The data must contain a full 6 months of required data (PDF 70KB) for the period 1 January to 30 June 2023. Registered Child Care Subsidy System software should have a function that allows services to download the required data.

Services may filter the relevant field or indicator (for example, declaration form submitted – yes/no) to identify and remove the unconsented child information. Services must manually remove unconsented child information where a filtering capability is not available.

Services must check that all required data (PDF 70KB) is present in the dataset. Services are encouraged to manually add the information if the field is not included in the dataset, where possible.

Services must submit the dataset as a csv file in ECCMS on their service’s Start Strong for Long Day Care (SSL) funding specification. Instructions on how to submit data in ECCMS will be available soon.

Hi, I’m Elvin from Early Childhood Outcomes in the Department of Education. In this video, I will walk you through the steps that you will need to follow to submit your fee relief data under the Start Strong for Long Day Care program.

This video will show you what you need to submit to the department and how you can do that through the Early Childhood Contract Management System, that we call, ECCMS.

There are three stages in this process which include:

• stage 1 - downloading or extracting the data from your software
• stage 2 - checking that you have all the required data, and it is in the right format, and then
• stage 3 - submitting the data to us.

Hi, I’m Jess from Early Childhood Outcomes in the Department of Education. In this video, I will cover the stage of downloading fee relief data from your software. I will cover how to download fee relief data from your software, do’s and don’ts and where to get help.

The department understands that services can use different software, so the information in this video is general only.

In your software, you may use a search function or filters to find the required fee relief data for the 6 month period of 1 January 2023 to 30 June 2023.

You may also use filters to find the data on children where consent has been given to share their personal data with the department. Parents, carers, or guardians gave consent through the fee relief declaration and consent form.

You cannot submit a child’s data if their parent, guardian, or carer did not complete a declaration and consent form. The Fee Relief Data Submission Guide has definitions of consent and the data you can submit. This guide is available on the department’s website.

If you cannot use filters in your software, you still need to exclude unconsented child data, you can either manually unselect the children in your software system, or manually remove the children from the file you download from your software.

Once you have the required data selected in your software system, select the download option. The option may say download, extract, export, or something similar.

Save the downloaded file as a CSV (or Excel file type) to an accessible place on your device.

When downloading your fee relief data:

• do check that the data in your software is accurate and up to date
• do check that your software has a download, extract or export function. If it does not, please contact your software provider and do not create your own Excel file.
• do check that your software contains all the required fields. You can find the list of required fields in the technical specification and Fee Relief Data Submission Guide available on the department’s website. If your software does not contain all the required fields, please contact your service provider.
• do save the file as an CSV or Excel file type
• don't manually create your own Excel file
• don't save the file with special characters in the file name such as apostrophe
• don't save as any other file type.

If your software does not have a download, export, or extract function, you should contact your software provider for support.

You may also contact your software provider if your software cannot export or download the data as a CSV or Excel file type.

If you don’t have software at your service, please email for information and a manual fee relief data collection template.

For more information or time to complete the fee relief data submission, you can email ecec.funding@det.nsw.edu.au or phone 1800 619 113.

Hi, I’m Elvin, from Early Childhood Outcomes in the Department of Education. In this video, I will cover the stage of checking your fee relief data. I will cover what your data extract should look like, what data fields are required, the dos and don’ts and where to get help.

Your data file should be in a CSV format. CSV stands for Comma Separated Values. This means that the information in the file is in plain text, and in a tabular format with no special formatting. A CSV file type is preferred. However, you may also submit your fee relief data as another Excel file type.

If your file was not downloaded from your software as a CSV or Excel file type, please contact your software provider.

When you open your data file, the information should be in a table structure. The top row of the table should contain headings of the data fields. The rows beneath should contain child information and data.

If your file is not in a table format, please contact your software provider.

Your data file should only contain data on children where consent has been given to share their personal data with the department.

You cannot submit a child’s data if the child’s parent, guardian, or carer did not complete a declaration and consent form.

If your data file contains unconsented information, you should use filters to manually remove the child’s data from the data file.

You should check that your data file contains all the required data fields. You can find the list of required fields in the technical specification and the Fee Relief Data Submission Guide available on the department’s website.

