Yes, all financial accountability statements must be submitted via ECCMS.

If a service received funding within the period captured by the financial accountability, an email notification will be sent to the primary contact of each service provider from ECCMS. To review or update the contact details, please log in to ECCMS and select the Main Details tab under the Service Provider menu item. Providers are responsible for maintaining and updating their service's contact details within ECCMS.

Note: When a financial accountability statement is added in the Early Childhood Contract Management System (ECCMS), it has a status of Draft. After the statement is submitted, its status will change to Submitted.

Completing financial accountability statements is a requirement under the NSW Department of Education’s Grant Programs Terms and Conditions. Providers are required to accept and agree to the Terms and Conditions each year to receive funding.

1. Financial accountability statements can be accessed from the To Do list tab or in the ECCMS left-hand menu by clicking Funding Specification. (Note: Access via the ‘To Do List’ is only available for SP-Admin level access. For SP-User level access please access via the Funding Specification tab). Capital Works Financial accountabilities can be accessed directly from the bottom of the ECCMS left-hand menu.
2. Locate and click the Funding Specification that corresponds with the funding you have received.
3. Click the Accountability tab.
4. Locate the correct Financial Year, and then click the Financial hyperlink, which opens the financial accountability statement to be completed.

More information on how to complete the financial accountability statement can be found here in the Financial Accountability Return Guide.

To access ECCMS, you will need a myID and be linked to the provider in RAM. Step-by-step instructions on how to set this up are available on the ECCMS webpage.

Note: Troubleshooting RAM is provided by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO).

Information about accessing and using ECCMS is available on the ECCMS webpage.

There are also ECCMS FAQs that are helpful when using the ECCMS system.

For enquiries about ECCMS login, please contact 1800 619 113 or email ecec.funding@det.nsw.edu.au.

More detailed information on using ECCMS can be found in the ECCMS Service Provider Guide (PDF 2.81 MB).

If you require further details on how to complete the financial accountability reporting requirements online via the Early Childhood Contract Management System, please see pages 63 to 66 of the ECCMS Service Provider Guide.

If a service received funding within the period captured by the financial accountability statement, your service will receive an automatic email to the main contact email address in ECCMS. Whichever program funding the email relates to will be noted in the subject heading of the email.

Services should log into ECCMS and navigate to the ‘To Do’ list in the left-hand menu. A list of all outstanding financial accountabilities will be listed.

Start Strong Capital Works financial accountability statements can be accessed directly from the bottom of the left side menu in ECCMS.

Note: A financial accountability statement will show ‘draft’ if it has not yet been submitted.

Click on the underlined Financial hyperlink to navigate to complete the financial accountability statement. When you have finished completing the information, scroll to the bottom of the financial accountability statement and select ‘Submit’.

If ECCMS displays an error message after you click ‘submit’, check the financial accountability statement to ensure all information has been entered into the required cells. It is not correct to enter 1c or $1 into cells to enable ECCMS to accept the financial accountability statement as ‘submitted’. Please refer to the Frequently Asked Questions for further information on ECCMS error messages.

No, service providers cannot transfer grant funding between services from different grant programs, unless specifically permitted in the program guidelines e.g. Start Strong for Community Preschools Fee Relief funds to Start Strong for Community Preschools Program payment.

Reserved Fee Relief Funds are funds that were not allocated to an enrolment e.g. the service had fewer children enrolled than funding was provided for, or for enrolled children where families have claimed fee relief elsewhere. Services are required to reserve these fee relief funds until a new eligible enrolment claims fee relief at the service. The amount in this section is manually entered by the service. For more information, visit Understanding reserved and surplus fee relief funds for Community Preschools.

Before proceeding you first need to determine and calculate any reserved fee relief amount.

The reserved fee relief amount can be determined by calculating the difference between funding provided by the department, and the actual number of families accessing fee relief at the service for the reporting period.

Note: This is a starting point for services that don't use fee relief software. For services that do, you will be able to find this amount in your software extract.

The example below assumes full funding of $4,220 per child which is based on the projected annual hours of enrolment.

Example 1

If your service was funded for 20 eligible children but only 18 accessed fee relief, funds for the remaining 2 children (2 x $4,220 = $8,440) would have been reserved.

Note: Only enter the reserved fee relief amount, where funds were not allocated to an enrolment because the service had fewer children enrolled than funding was provided for, or for enrolled children where families have claimed fee relief elsewhere.

