Section 9 How to claim for ISS Once a service has received their approval letter from the NISSP they can employ their additional educator, or in the case of Home Based services, start to pay the carer the Additional/Capacity payment. ISS can only be claimed within the hours approved on the approval letter and in accordance with the IPSP Guidelines and cannot be paid for public holidays. The additional educator employed must be in addition to the number of educators required to maintain the required staff:child ratio in the care environment. The IPSP Guidelines state that ISS funding cannot be used to meet state or territory licensing or regulatory requirements. The service needs to keep written Attendance Records which are signed by the additional educator on a daily basis, or initialled by the Home Based Service educator/carer. For BBF services these records are submitted to the NISSP along with the paper Claim for Payment form. For all other services, records must be kept at the service as DEEWR and the NISSP monitor claims and may request the service to provide evidence to support their claims for ISS. ISS is paid direct to the service for Centre Based services. For Home Based services ISS is paid to the FDC scheme or sponsors of the IHC service who must then pass the payment directly on to the educator/carer. The ISS is paid at the rates set out in the IPSP Guidelines at Section C.9. The rates are determined by DEEWR and indexed annually. The rates for 2012-2013 are attached at the end of this section. For step by step instructions on how to claim for ISS online for services, applying for ISS using the IS portal and for services submitting paper based applications, refer to IPSP Fact Sheet 2: Claiming for the Inclusion Support Subsidy. 1. Claiming online via CCMS All services except for BBF/MACS services will claim ISS via their CCMS approved software immediately after submitting their attendance records for The Inclusion and Professional Support Program is funded by the Australian Government Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations.
CCB purposes and payment will be received at the same time as the relevant payments for CCB. ISS hours can only be claimed in accordance with the Approval Letter provided to the service by the NISSP, and the IPSP Guidelines. What is Tolerance? Tolerance provides flexibility to claim approved hours in a subsequent week where an additional day is attended to make up for days where a child is absent. This will enable claims for payment to be made with minor variations to the weekly approval limit. Tolerance is found in the IS portal under All Support Hours. There are two types of tolerance: Weekly tolerance Allows ECECs to claim for approved hours in a subsequent week to make up for absences. These hours reduce the case s total approved hours e.g. the child attends a make up day in the following week due to a public holiday on their usual day of attendance Approval period tolerance allows ECECs to claim for additional hours equivalent to one full day over the approval period. The intention of the tolerance limit is to accommodate for one-off minor variations in the care arrangements which result in an increase to the number of ISS funded hours required e.g. an unplanned additional pupil free day for OSHC. Services should not claim tolerance on a regular basis. If there is an ongoing change to the approval, Change of Circumstances application must be submitted Note: Tolerance hours cannot be used as additional hours, or hours on top of total approved ISS hours. If a service claims tolerance on a regular basis, they may exhaust their ISS funding before the approval period ends. Services should also note that DEEWR and the NISSP monitor claims for tolerance, and may request services to provide documentary evidence to support these claims. 2. Claiming for BBF services Budget Based Funding services need to claim directly to the NISSP using the paper claim forms: 1. Complete the daily Attendance Record 2. Submit a paper Claim for Payment Form within the following timeframes to the NISSP: At the end of every fortnight, and no later than 60 days after the end of the quarter; or
At the end of each calendar quarter, for children's attendances during the whole quarter, no later than 60 days after the end of the quarter. 3. Send completed paper claims to: Budget Based Funded services based in NSW, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia: National ISS Provider KU Children s Services PO Box Q132 QVB Post Office Sydney NSW 1230 Phone: 1800 824 955 Email: issinfo@ku.com.au, Budget Based Funded Services based in Queensland, Northern Territory and Tasmania: National ISS Provider Include Me PO Box 475 Corrimal NSW 2518 Phone: 1800 824 955 Email: iss@includeme.com.au Claims made later than 60 days after the end of the quarter will not be paid, in accordance with the requirements of the IPSP Guidelines. 4. The NISSP will process the claim form and then transfer the payment electronically to the service s nominated bank account. The service will be emailed a Payment Advice when this is complete. 3. 60 day rule A service must submit claims in arrears for ISS funding. If a claim for payment is not received within 60 days after the claim period i.e.60 days after the end of every fortnight for services claiming via CCMS, the claim should not be submitted as it is not eligible for payment. This unclaimed funding will then be available for allocations in relation to other ISS applications received by the NISSP. FAQs Q: Where do services go for queries regarding claiming for ISS?
A: All queries by services regarding claims via CCMS please contact the CCMS helpdesk ccmshelpdesk@deewr.gov.au Q: How are absences claimed? A: For Inclusion Support Subsidy purposes, an absence occurs when an eligible child does not attend on an approved session of care. ISS funding allocated to cover an eligible child s absences from care is calculated based on the relevant percentage according to service and/or care type, multiplied by the total number of hours over the approval period (see extract from the IPSP Guidelines attached below). Absences are recorded on the attendance record by writing A on any day the child is absent for part or all of that day. If the child attends for part of the day these hours should also be recorded. The Additional Educator also needs to sign/initial for the days when a child is absent if the Additional Educator was in attendance. These absences can then be claimed for ISS purposes up to the limits outlined in the Approval letter and shown below: Note: Absences cannot be claimed in relation to In Home Care. Extract from IPSP Guidelines 2013-2016 C9.1 and C9.2: Inclusion Support Subsidy rates and limits for centre based care services Care Type Long Day Care, excluding vacation care programs provided through a Long Day Care centre Flexible/Innovative Services, MACS, Mobile Services, excluding vacation care programs Before School Care (BSC), including non-mainstream BSC After School Care (ASC), including Subsidy rate ($/hour) as at 1 July 2012 1 (indexed annually) Hourly limit Up to 25 hours per Up to 25 hours per Up to 10 hours per week, 42 weeks per Up to 15 hours per week, 42 weeks per Absence limit 4% 4% 5% 5%
Care Type non-mainstream ASC BSC and ASC pupil free days Vacation Care, including Vacation Care provided in a Long Day Care centre Occasional Care (OCC), including non-formula funded OCC Vacation Care and Occasional Care pupil free day (including pupil free day in a Long Day Care centre, Flexible/Innovative Services, MACS, Mobile Services) Subsidy rate ($/hour) as at 1 July 2012 1 (indexed annually) Hourly limit Up to 8 hours per day, 6 days per Note: services can only claim a pupil free day for either BSC or ASC, not both Up to 40 hours per week, 12 weeks per Up to 25 hours per Up to 8 hours per day, 6 days per Absence limit 4%
C9.2 Inclusion Support Subsidy rates and limits for home based care services Care Type Family Day Care (FDC) Subsidy rate ($/hour) as at 1 July 2012 (indexed annually) FDC out-ofhome excursions FDC pupil free days In Home Care In Home Care out-of-home excursions In Home Care pupil free days Hourly limit Up to 50 hours per Up to 5 hours per Up to 8 hours per day, 6 days per Up to 50 hours per Up to 5 hours per Up to 8 hours per day, 6 days per Absence limit 10% 10% 0% 0% 0%