.
3. Make sure the number of Total Operating Weeks Per Year is correct. This number should only include weeks during which a service location is delivering a preschool program. The number must not include weeks when the service location is open only for care or administration.
4. For Does this preschool service have a waitlist?, select either Yes or No. A waitlist is a recorded and maintained register or list of children who are waiting for enrolment or a place at your service that is not immediately available but may be in the future.
5. If you selected Yes for question 3, the How many children aged 3 years and above are currently on the waitlist for this service? question displays. In this field, type the number of children on the waitlist who are aged 3 or above.
6. For Is your service an Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation?, select either Yes or No. An Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation (ACCO) is in alignment with the National Agreement on Closing the Gap. It is incorporated under relevant legislation and is not-for-profit. It is also controlled, operated and governed by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people.
7. For Is your service delivering an Aboriginal Language program?, select either Yes or No. An Aboriginal language program does not need to be funded by the NSW Department of Education, but should involve the teaching of one or more indigenous languages and dialects.
8. For Has your service participated in the free health and development checks for 4-year-olds through the Health and Development Check in Early Childhood Education Program (HDC) (run by NSW Government) this year?, select either Yes or No. If you answer Yes, you are confirming that your service has had health professionals from your local health district provide health and development checks to 4-year-olds in 2024. However, if local health district professionals have not provided health and development checks, you must answer No.
9. For Has your service offered health and development checks for 4-year-olds outside of the NSW Government's Health and Development Check in Early Childhood Education Program (HDC) this year?, select either Yes or No. If you answer Yes, you are confirming that your service has offered health and development checks to 4-year-old children in 2024 outside of the HDC program. If you selected Yes for question 9, ECCMS displays two extra fields and you must complete questions 10 and 11. Otherwise, skip to 13.
10. In Who is completing the check?, type the name of the organisation that is offering health and development checks.
11. For Please select all areas that are included in the check, select as many areas as applicable. If you selected Other (please specify) for question 11, ECCMS displays an additional field and you must complete question 12.
12. In Specify the other areas of health checks that the organisation provides, enter the other areas of health checks.
13. For Please indicate your standard daily fees before fee relief has been applied by age and equity cohorts in the table below:, type the relevant fee amounts in each column.
    1. In the Eligible for equity loading column, type the standard daily fee amount for children who are 3-year-old, 4-year-old and 5-year-old and above and are eligible for equity loading. Children from this targeted group include children from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander backgrounds, children from a low-income families and/or children with a diagnosed disability or additional needs. If your service does not have a separate fee schedule for children who are eligible to receive equity loading, enter the same fee amount used for children who are not eligible for equity loading.
    2. In the Not eligible for equity loading column, type the standard daily fee amount for children who are 3-year-old, 4-year-old and 5-year-old and above and are not eligible for equity loading. Ensure you enter daily fees for all three age groups. If the same daily fee applies for different age groups, repeat the amount.
14. Make sure that the service’s Start Time and End Time is correct for each day of the August representative fortnight.
15. To save any updates you have made, click Save.

Manage child records carried over

Repeat the following steps for each child record that was carried over from the August 2023 census.

1. If a child was not enrolled during the August 2024 representative fortnight, you must delete their record. See the Delete child records section.
2. If a child was enrolled during the August 2024 representative fortnight:
   1. Check the child’s details and if applicable, make any updates. For detailed information about each of the child related fields, see the Add child records section.
   2. Record whether the child requires English language assistance, and if so, what is the primary language that the child uses at home.
   3. Indicate whether the child receives fee relief.
   4. Type the Average Daily fee during Representative Fortnight ($) charged for the child’s enrolment at your service.
   5. Record whether the child received Face to Face Supervision by Qualified Early Childhood Teacher.
   6. Add the child’s enrolment day(s). See the Record a child's enrolment days section.
   7. Add the child’s attendance. See the Record a child's attendance section.

Delete child records

Complete the following steps to delete records for children who were carried over from the August 2023 census but were not enrolled during the August 2024 representative fortnight at the current service location.