Services that note an amount of reserved fee relief funds (see Section 4.3. Fee Relief Payment spending rules in the 2024 Start Strong for Community Preschools Program Guidelines) in the financial accountability statement and fee relief data collection will have their reserved fee relief funds offset against a later fee relief payment in 2025. The department will use data obtained from the fee relief data collection as well as the information submitted by the provider in the 2024 Census to improve accuracy of funding figures.

Before proceeding you first need to determine and calculate any reserved fee relief amount.

The examples below assume full funding of $4,220 per child.

Example 2

If the service was funded for 20 eligible children but 22 accessed fee relief, funds for the extra 2 children (2 x -$4,220 = -$8,440) should be entered as a negative figure to demonstrate the service passed on more fee relief than what was received. This negative figure will be the difference between the amount paid by the department and the total fee relief passed on to families.

This indicates to the department that the service had a fee relief **deficit/shortfall for the reporting period.

**The department uses fee relief data submission data to calculate any fee relief adjustment payment as this is the most accurate and up to date information. Fee relief data submission should agree with the financial accountability statement.

Note: This negative figure does not impact the Total adjusted Income calculation.

Services should cover the cost of additional families claiming fee relief from their retained profits. The preschool funding team is available to provide support, advice, or answer any questions relating to the Start Strong Program.

All services can access support by contacting the funding team on 1800 619 113 or ecec.funding@det.nsw.edu.au.

Providers funded under 2024 Start Strong for Community Preschools program or Mobile Preschool Funded Program were invited to submit a fee relief top up data submission for their service via SmartyGrants to address a 2024 fee relief accrued deficit because of providing fee relief for more enrolments than the service was initially funded for in 2024.

The 2024 fee relief top up data submission process was open from 24 February 2025 to 7 March 2025. The timeframe to submit fee relief data is closed. See more information at 4.3 Fee Relief Spending Rules in the 2024 Start Strong for Community Preschool Guidelines.

Note:

• 2024 Adjustment Payment - If the service has already received an adjustment payment in 2024 for a 2024 fee relief shortfall, the adjustment amount has been included in the 2024 total payment on the 2024 financial accountability statement. Expenditure relating to the 2024 fee relief adjustment payment should be included in the 2024 financial accountability statement.
• 2023 Adjustment Payment – If the service received an adjustment payment in 2024 for a 2023 fee relief shortfall, the 2023 fee relief adjustment amount has not been included in the 2024 financial accountability statement. Services should not include the expenditure relating to the 2023 fee relief adjustment payment in the 2024 financial accountability statement.

Additional information

Add a note if the service had a difference in enrolment numbers than what was funded by the department for Fee Relief Payment.

No, only record amounts where Fee Relief Payment has been used to cover costs in Part 1 Fee Relief Payment. Services should only record amounts where fee relief funds were actually used to cover the costs of what families would have normally been required to pay.

If families actually paid additional fees such as enrolment/administration, resources, excursions etc, do not record that amount in Part 1 Fee Relief Payment.

Actual ‘gap’ and 3^rd day fees paid by families are recorded in the INCOME section in Part 2 Program Payment.

Simple Rule: If families actually paid ‘gap’ fees, include these fees in Part 2 Program Payment section. If the fee relief funding was used to cover fees, and families did not pay, include these fees in Part 1 Fee Relief Payment section. Do not include initial daily fee amount prior to applying fee relief funds. Only record fee relief passed on.

No, services must apply the funding in the order noted in Fee Relief Payment Spending Rules in the 2024 Start Strong for Community Preschool program guidelines, i.e. if there is any surplus after applying the funding to level 1 ‘reduce the daily fees as much as possible for 600 hours per year for eligible children accessing fee relief at the service’, you must firstly apply any surplus to level 2 ‘reduce the cost of additional charges to families accessing fee relief at the service’.

If there is any surplus after applying against level 2, then any surplus funds can be applied against one or all the options a, b. or c. at level 3. which includes reducing the operating expense of the service per the Program Payment spending rules.

Note: The amount entered in Expenditure item 3. c. # will be automatically deducted from the operating expenses noted in Part 2 Program Payment.

For more information, see the 2024 Start Strong for Community Preschool FAQs.

Services participating in the Digital Hub Pilot Trial during 2024 will have this payment included in the total program payment amount in Part 2 Program Payment on the financial accountability statement.

