Compliance is a huge topic in education & care. But not just in terms of ACECQA.
You also need to be compliant with your Complying Written Arrangement (CWA) - I mean, it's literally in the title...
So what makes your service CWA-compliant? And what may put your subsidies in jeopardy if you don't get it right?
Let's take a look.
What is a CWA?
CWA stands for Complying Written Arrangement. It is an written agreement between the service provider and the family to provide ongoing care in exchange for a fee.
It is necessary in order to make the family understand their liability to pay for care, thus protecting the provider, and also to provide eligibility for CCS.
But it can't just be any old agreement. It needs to have a set of criteria, as set out in the Family Assistance Administration Act. These are, in simple terms:
The names and contact details of the service provider and the family (known as the 'parties to the agreement')
The date that the arrangement was entered into
The name and date of birth of the child who will be attending the service
The type of care arrangement & details: - For ongoing care, this would be the days and times of the session of care - For casual care, there needs to be permission (this is either instead of, or on top of, the ongoing care)
Details of the fees that will be charged for each session of care (this can be supplemented by other material such as a fee schedule)
This is the minimum amount of information required. Services can add more information if they think it will help the family understand their obligations under the agreement.
The CWA also does not need to be one singular document, but can compile of multiple written exchanges (although it's easier if it's one document).
Who Needs a CWA?
Any child that attends an ECEC service must have a CWA under the Secretary's Rules.
This was introduced from 30th March 2018.
What Compliance Obligations Do Service Providers Have?
Service providers should be able to produce the CWA when there is an audit or a family query. That's why it's easier to compile as a single document.
It's also important to note that, whilst a CWA is essential for compliance with CCS, you don't need to submit it anywhere. It just needs to be able to be presented in the case of an audit.
Many software providers include features for CWAs to be stored on their platform for ease of access.
During the initial enrolment process, services can include the following information in their enrolment form to make it CWA-compliant (as mentioned in 'What is a CWA?'):
The names and contact details of the service provider and the family (known as the 'parties to the agreement')
The date that the arrangement was entered into
The name and date of birth of the child who will be attending the service
The type of care arrangement & details: - For ongoing care, this would be the days and times of the session of care - For casual care, there needs to be permission (this is either instead of, or on top of, the ongoing care)
Details of the fees that will be charged for each session of care (this can be supplemented by other material such as a fee schedule)
Additionally, more information can create an enrolment notice under the CWA:
CRN of the child & the family member claiming CCS
Date of birth of the child & the family member claiming CCS
If anything changes with regards to this information, such as a change to booking patterns, a new CWA must exist and an update to the enrolment notice.
As an extra security measure, OWNA allows services to create CWAs from the enrolment form and get parents to sign it. This makes it easier to present in the case of an audit but is not essential.
For more information on arrangement and the enrolment process, please see here.