1. Click the Child tab. The list on the Child tab defaults to 200 child records. This keeps the list aligned for multiple deletions.
2. Locate a child record that you want to delete, and at the start of the row, select the check box.
3. Repeat step 2 until you have selected all the children that you want to delete. If you accidentally click outside a check box, this will deselect any check boxes you have selected.
4. At the top of the list, click Delete Child.

Add child records

Complete the following steps to add each child who was enrolled during the August 2023 representative fortnight at the current service location, but whose record was not carried forward from the previous census.

1. Click the Child tab.
2. Click Add Child to open the Child Details window. The details in the top pane of the window (Child – Minimum Details Required for Saving) must be entered before you can save a child record. The details in the bottom pane (Child – Additional Details Required for Completion) must be entered before a child record is complete.
3. Type the child’s First Name and Last Name in full.
4. Select the child’s Gender from the list.
5. Type the child’s Date of Birth in dd/mm/yyyy format. Or select it in the calendar.
   
6. In Input Child Address, start typing the unit number (if applicable), street number and street name of the child’s residential address, e.g. 5/34 Green Avenue. After you type seven characters, any potential address matches display in a dropdown list. This address should be where the child normally resides; it should not be a P.O. Box address.
7. If the child’s correct address displays, select it and then proceed to step 13. Otherwise, if the child’s address does not display, follow steps 8 to 12 to enter the address.
8. For Having Problems Finding the Address, select the Yes check box. If you selected Yes for question 8, ECCMS displays 4 extra fields.
9. In Residential Address Line 1, type the unit/street number and street name of the address where the child primarily lives, e.g. 5/34 Green Avenue.
10. If applicable, in Residential Address Line 2, type address details such as the building or property name, e.g. Green Point Towers.
11. Start typing the name of the child’s residential Suburb, and then select it from the list. ECCMS automatically inserts the correct Post Code.
12. For State, accept the default of NSW. Otherwise, select the appropriate state in the list. If you change the state, you will need to reselect the suburb. Some suburb names (e.g. Surry Hills) occur in more than one state.
13. For the Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Indicator, select the appropriate option. A child is of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander origin if this is recorded on the child’s enrolment form. The information on the enrolment form may have been obtained verbally from the child’s parent or guardian.
14. Type the Date First Enrolled (i.e. when the child was first scheduled to attend your preschool service), in dd/mm/yyyy format. Or select it from the calendar.
15. For the Low Income Family Indicator, select Yes if the parent or legal guardian holds any one of the following cards issued by the Australian Government:
    1. Health Care Card (where the child is a named dependent on the card)
    2. Pensioner Concession Card (where the child is a named dependent on the card)
    3. Veteran Card.
    4. If the parent or guardian does not hold any of these cards, select No. If the parent’s or legal guardian’s card has expired but was valid for a prior period during that same preschool year and they are still being charged the same fee as when their relevant card was valid, selecYes for the Low Income Family Indicator. Otherwise, if their card has expired and they are being charged the regular fee, select No. The Australian Government has stated that Health Care Cards issued in the child’s name only are not means tested. Therefore children with their own Health Care Card (e.g. a Foster Care Card or a Health Care Card for a disability) cannot be marked as Yes. Services must keep a copy of Health Care Cards, Pensioner Concession Cards or Veteran Cards to show proof that they were valid at the time of the preschool census or for a prior period during that school year.
16. For the LBOTE Indicator, if the child has a Language Background Other Than English (LBOTE) including Aboriginal language, or augmentative or alternative language (such as sign language or non-formal gestures), select Yes. Otherwise select No or Don’t know. Select Yes for this indicator if a language other than English is spoken by the child, parents or other primary care givers (e.g. legal guardians, grandparents or relatives). Even if the child only speaks English, select Yes if a parent or care giver speaks another language.
17. For English Language Assistance Required, if the child requires assistance with English language needs, such as an interpreter, special learning materials, visual aids, pictorials, non-formal gestures, or programs such as Boardmaker, or other types of support for spoken or sign language(s) or any other language resource such as Braille, select Yes. Otherwise select No. If a child requires assistance with English language needs, this information must be recorded and available on file.