Expenditure relating to the Digital Hub Pilot Trial should be included in Expenditure line item ‘Other expenses’ in Part 2 Program Payment.

Yes, financial reporting requirements depend on whether the service provider is classified as a Tier 1 or Tier 2 organisation under NSW Fair Trading guidelines. Services registered with ACNC will still need to attach the required documents relative to Tier 1 or Tier 2 organisations under the NSW Fair Trading guidelines when completing their financial accountability statement.

More information can be found under Financial Reporting Requirements of the Financial Accountability Return Guide, and on the NSW Fair TradingExternal link website.

Yes, surplus funds noted in the Non-DoE column on the previous year's Start Strong for Community Preschools/Mobile Preschool financial accountability statement should be manually entered on the current year financial accountability statement. Please do not enter a deficit amount.

Note: The surplus amounts noted on the financial accountability statement may differ from the service’s audited/non-audited financial income and expenditure statements.

No, where services receive multiple funding grants from the department e.g. Fee Relief Payment, Start Strong for Community Preschools/Mobile Preschool funding, Disability and Inclusion funding, Attendance and Enrolment Technology Grant, Additional Targeted Equity Loading, Health and Development Program funding etc, the income and expenditure amounts shown on the service’s audited/non-audited financial income and expenditure statements from their accountant/bookkeeper may be combined (including funding received from non-department sources).

Remember to extract the income and expenditure relative to each program, e.g. Disability and Inclusion Program funding, Additional Targeted Equity Loading Attendance and Enrolment Technology Grant, Health and Development Program funding when completing the financial accountability statement.

Note: It is not correct to transpose the total line-item amount from the service’s audited/non-audited financial income and expenditure statements unless Start Strong for Community Preschools, Mobile Preschool Contracts or Mobile Preschool Funding Program grant funding is the only grant income the service received from the department.

If you received funding for the Disability and Inclusion Program, Additional Targeted Equity Loading, Health and Development Program etc, remember to first deduct wages paid to staff using these other grants, from the total wages line-item on the service’s audited/non-audited financial income and expenditure statements from their accountant/bookkeeper.

Services that received funding for multiple programs with the same/similar expenditure line items e.g. wages, resources, during the 2024 period may find it helpful to download Expenditure Across all Programs Example (XSL 27 KB) to break up income and expenditure across all programs if not already presented on service financial statements.

It may be easier to complete the smaller grant programs first before completing the Start Strong for Community Preschool Part 1 and 2 sections. Services can apportion the expenditure amount relative to that funding grant.

The financial accountability statement now has two new expenditure line items in Part 2.

The 2024 Financial Accountability has two new staffing expenditure line items:

From 2024 to assist the department with evaluating the program, services are now asked to provide a breakdown of expenditure for the two categories below:

1. Support capability uplift of early childhood teachers and educators through professional development and further study
   Services may previously have included expenditure relating to the support capability uplift of early childhood teachers and educators through professional development and further study as part of their staff training expenditure under the operational expenditure line item. This expenditure can now be extracted from the operational expenditure line item and included at this new expenditure line item.
   Examples of this expenditure could be:
   1. study leave
   2. support staff to upgrade their qualifications from a certificate to a diploma
   3. backfilling of staff undertaking professional development and further study.
2. Reduce non-fee related barriers that families face when accessing quality preschool
   This expenditure may have previously been captured under the service’s operational expenditure line item. This expenditure can now be extracted from the operational expenditure line item and included at this new expenditure line item.
   Examples of this type of expenditure could be:
   1. transportation initiatives
   2. food initiatives such as a breakfast program
   3. clothing related (hats)
   4. assist families to complete enrolment forms.

If the service received traineeship grants (through Training Services NSW) or paid parental leave payments (through the Commonwealth Government), or previously JobKeeper and JobSeeker payments (relating to previous funding periods) the wages expenditure of these amounts should be noted against wages expenditure line items for service delivery staff or administration and management staff in the ‘Non-DoE Funds’ column. This is because these funds were received from other sources, and not the NSW Department of Education Early Childhood funding grants

If the service received funding under the Grow Your Own (ECEC) program, any wages paid for trainees using Grow Your Own funding should not be recorded on the Start Strong for Community Preschools/Mobile Preschool Funding Program financial accountability statement. Record these wages amounts on the Grow Your Own (ECEC) program financial accountability statement.

