Thank you for watching this video. I'm here to provide you with an important update about a new centralised system for collecting data, reporting and administering programme funding for early childhood education and care or ECEC providers in New South Wales.

The Digital Hub will be rolled out in 2025 and will introduce several improvements, including upgrades to the way attendance and enrollment data is collected, support for funding delivery, and a more user-friendly programme funding and grant application processes.

The key benefits include improved access to funding and reporting of funding outcomes. Time saved by allowing ECEC providers and the department to connect swiftly. It will help support the department in meeting its reporting requirements under the National Preschool Reform Agreement and other initiatives to support 600 hours of preschool education in the year before school. And because data will be collected centrally, services won't need to enter data manually into multiple systems making administration and reporting such as the Annual Preschool Census much easier.

To prepare for the rollout of the Digital Hub services currently using paper-based attendance and enrollment tracking systems are encouraged to adopt childcare management software, also known as CCMS. This will make data management easier for services by simplifying data transfer to the department via the Digital Hub, reducing the burden of manual reporting to the department and minimising the need to enter data into multiple systems.

In 2023, several preschools adopted a CCMS and spoke to the department about their experience. Carly Jones is the director of Warialda Preschool in the states far North West. Ms Jones told us that most families were really impressed by how easy it was to adapt to the changes they experienced after implementing a CCMS. She said, "They just love seeing their documentation at their fingertips, lying in bed, scrolling through, and seeing what their child did that day."

Meanwhile, for Tom Devlin, CEO of Inverell Group of Preschools, implementing a CCMS translated to better relationships with his families and better communication. He told us it was about being able to have more live, easily accessible and relevant data about our services and who is in attendance at any time, particularly off the back of recent natural disasters and events like that.

Other benefits of implementing a CCMS include saving time by eliminating manual handling tasks and sharing important details with our families, like their child's meal and medication times. In 2024, the department is working closely with the ECEC services and CCMS system providers to develop, test, and trial the system to ensure it is user-friendly and meets the needs of services and the department.

Once we've completed testing, providers will be invited to join the Digital Hub in stages from 2025. To get ready for the Digital Hub, some ECEC services will need to review their enrollment and attendance tracking systems. This includes adopting a childcare management software (CCMS) system for the first time, or reviewing existing CCMS systems. Over time, the Digital Hub will replace the Early Childhood Contract Management system or ECCMS as it's known. Which has been used to manage funding and contracting arrangements between the department and ECEC providers for over a decade.

Thank you for watching. To find out more about the Digital Hub or for one-on-one help selecting the right childcare management software or hardware for your service, contact the Digital Hub Technology helpline on 1300 060 450.

- [Announcer] Choosing the right child care management software or CCMS and hardware for your service will help prepare for the rollout of the Digital Hub in 2025. To ensure you make the right choice, it's important you read the CCMS technology selection guide, which can be found on this page. This will help you during the decision making process, so you know what to look for when selecting attendance and enrollment software or hardware.

Each service is unique, so there is no one-size-fits-all answer when it comes to deciding what to buy. However, it is essential that your software can capture child and parent or carer details, enrollment and daily attendance information, service details, and fee and subsidy information. It's also essential to consider what the security features are like.

Is it a cloud-based system hosted in Australia? Does the software have secure logins and authentications for your users? Are there data access restrictions based on role type so you can secure personal data? And is data backed up, and is encryption available as an additional safeguard? The CCMS technology selection guide will help you to consider some optional features and benefits that your service might like to have. If you are concerned about your internet connection or wifi, the guidelines also include some tips on how to improve your internet reliability.

For one-on-one help selecting the right child care management software or hardware for your service, you can contact the Digital Hub Technology helpline on 1300 060 450. Thank you for watching.

ECEC providers who receive funding from the department will be impacted by the changes, but not all at the same time. Services involved in the initial phases from 2025 are:

• community preschools

• mobile preschools

• long day care providers.
  

Community and mobile preschools will be first, with long day care services to follow. The Digital Hub will progressively roll out to other provider types over time.

Affected providers will be notified well ahead of any anticipated changes.

It is highly recommended for services that rely on paper records to opt for a CCMS system to manage enrolments and attendance as soon as possible.

By selecting a CCMS system, services can prepare to meet the requirements for reporting of existing and future funding and grant programs.

Shifting to a digital system may reduce the amount of manual effort needed for reporting and the annual preschool census, allowing services to focus more time on their core activities of education and care.

The CCMS technology selection guide (PDF 264 KB) has been created to help services choose the right software and hardware. Please refer to the essential selection criteria to know what to look for.

One-on-one help is available for ECEC services currently using paper-based solutions or experiencing other challenges with technology by calling the Digital Hub technology helpline on 1300 060 450 Monday-Friday 8 am – 4:30 pm.

Services using more than one CCMS for enrolment and attendance information are recommended to review operational procedures and combine activities into one primary CCMS as soon as possible.

If your service is using a paper-based enrolment and attendance tracking system, it is time to adopt a digital child care management software (CCMS) solution. If your service is already using a CCMS, it is time to review your system to ensure it meets the right specifications and is being used to capture child information, enrolment, service and attendance data.

The CCMS technology selection guide (PDF 264 KB) has been created to help services choose the right software and hardware. Please refer to the essential selection criteria to know what to look for.

One-on-one help is available for ECEC services currently using paper-based solutions or experiencing other challenges with technology by calling the Digital Hub technology helpline on 1300 060 450 Monday-Friday 8 am – 4:30 pm.

The new Digital Hub will comply with the privacy and cyber security requirements applicable to all NSW Department of Education systems.

Find out more about the department’s privacy commitment for data collection, storage and usage.