18. If the answer to question 17 was Yes, for What is the primary language of the child used at home, select the language that the child uses most in their home environment. If you do not know the child’s primary language, select Other. Then in the text box that displays, type the child’s country of origin or ethnicity, if known.
    1. If the child communicates using alternative language systems such as sign language, non-formal gestures, visual aids, pictorials or programs such as Boardmaker, or an iPad communication device or similar – select Augmentative and Alternative Communication. If the child has more than one language other than English (i.e. is multilingual), select the language that is most used in the child’s home environment.
    2. The top 10 languages spoken in NSW are listed. However, if the child’s primary language is not listed, select Other. Then in the text box that displays, type the child’s primary language.
19. For the Triplets/Quadruplets Indicator, if the child is not from a higher order multiple birth (e.g. triplets, quadruplets, quintuplets or more); accept the default of No. Otherwise select Yes.
20. For Does the child receive fee relief, select Yes if the child receives fee relief under the Start Strong for Community Preschools Program or Mobile Preschool Funding Program at this service. Otherwise, select No. Fee relief does not include any subsidies a child may receive through other agencies, programs or methods.
21. Type the Average Daily fee during Representative Fortnight ($) charged for the child’s enrolment at your service. See more information on obtaining the average fee per day in the callout box below.
22. For Face to Face Supervision by Qualified Early Childhood Teacher, if the child received a preschool program for at least one hour per week during the representative fortnight that was delivered by a qualified early childhood teacher, select Yes. Otherwise select No. A qualified early childhood teacher is a contact worker who is a degree qualified early childhood teacher who meets the requirements of the National Quality Framework for Early Childhood Education and Care (the National Quality Framework).
23. 1. For Does this child have a disability and/or additional needs? – if the preschool has a record of the child’s NDIS Reference number and/or a signed professional assessment on letterhead and/or a signed written diagnosis and/or developmental assessment on letterhead, and/or an approved application for High Learning Support Needs (HLSN) funding under the NSW Disability and Inclusion Program, select Yes. Otherwise select No.
    1. If you selected Yes for question 23, the Disability Details section displays and you must complete questions 24 to 31 Otherwise, skip to step 4 of 7. Record a child’s enrolment days.
24. For Primary Type of Disability and/or Additional needs, select the child’s disability/additional needs from the list.
25. Evidence for Disability, select as many check boxes as applicable. E.g. select NDIS Reference number if the child has been allocated an NDIS Reference number, and/or select Professional assessment/Written diagnosis and/or select Approved application for High Learning Support Needs (HLSN) funding under the NSW Disability and Inclusion Program.
26. For question 25, if you selected the:
    1. NDIS Reference number check box, the NDIS Reference number field displays. Type the child’s 9 digit NDIS number in this field. Then if you did not select either of the other 2 check boxes, skip to step 31.
    2. Professional assessment/Written diagnosis check box, ECCMS displays three extra fields and you must complete questions 27 to 30. Otherwise, skip to 31.
    3. Approved application for High Learning Support Needs (HLSN) funding under the NSW Disability and Inclusion Program check box, the HLSN Application Number field displays. Type the child’s 12 digit alphanumeric HLSN number in this field. The application must have been assessed as eligible in the 2024 calendar year.
    4. You must complete all the fields that display after selecting a check box.
27. Diagnosed or Assessed by (Full Name), type the name of the person who did the diagnosis or assessment.
28. For Profession / Role, select the profession or role of the person who did the diagnosis or assessment. If the profession or role is not listed, select Other relevant professional (please specify). ECCMS displays an additional field and you must complete question 29. Otherwise, skip to question 30.
29. In Please specify, type the profession or role of the person who made the diagnosis or assessment.
30. Type the Diagnosis or Assessment Date (i.e. when the child was diagnosed or assessed) in dd/mm/yyyy format.
31. To add the child’s enrolment days, proceed to step 4 of 7. Record a child’s enrolment days. Otherwise, click Save.

Add a child who attends multiple mobile service locations

If a child attends multiple mobile service locations that are attached to the one service, you can enter the child’s details once and then copy their details to other mobile service locations.