The Start Strong for Community Preschools/Mobile Preschool Funding Program Fee Relief Payment and Program Payment are part of a single accountability.

In Part 1 Fee Relief Payment Section, only include the fee relief passed on to families, or where administration costs were paid for using the fee relief payment. Do not include any other expenditure here.

In Part 2 Program Payment, do not include Start Strong for Community Preschools Fee Relief funding, Start Strong Free Preschool, Disability and Inclusion, Quality and Participation or any other department Early Childhood Outcomes grant funding in either income or expenditure under this section. These grants will be acquitted on their own financial accountability statement.

See notes at the bottom of Part 1 Fee Relief Payment on the accountability template.

#Less funds used for operating expenses from Fee Relief payments.

Note: The amount entered in Part 1 Fee Relief Payment Expenditure item iii) # reduce the service’s operating expenses per the Program Payment spending rules will be automatically deducted from the DoE Funds column operating expenses. This is because the service will be acquitting that amount already under Part 1 Fee Relief Payment expenditure.

Services should enter values into each column in Part 2 Program Payment section on the Start Strong for Community Preschools financial accountability statement.

For some expenditure categories where splitting is difficult (such as 'Salaries and Wages'), a revenue % apportion basis can be used as a guide e.g. if the total income for 'DoE Funds' is $60,000 and 'Non-DoE Funds' is $40,000 totalling to $100,000 then 60% of expenditure can be apportioned to the 'DoE Funds' column and 40% to the 'Non-DoE Funds' column.

If the NSW Department of Education is the major funder e.g. if total income for 'DoE Funds' is $90,000 and 'Non-DoE Funds' is $10,000 totalling to $100,000, then expenditure should be shown first in the 'DoE Funds' column bringing the balance to $0, and remaining expenditure shown under the 'Non-DoE Funds' column.

Service providers should contact their accountant/bookkeeper to request the breakdown of each grant program for the income and expenditure sections in their financial statements.

The service provider’s accountant/bookkeeper can assist you to establish a costing structure to easily identify income and expenditure activity relating to each of the funding grants from the department. In some financial accounting systems this is called a ‘funding code’ or a ‘project number’ for each grant. Each funding code can have a break down by account code for each income and expenditure transaction.

Once each grant has an identified funding code, you will be able to attribute expenditure, e.g. delivery staff wages, across one or more fund codes or project numbers. If you have a staff member who works 2 days per week under the Disability and Inclusion Program, and 3 days per week under the Start Strong Program, then part of their wage can be expensed against the Start Strong program payment funding, and part against the Disability and Inclusion Program funding.

An income and expenditure report can be printed by funding code or project number, which can assist services to easily complete the financial accountability statements.

The total income and expenditure from all funding codes or project numbers together should tally to the total income and expenditure on the service’s audited/non audited financial statements from the accountant/bookkeeper.

An Asset Register showing Early Childhood Outcomes and non-Early Childhood Outcomes funded assets must be submitted if any depreciation, capital expenditure or sale of assets has been reported in the accountability statement.

It is expected that services will utilise the full DoE funds first, then cover any expenses over and above the DoE grant funding from other sources of funding (Non-DoE Funds) and any retained profits.

If a service has used all department funding, the DoE Funds column total at this section should be $0.00 showing all DoE grant funds have been expended.

Note: There should not be a deficit noted in the DoE Funds column if a surplus is noted in the Non-DoE Funds column. Services would have utilised Non-DoE Funds to cover the deficit noted in the DoE Funds column.

It is acceptable for the service to have surplus funds in the Non-DoE column after all DoE grant funds have been expended (showing $0.00 balance).

A deficit in both DoE Funds and Non-DoE Funds columns is acceptable if a service used all DoE Funds income as well as their Non-DoE Funds income and were required to use any retained profits to meet the shortfall and keep operating.

This section is currently only relevant to Start Strong for Community Preschool Program and does not apply to Mobile Preschool Funding Program.

In the 2024 Start Strong for Community Preschools program guidelines the surplus threshold is based on the total program payment balance after completing Part 2 Program Payment expenditure on the financial accountability statement.

The threshold is based on the program payment balance divided by the total program payment. For more information see Surplus Thresholds and Options for Providers at Section 5.6 Financial accountabilities and funding compliances in the 2024 Start Strong for Community Preschools Guidelines. Visit Start Strong for Community Preschools to access the program guidelines.

