# Currawong childcare centre allocation policy

1. The Currawong Childcare Centre (Currawong) is an employer-sponsored long day childcare centre, run primarily for the benefit of employees of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). Therefore, in accordance with the Priority of Access Guidelines, as set out in the Child Care Benefit (Eligibility of Child Care Services for Approval and Continued Approval) Determination 2000, first priority in the allocation of places is given to DFAT employees.

- 2. To be eligible to be allocated a place in Currawong, a DFAT employee or other person must complete an application for Currawong’s external waiting list. In order to make the management of the allocation policy transparent, a points system is used to determine the ranking of applicants on the external waiting list. All applicants are awarded points for each priority criterion they meet. Applicants are then given a cumulative score and ranked according to that score. The applicant with the highest score will be ranked first, the applicant with the second highest score will be ranked second, and so on. When a childcare place becomes available, the applicant ranked first will be offered any available place first. The person ranked second will be offered the next available place, and so on, until all available places are filled. In cases where two or more applicants have the same rank, the place will be offered to the applicant whose application was registered first by the director of the centre.
- 3. The points system is as follows:

Priority Criterion	Points
At least one parent/legal guardian is an ongoing DFAT employee	40
A DFAT family already has a child in the centre	20
Number of months on the waiting list (points accrue for each month)	2

- 4. To ensure prompt offer of places to those who require them, Currawong will deduct points from families on the waiting list who decline an offer of placement without having notified the centre of their new requirements. The following point deduction system will apply:
- • 5 points to be deducted when a placement offer, made according to the applicant’s latest written instructions, is declined; and
- • a further 10 points to be deducted when a second placement offer is declined.
- 5. Points will not be deducted if a staff member rejects an offer of placement for an earlier than a preferred date.

6. In order to support DFAT employees who are asked to return to Canberra from an overseas post or state office at the department’s initiative, and at short notice, to meet the DFAT’s operational requirements, the allocation policy will accord an additional priority to meet the childcare needs of these employees. 7. An application must include details of the child’s date of birth, an estimated date of birth, or proof of authorisation to adopt. The director of Currawong will update the waiting list at least every three months. An applicant on the waiting list who is no longer pregnant, or who no longer has a child to enroll in Currawong, forfeits the place on the waiting list but can reapply in accordance with this policy. 8. Applicants are required to re-confirm their application every 6 months and/or when their details change. Failure to do so may result in your application being removed from the waiting list. 9. Applications from persons who are not DFAT employees will be considered only after demand for places in the