1. On the Child Details window, type the child’s First Name and Last Name in full.
2. Click Copy Child Detail. (This button only displays when a mobile service has more than one service location.) ECCMS copies the child’s details into the window. However, details that are particular to the mobile service location will not be copied.
3. Check that the Date First Enrolled, Average Daily Fee during Representative Fortnight ($) and Supervision by Qualified Early Childhood Teacher fields are entered and correct for this mobile service location.
4. Record the child’s enrolment days and attendance. For full instructions, see the Record a child's enrolment days and Record a child's attendance sections.
5. Click Save.

Record a child’s enrolment days

Complete the following steps to select enrolment days for each child who was enrolled during the August representative fortnight at the current service location. This applies to children who were carried over from the August 2023 census and to newly enrolled children.

1. Click the Child tab.
2. Locate the child record that you want to add enrolment days to, and click on the row to open the Child Details window.
3. If the record was carried over from the previous census, check whether the child’s details are still correct and make any necessary changes. For information about each field, refer to the Add child records section or view the online help.
4. Under Days Enrolled, select the relevant check box for each day the child was enrolled during the August representative fortnight. If the child was enrolled at the service location on a day for:
   1. more than half of the service location’s operating hours on that day, select Full Day
   2. half or less than half of the service location’s operating hours on that day, select Half Day.
   3. If a service location is open for 4 hours or less on a day, only one check box will display for that day.
   4. A child cannot be enrolled in a ‘full day’ and a ‘half day’ on the same day. However, a child can be enrolled in full day(s) and half day(s) on different days of the same week. For example, a child might be enrolled for a full day on Monday and a half day on Tuesday.
5. To proceed to record the child's attendance, see the Record a child's attendance section. Otherwise to save your data and exit the window, click Save.

Record a child’s attendance

Complete the following steps to select attendance days for each child who was enrolled during the August representative fortnight at the current service location. This applies to children who were carried over from the August 2023 census and to newly enrolled children.

1. Click the Child tab.
2. Locate the child record that you want to add attendance days to, and click on the row to open the Child Details window.
3. Under Days Attended, select the relevant check box for each day that the child attended the service location they were enrolled in. A child’s attendance data must only be added after the end of the representative fortnight.
4. If you are finished entering the child’s data, click Save.

Delete staff records

Complete the following steps to delete records of any staff members who were carried over from the August 2023 census but were not employed at the current service location in the August 2024 representative fortnight.

1. Click the Staff tab.
2. Locate a staff member record that you want to delete, and at the start of the row, select the check box.
3. Repeat step 2 until you have selected all the staff that you want to delete.
4. At the top of the list, click Delete Staff.
5. To the warning message, click Yes. If you click No, the staff records will remain selected. If you want to de-select all of the records, click twice on the blue check box on the top left side. Otherwise, to de-select a certain record, click the check box at the front of the row to remove the tick, and then repeat this for any other staff record that you want to de-select.

Add staff details

Complete the following steps to add each staff member who was employed during the representative fortnight at the current service location, but whose record was not carried forward from the August 2023 census.

1. Click the Staff tab.
2. Click Add Staff to open the Staff Details window.
3. Type the staff member’s First Name and Last Name in full.
4. Select the staff member’s Gender from the list.
5. Type the staff member’s Date of Birth in dd/mm/yyyy format.
6. For the Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Indicator, if the staff member identifies as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander, select the appropriate option. Otherwise select Neither Aboriginal nor Torres Strait Islander origin.
7. For the Language Other than English (LOTE) Indicator, if the staff member uses another language other than English (including Aboriginal languages), select Yes. However, if the staff member learnt another language (other than English) as a hobby or professionally, select No. It is not necessary for the staff member to be able to write in the other language. If applicable, select Don’t Know or Prefer not to answer.
8. Select the staff member’s Employment Status in the list.
   
9. In the Level of Highest Qualification in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) list, select the highest qualification in early childhood education and care that the staff member has attained. Otherwise, select Not applicable (No qualification). This will ‘grey out’ the next two fields and you can skip to question 12.
10. In the Education Field of Highest Qualification list, select the field in which the staff member has attained their highest qualification relevant to early childhood education and care.
11. In Year of Completion, type the year when the staff member completed this qualification, e.g. 2005.
12. If the Staff Member is Currently Completing an ECEC Qualification, select Yes. Otherwise, accept the default of No. If you selected Yes for question 12, ECCMS displays three extra fields and you must complete questions 13 to 15. Otherwise, skip to 16.
13. In Level of Qualification in ECEC Under Completion, select the appropriate qualification.
    