If this section does not display a surplus, you don’t need to do anything further. You did not have an overall program surplus.

The department understands that some providers may have a surplus at the end of their reporting period which needs to be returned to the department according to the Terms and Conditions.

After completing the financial accountability statement, services can calculate their surplus threshold and choose how they would like to manage their surplus (if any) from the relative Option A or B.

A service can then apply to retain surplus funding (where applicable) under the total Start Strong for Community Preschools Program. See the instructions noted in Section 2.3.1 of the Financial Accountability Return Guide.

The service will firstly need to calculate 10% of the annual Start Strong for Community Preschools Program payment.

See the examples below:

1. The service will calculate the 10% of the annual Start Strong for Community Preschools Program payment e.g. $380,000 x 10% = $38,000.
2. ECCMS will calculate the surplus amount into a percentage e.g. $27,000 ÷ $380,000 x 100 = 7.1%,

If the surplus is up to 10% or $30,000 (whichever is greater) of the annual Start Strong for Community Preschools program payment, the service should select Option A.

If the surplus threshold is greater than 10% or $30,000 (whichever is greater) of the annual Start Strong for Community Preschools program payment, the service should select Option B.

Service can choose to keep the amount below 10% of program funding or $30,000 (whichever is greater).

As $27,000 is less than $38,000 (10% of the annual program funding), the service can opt to keep the surplus to carry over to the next funding period.

Service can choose to keep $38,000 (up to 10% of program funding).

Additionally, where the service has an operational need to retain the surplus, they can apply to the department to keep the surplus amount which is greater than 10% or $30,000 (whichever is higher).

The service is first required to complete the Surplus Application FormExternal link and then select the confirmation box (the top box at Option B) on the financial accountability statement.

When completing the Surplus Application FormExternal link the service can choose to keep the additional $4,000 which is the amount above the $38,000 (higher than 10% or $30,000).

No, DoE surplus funds cannot be transferred to other service providers, between services or across funded programs, unless it is permitted specifically in the program guidelines.

This year under the Start Strong for Community Preschools program/Mobile Preschool Funding Program, services can choose to reduce their operating expenses relating to their program payment by ‘transferring’ any final surplus funds under Part 1 Fee Relief Payment to Part 2 Program Payment section. This is performed automatically by ECCMS when the amount to ‘transfer’ is entered into the cell in item iii) # reduce service’s operating expenses in the Fee Relief Payment expenditure table.

1. Did you receive funding from any other source other than the department? e.g. grants from other NSW or Commonwealth government departments or local councils? If so, you must display this in the in the ‘Non-DoE’ column income section.
2. If you have entered any amount into the ‘Non-DoE’ column income section on the financial accountability statement, you will need to show a corresponding expenditure amount in the ‘Non-DoE’ column expenditure section. ECCMS will see income has been recorded in the ‘Non-DoE’ column and will require you to enter an expenditure amount in the ‘Non-DoE’ expenditure section showing how some/all of this funding was spent e.g. Paid Parental Leave income received from the Commonwealth Government should be recorded in the ‘Other Income’ line item in the ‘Non-DoE’ column in Part 2: Program Payment. The corresponding expenditure will then be recorded in either of the ‘Salaries and wages’ line items in the ‘Non-DoE’ expenditure section.
3. It is not correct to enter $1 or 1c in the ‘Non-DoE’ column expenditure section line items to enable ECCMS to accept the submitted financial accountability statement.

These charges often arise when there is a central administration or head office cost centre that supports multiple units within an organisation. It is acceptable for service providers to allocate a reasonable portion of overhead costs to Early Childhood Outcomes funded programs. This however must be performed on a consistent basis and as part of an appropriate costing methodology or refer to question above “I do not have an exact breakdown of the DoE portion and the non-DoE portion of my yearly expenditure. How much should I apportion to the DoE expenditure column?” to use a similar approach.

No, if a service has incurred a deficit in prior years in the financial accountability statement, this deficit cannot be carried forward and should be absorbed by the service provider.

Reserved Fee Relief Funds are funds that were not allocated to an enrolment e.g. the service had fewer children enrolled than funding was provided for, if the service had enrolments ineligible for fee relief or the service had enrolled children where families have claimed fee relief elsewhere.