The data file needs to have service information, including columns for:

• service ID – this is your service’s approval ID provided in the National Quality Agenda IT system, NQAITS
• name of your service
• street address of your service
• suburb or Town, and
• postcode of your service.

The data file needs to have child information, including columns for:

• child's first name
• child's surname
• enrolment ID
• child's gender
• child's date of birth
• child's address
• child's suburb or town
• child's postcode
• if the child is Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander
• if the child has a language background other than English.

The data file needs to have enrolment information, including columns for:

• days or sessions attended
• hours attended
• days or sessions absent.

The data file needs to have cost information, including columns for:

• total fee charged
• total Child Care Subsidy
• total additional Child Care Subsidy.

The data file also needs to have fee relief information, including columns for:

• declaration form signed and collected
• total fee relief reduction
• date or week of first fee relief payment
• date or week of last fee relief payment.

If your data file does not have a column for each of these data fields, please contact your software provider.

If there are blank cells or data points missing for a child, please manually enter the missing information if possible.

If your data file is not complete, the department may request that you resubmit your fee relief data.

Once you have checked that your data file is accurate and complete, please save your changes.

When checking your fee relief data file:

• check that your data file is in CSV or in another excel file type
• check that your data is in a table format
• check that your data file contains child information where consent has been given to share their personal data with the department
• don't include unconsented information in the data file
• check that your data file has all the required data fields
• manually enter information in blank cells
• don't manually create your own excel file.

You are now ready to submit your fee relief data in ECCMS.

When completing this stage:

• if your software does not have a download, export, or extract function, please contact your software provider
• if your data file does not have all required fields in the required format, please contact your software provider.

Hi, I’m Jess from Early Childhood Outcomes in the Department of Education. In this video, I will cover the stage of submitting your fee relief data in the Early Childhood Contract Management System, known as ECCMS. I will cover how to submit the fee relief data in ECCM, Do’s and Don’ts and where to get help.

There are several steps to submitting your services fee relief data in ECCMS. Once you have logged into ECCMS using your digital identity, you are ready to go.

Step 1: on your ECCMS home page, navigate to the menu on the left side and select ‘Funding Specification’.

Step 2: select the Start Strong for Long Day Care funding specification for your service. Start Strong for Long Day Care funding specifications end in SSL. If you have multiple funding specifications, you may apply filters to the Program Name and Funding Specification Name columns to find the correct one.

Step 3: on the Funding Specification screen, select the Data Submission tab.

Step 4: select the row for the 2023 reporting period ‘01Jan-30Jun’. A pop-up window will appear. Please check that your service details are correct and read through the instructions carefully.

Step 5: in the Operating Weeks field, enter the number of weeks that the service is providing education and care during the full 2023 calendar year. Do not include weeks when the service is only open for administration.

Step 6: click ‘Add Document’. A pop-up window will appear.

Step 7: click ‘Choose’, select the file from your computer, and click ‘Open’.

Step 8: click the ‘Upload’ button, wait until the file has been uploaded, and then step 9, is to click ‘Close’.

Step 10: select the declaration box and step 11 is click ‘Submit’.

After step 11, you have completed your fee relief data submission. You will know your submission is successful when the row on the Data Submission tab has an updated status of 'submitted'.

When submitting your fee relief data in ECCMS:

• do check that you have all the required data in the required format. This is outlined in the technical specification and Fee Relief Data Submission Guide which are both available on the department’s website.
• do upload your fee relief data as a CSV or another Excel file type
• do not upload any other file type, as ECCMS will display an error message
• do upload a file less than 20 megabytes
• do enter the number of operating weeks for the full 2023 calendar year
• do not submit the number of operating weeks for only the first 6 months of the year
• do ensure the SP-Admin of your Approved Provider presses submit. Other user types may only save a draft
• if you have multiple services, do complete the fee relief data submission for each service on their separate SSL funding specification. Don't submit data for all of your services on a single funding specification.

When completing this stage:

• if you are having ECCMS login or access issues, please contact the department
• if you are having trouble submitting in ECCMS, please first refer to the Fee Relief Data Submission resources available on the department’s website. If your issue persists, then contact the department.
• if you have made an error on your fee relief data submission and need to resubmit, please contact the department
• if you cannot submit by your given deadline, please contact the department.

You can contact the department by email at ecec.funding@det.nsw.edu.au or by calling 1800 619 113.