14. In the Education Field of Qualification Under Completion list, select the field of education of the qualification currently being completed.
15. Type the Expected Year of Completion for this qualification, e.g. 2024.
16. For Degree Qualified (or Equivalent) Early Childhood Teacher, select either Yes or No. A ‘degree’ qualified teacher meets the requirements of the National Quality Framework for Early Childhood Education and Care. An equivalent qualification includes early childhood teaching qualifications, as defined by ACECQA and/or recognised skills and experience.
17. In the Main Role list, select the staff member’s usual job/role at the service.
18. In the Main Type of Work Performed list, select the type of work that the staff member spends most of their time carrying out.
19. In Number of Hours Worked in Early Childhood Education Program Delivery During Representative Fortnight, type the number of hours, rounded to the nearest whole number, that this staff member spent delivering preschool program(s) during the representative fortnight. Enter hours as whole numbers. For example, if a staff member worked 1 hour and 30 minutes, enter 2. If they worked 1 hour and 15 minutes, enter 1. (ECCMS will ignore any decimal points, e.g. entering 1.5 will result in 15.)
    1. These hours only relate to face-to-face delivery of a preschool program. They do not include preparation time or other unrelated work.
20. If the staff member spent one or more hours delivering face-to-face preschool programs, to enter their teaching days, proceed to step 4 of 11 Add a staff member’s teaching days. Otherwise, if they worked 0 hours, click Save.

Repeat steps 2 to 20 for each staff member who was employed at the service location during the representative fortnight.

Add a staff member who works at multiple mobile service locations

If a service has a staff member who works at multiple service locations attached to a mobile service, you can enter the staff member’s details once and then copy their details to other mobile service locations.

1. On the Staff Details window, type the staff member’s First Name and Last Name in full.
2. Click Copy Staff Detail. (This button only displays when a mobile service has more than one service location.) ECCMS copies the staff member’s details into the window. However, details that are particular to a service location will not be copied.
3. Check that the staff member’s Main Role and Main Type of Work Performed are correct for this service location.
4. Enter other details such as hours worked and if applicable, assign teaching days. For full instructions, see the Add staff details section.
5. Click Save.

Add a staff member’s teaching days

Complete the following steps to add teaching days for staff who spent time delivering preschool programs at the service location during the August 2024 representative fortnight. This applies to staff who were carried over from the August 2023 census and to newly added staff.

1. Click the Staff tab.
2. Locate the staff record that you want to add teaching days to, and click on the row to open the Staff Details window.
3. If the record was carried over from the previous census, check whether the staff member’s details are still correct and make any necessary changes. For information about each field, see the Add staff details section or view the online help.
4. Under Teaching Days, for every day that the staff member spent time delivering preschool programs at the service location during the representative fortnight, select the appropriate check box.
5. If you are finished entering the staff member’s data, click Save.

Submit the census data

1. Click the service’s Census Submission tab.
2. Ensure there is a 0 for each item in the Number of Incomplete records column. (This means there are no incomplete records.)
3. Ensure the numbers for all items in the Number of Complete records column are correct. For example, if 36 children whose records were carried over from the previous census were also enrolled at the service location during the August 2024 representative fortnight, 36 must display in the Children (Rolled over) row. Likewise, if 20 new child records were added for this August 2024 census, 20 must display in the Children (New - August 2024) row.
4. Click Preview Report to preview the Census Summary Report and check what you have entered.
5. If applicable, make any necessary changes.
6. If you are sure all the details are correct, read the declaration statement carefully and select the check box.
7. Click Submit. On the Main Details tab, in the Census Submission section, the Census Submission Status will change to Submitted and your name and today’s date will display.
8. In the Census Summary Report column, click the Download button, and then either view the report on screen or save it to your computer for your records.

Congratulations - you’ve finished entering the August 2024 census data in ECCMS.

Follow up

Department staff will review the submitted census data to check for possible errors and confirm the ECCMS census function is working as intended. The department may need to contact you to confirm or correct aspects of the data you have submitted.