Where a child leaves the service, funding for that enrolment is also considered Reserved Fee Relief funds until the next eligible child that takes up that enrolment.

Services are required to retain reserved fee relief funds until a new eligible enrolment claims fee relief at the service. The amount in this section is manually entered by the service.

Before proceeding you first need to determine and calculate any unexpended (reserved) fee relief amount.

The reserved fee relief amount can be determined by calculating the difference between funding provided by the department, and the actual number of families accessing fee relief at the service.

Note: This is a starting point for services that don't use fee relief software. For services that do, you will be able to find this amount in your software extract.

The two examples below are calculated where the service has less or more enrolments than what funding was provided for a flat rate of $2,110 per child for 4YO Fee Relief payment.

Note: 3YO Fee Relief Trial payment can be calculated in the same manner with a flat rate of $500 per child. Enter the 3YO Fee Relief Trial payment calculation into Part 1B 3YO Fee Relief Trail Payment on the financial accountability statement.

Example 1:

If the service was funded for 20 eligible children but only 18 accessed fee relief, funds for the remaining 2 children (2 x $2,110 = $4,220) would have been reserved.

Note: Only enter the reserved fee relief amount, where funds were not allocated to an enrolment because the service had fewer children enrolled than funding was provided for, or where the service had enrolments ineligible for fee relief, or for enrolled children where families have claimed fee relief elsewhere.

This amount is not the unspent funds from Fee Relief payments after applying fee relief as a weekly deduction to reduce session or gap fees, additional charges, or operating expenses, and should not be included in the ‘Funding Used to Reduce Fees/Expenditure’ section below. This reserved fee relief amount must be shown separately as noted above.

Nothing else needs to be done with this amount on the financial accountability statement. This shows the department the amount of reserved fee relief funding being held. The amount will be reviewed and returned to the department.

Before proceeding you first need to determine and calculate any reserved fee relief amount passed on from the service’s retained profits.

The examples below assume full funding of $2,110 per child.

Example 2:

If the service was funded for 20 eligible children but 22 accessed fee relief, the funds for the extra 2 children (2 x -$2,110 = -$4,220) should be entered as a negative figure to demonstrate the service passed on more fee relief than what the service was funded for. This negative figure will be the difference between the amount paid by the department and the total fee relief passed on to families.

This indicates to the department that a fee relief adjustment payment may be required.

Services should cover the cost of additional families claiming fee relief from their retained profits. The long day care funding team is available to provide support, advice, or answer any questions relating to the Start Strong Program.

All services can access support by contacting the funding team on 1800 619 113 or ecec.funding@det.nsw.edu.au.

Services may be eligible for a **Fee Relief Adjustment Payment to address a fee relief related deficit accrued because of providing fee relief to more enrolments than the service was initially funded.

**The department uses fee relief data submission data to calculate any fee relief adjustment payment as this is the most accurate and up to date information.

The 2024 fee relief data submission process was open from 31 January 2025 to 31 March 2025. Providers funded under 2024 Start Strong for Long Day Care were invited to submit a single voluntary submission covering 12 months, from 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2024. Outcomes and eligible payments were communicated to providers from 31 March 2025.

The timeframe to submit fee relief data is closed. If your service requires a 2024 fee relief funding top up, please email the department at ecec.funding@det.nsw.edu.au

Refer to Appendix 1.1 ‘Fee Relief Funding Adjustments’ section in the 2024 Start Strong for Long Day Care program guidelines.

The service will need to clearly show the breakdown of how this funding was used to reduce session or gap fees, additional charges, or operating expenses by entering a breakdown in the 'Funding Used to Reduce Fees/Expenditure’ section below.

Notes:

• 2024 Fee Relief Adjustment Payment - If the service has already received an adjustment payment in 2024 for a 2024 fee relief shortfall, the adjustment amount has been included in the 2024 total fee relief payment on the 2024 financial accountability statement. Expenditure relating to the 2024 fee relief adjustment payment should be included in the 2024 financial accountability statement.
• 2023 4YO+ Fee Relief Adjustment Payment – Services that received a 2023 4YO+ Fee Relief Adjustment payment in 2024 for a 2023 fee relief shortfall, should complete the 2023 Fee Relief Adjustment payment section within the 2024 financial accountability.
• The 2023 4YO+ Fee Relief Adjustment Payment has not been included in the 2024 total fee relief payment on the 2024 financial accountability statement. Services should only include the expenditure relating to the 2023 fee relief adjustment payment in the 2023 fee relief adjustment payment section on the 2024 financial accountability statement.

