Frequently Asked Questions

How can I calculate the costs of childcare?

Apply to Centrelink for Child Care Subsidy (CCS) and Child Care Rebate (CCR) and be provided with a % entitlement, for example 80%
100% CCS is $5.67 per hour
100% Child Care Rebate (CCR) is 50% of the gap payment
Gap Payment is the difference between what the Educator Charges per hour minus your CCS.

Example based on 80% CCS and CCR entitlement

A	Educator charges $10 per hour X 10 hours day	= $100 per week.
B	CCS ((5.67 X 80%) X hours)) is $4.53 X 50 hours	= $45.30
C	Gap payment is (A - B = C) $100 - $45.30	= $54.70
D	CCR is 50% of C	= $27.35
E	Final Cost is A - B - D = E	= $27.35

Why have my fortnightly payment amounts changed?

New enrolment - the actual CCS percentage rate has not been confirmed with Centerelink (see above)
New enrolment - the actual CCS percentage rate has been confirmed with Centerelink and was different to what you reported to us (see above)
School holidays – an increase in hours = increase in payment
Planned absences – a decrease in hours = decreased payment
Increased hours – overnight stay or extra days booked = increased payment
Your other children have entered a service (Ignite Minds or other) and this has effected your CCS and CCR rate entitlement. (could be increase or decrease)
Late pick up fees = increase in payment
Change in percentage of Child Care Rebate (CCR) (could be an increase or decrease in payment)
Change in the payment destination of the Child Care Rebate to the parent and not the service (a change only parents can make with Centrelink)

Why have I been charged for hours that I did not attend?

Your invoice is always 2 weeks in advance and all booked hours are payable.
If you do not change your booked hours then you will be charged the full amount regardless of attendance
Your educator does not have authority to change booked hours. You must request any change in writing to Ignite Minds and provide 2 weeks notice. Any changes requested without 2 weeks notice will not be honoured.
If you are seeking to increase or decrease your hours you must discuss this with your Educator to confirm vacancy exists, then email your request via our Contact us page so that we can formalise your request.
If your attendance was cancelled by your Educator (ie, Educator was sick) you will be be given a credit for that day.

Ignite Minds has the wrong CCS percentage rate – how can this be fixed?

Ignite Minds cannot edit the CCS percentage rate. This rate is set and administered by Centrelink – you should speak to Centrelink if you think your rate is wrong.
If you get written confirmation from Centrelink that your rate has changed we can cancel and resubmit your enrolment data. This could lead to delays in CCS and CCR. (see above)
When changed rates are applied by Centrelink, your account will be credited or debited accordingly.

What events change the percentage value of my CCS?

If families update their combined income estimate/report this could result in a change in CCS and CCR entitlements
If another child is added to a service this could result in the change in CCS and CCR entitlements.
Government policy can change the total amount administered by the CCS and CCR.

Why can’t I pay my fees via Direct Deposit to avoid the Direct Debit fee of $0.99 or Credit card fee of 1.9% per transaction?

Ignite Minds has the capacity to administer 60 Educators and over 600 children. We are committed to providing the most cost effective service. To manually chase invoices and reconcile bank statements of this scale is just not viable. Our payment services are electronically linked to your invoice and reduce the labour costs associated with chasing unpaid invoices and reconciling accounts. We do not offer a direct deposit option as it would increase our service charges to our Educators and increase their fees to families.

Why am I being Charged Direct debit or Credit Card fees?

We are committed to keeping costs for families as low as possible (see explaination about why we dont accept paymentd directly). We have chosen to pass on the actual transaction costs rather than force all families to pay higher service fees, which would see a minimum increase of 1.9% as Credit Card is most common form of payment. Families have the choice to pay either 1.9 % per transaction or $0.99 per transaction for direct debit. If you want to keep your fees lower, choose Direct Deposit and pay $0.99 per transaction per fortnight.

How do I check my statement online?

Login via this link (also found at top of page) https://www.australccms.com/parent/
Enter your username which is the primary parent Firstname Lastname (eg, John Smith as recorded on enrolment letter)
Enter password as sent to you in your welcome email or use your Username and email to reset password. If asked what Family Day care you use type 'Ignite Minds'.
When logged in navigate to the 'Statement' tab (see below)
On the 'Statement' tab put in the date range of the period you want. For example, 2 weeks ago and todays date and then hit 'search'

Explanation of the types of entries found on my statement

Type of entry	Explanation
Fee for ‘child’s name’, dates, amounts of hours EXPECTED	This is an expected fee based on the booked hours and is a guide for how much you should expect to be charged.
Fee for ‘child’s name’, dates, amounts of hours ACTUAL	This is the actual amount charged based on your child’s attendance.
Actual CCS fee reduction for the week ending (date, always a Sunday) using xx%. Gap remaining for parents to cover is $xx	This is the actual CCS benefit reduction and the gap payment the parent is to cover The CCS rate is calculated by Centrelink and cannot be changed by Ignite Minds.
Enrolment Absences YTD	This is the reported absences taken Year to Date. You will see this on your statement every 3 months or following a fortnight with a reported absence. Absences are set to zero on the 1st July each year.
CCS percentage rate appear in bold	1st July each year Families have reported a change in financial circumstances to Centrelink resulting in a change in percentage rate.
Scheduled payment received	This is the actual amount we have deducted from your account
Expected CCS	This is a percentage value provided to us by Centrelink CCMS which allows us to calculate fees in advance. Please note that Expected CCS and Actual CCS can change – see notes about what can trigger this change.
ACTUAL CCR	This is the amount of CCR paid to the service. Please note that if CCR is paid directly to the parent you will not see it in the account transactions.
Cancelled transactions	This is a correction by the service provider based on signed attendance sheets. If a transaction is cancelled it will be followed with a new transaction.