Fee relief data submission requirements

Approved providers of services funded under the 2023 Start Strong for Long Day Care program need to submit fee relief data for the period 1 July to 31 December 2023.

Data requirements

Data specified in the 2023 technical specification for long day care reporting requirements (PDF 70 KB) can be extracted from services’ software and submitted to the department in the Early Childhood Contract Management System (ECCMS) for each funded service.

Services using the software of a registered Child Care Subsidy System software provider should have all required data (PDF 70 KB) available.

Services must submit their fee relief data in ECCMS for each of their Start Strong for Long Day Care (SSL) funding specifications as a file with the following requirements:

• file format must be csv
• file must not exceed 20MB
• file cannot contain formulas/macros
• file cannot be password protected.

Services that do not have the software to capture this data should contact the department for assistance by emailing ecec.funding@det.nsw.edu.au or calling 1800 619 113.

Declaration and consent forms

Services must submit child information for all eligible children where consent has been provided by the parent/carer/guardian through a completed declaration and consent form (PDF 3 MB). This ensures that the service, approved provider and department comply with privacy obligations under relevant legislation and policy. Further information on the privacy of data submission is available in the declaration and consent form (PDF 3 MB).

The service must not submit child information where the parent/carer/guardian has not provided consent through a completed declaration and consent form (PDF 3 MB).

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

The 2023 Start Strong for Long Day Care Fee Relief data submission for the period 1 July to 31 December 2023 was open in March 2024.

Fee relief data submission preparation

To be ready for the fee relief data submission, approved providers should ensure:

• child and enrolment information recorded in their software is complete, accurate and up to date for the period 1 July 2023 to 31 December 2023.

• services have obtained parent/carer/guardian consent through completed declaration and consent forms (PDF 3 MB).

• services can export the required data (PDF 70 KB) from their software into a csv file.

• SP-Admin account holder can log into the ECCMS. More information on logging in to ECCMS is available on the department’s website.

• contact details in ECCMS are up to date.

Fee relief data submission process

• Start Strong fee relief data submission guide (PDF 1.6MB).

Why services need to submit fee relief data

Approved providers of services funded under the 2023 Start Strong for Long Day Care program are required to meet reporting and data collection requirements. More information on data collection and monitoring of outputs and outcomes is available in the 2023 Start Strong for Long Day Care guidelines (see Section 4.4).

The department will use the submitted fee relief data to assess the number of eligible children receiving fee relief at the service and calculate fee relief funding adjustments.

Services that do not submit fee relief data or accurate fee relief data cannot be considered for an adjustment to their initial fee relief allocations and will not receive a fee relief adjustment payment. More information on fee relief funding adjustment is available in the 2023 Start Strong for Long Day Care guidelines (see Section 3.1).

The submitted fee relief data will enable the department to:

• assess the number of eligible children receiving fee relief at services
• calculate fee relief funding adjustments for services
• evaluate the Start Strong for Long Day Care program.