Please contact the Early Childhood Outcomes Long Day Care Program team on 1800 619 113 or ecec.funding@det.nsw.edu.au should you require further information on the 2023 4YO+ Fee Relief Adjustment payment on the 2024 financial accountability statement.

No, this option is not available under the 2024 Start Strong for Long Day Care guidelines.

Services must apply the funding in the order noted below, and in Section 4.3 4YO Fee Relief Payment and 3YO Fee Relief Trial Payment spending rules:

1. Firstly, as a weekly reduction to a family’s gap fees across the total service operating weeks for the calendar year, then, if there are remaining funds after applying the funding to level 1 above, funds must then be applied to level 2.
2. The Approved Provider must then spend the funds to cover any additional charges imposed on the eligible children, such as levies.
3. Remaining funds may then be used to reduce the fees for eligible children not accessing fee relief at the service, e.g. children of families with greatest need; or ‘to cover any additional charges imposed on the eligible children, such as levies.
4. Remaining funds may be used to further reduce the fees for children already accessing fee relief at the service, or to reduce fees for children whose families did not nominate the service on the declaration and consent form (a declaration form must be obtained for these children).

There is now only one cell to capture the expenditure for Levels 2 to 4 above. These amounts should be calculated together and entered in the one cell on the 2024 financial accountability statement.

Surplus (unspent) Fee Relief funding is to be returned to the department.

Any Reserved Fee Relief funding will be reviewed and returned to the department. For more information, see the 2024 Start Strong Long Day Care FAQs.

Inclusive Environments Program funding was previously called Minor Capital Works funding under the Disability and Inclusion Program. The new Inclusive Environments funding program has two components: Child Based funding and Service Based funding.

Inclusive Environments payment amount noted on the financial accountability statement is a combined total of payments for both Child Based Funding and Service Based Funding. See Section 2 Funding of the 2025 Inclusive Environments Funding Program Guidelines.

Services that received both components of Inclusive Environments Program funding should combine like expenditure items into the same line item on the financial accountability statement, e.g. Minor construction or specialised equipment/furniture.

Note: this funding is separate to the High Learning Support Needs funding and Start Strong Fee Relief funding.

Services should only include the portion of expenditure relating this funding program where funding was used to cover *Start Strong Fee Relief, salaries and wages, resources or operational expenses noted in the program spending rules, e.g. If funding was used towards staff salaries and wages as per the ATEL spending rules, only record the amount relative to ATEL funding. The other portion(s) of salaries and wages would be recorded against Disability and Inclusion Program or Start Strong for Community Preschool Program Payment.

* Where ATEL is used to reduce fees, it can only be applied after all Start Strong Fee Relief funds have been exhausted.

Services should only include the portion of expenditure relating this funding program where funding was used towards the purchase of multiple items included in the program spending rules.

If other program funding was used towards the purchase of multiple items, services should only include the portion of the expenditure relative to the AETG program, with the other portion of expenditure recorded against the respective program’s financial accountability statement e.g. Disability and Inclusion Program, Additional Targeted Equity Loading, Health and Development Program or Start Strong for Community Preschool Program Payment.

Services should only include the portion of expenditure relating this funding program where funding was used to cover salaries and wages, staff training or resources expenses etc. noted in the program spending rules, e.g. If funding was used towards staff salaries and wages as per the HDPG spending rules, only record the portion relative to HDPG funding. Other expenditure relating to these line items should be reflected in the respective programs’ financial accountability statement, e.g. Start Strong for Community Preschools, Disability and Inclusion Program.

It is not correct to record greater expenditure for salaries and wages than funding received for HDPG when the service had funding from other programs to cover salaries and wages.

Services should only include the portion(s) of expenditure relating to the Formative Assessment in the Year Before School funding program where funding was used to cover salaries and wages as noted in the program spending rules, e.g. The other portion(s) of salaries and wages etc would be recorded against the respective programs’ financial accountability statements, e.g. Disability and Inclusion Program, Attendance and Enrolment Technology Grant, Health and Development Program or Start Strong for Community Preschool Program Payment.

Note: It is not correct to record greater expenditure for salaries and wages than funding received for Formative Assessment Project when the service had funding from other programs to cover salaries and wages.