The ISP has a focus on building child care services’ ability and confidence to include children with additional needs and relying less on ISP funding support.
ECCC services accessing inclusion support through this program are making a commitment to building their capacity and capability to ensure inclusion practices are part of their every day service delivery.
The Inclusion Support Programme is funded by the Australian Government Department of Education and Training. For additional information, including Frequently Asked Questions, refer to the
department’s website.
Child Eligibility Requirements
From 2 July 2018, under the new Child Care Package, all children included in an Inclusion Development Fund (IDF) application or approval must meet the eligibility requirements for Child Care Subsidy. This includes meeting residency rules and immunisation requirements.
For further information about child eligibility requirements:
• IDF Subsidy for an Additional Educator
• Immediate/Time Limited Support
• FDC Top Up
Please note that child eligibility requirements are only one of the criteria which must be met for a service to be eligible for IDF Subsidy.
The IS Portal
The IS Portal is a user-friendly, simplified web-based application to facilitate ECCC services’ interaction with the ISP. It provides step-by-step guidance for services to complete an online Strategic Plan (SIP) and if required, access funding through the Inclusion Development Fund (IDF).
Eligible services can seek funded support through the IS Portal. A
flowchart is available to assist Early Childhood and Child Care services to understand the process of accessing the IS Portal.
Key requirements for each user accessing the IS Portal are:
- Be registered in PRODA (Provider Digital Access) and added to the service’s Personnel Records through the third party software, or through the Provider Entry Point (PEP) as a:
- Persons with Management or Control of the Provider; or
- Persons Responsible for the Day-to-Day Operation of the Service.
- Have a unique email address that is not shared between other personnel records for different people.
- A Standard Auskey. Each person/s responsible for accessing the IS Portal in the ECCC service must be registered with a standard AUSkey. AUSkey is a secure login that identifies the individual when participating in government online services on behalf of business. Further information about AUSkey is available on the Australian Business Register website.
- These requirements provide assurance that the individual is authorised to access the IS Portal and engage with ISP on behalf of the service.
- Do you want information on what systems and browsers are compatible with AUSkey? Go to the AUSkey website.
- Do you want information on how to set up an AUSkey? Go to the AUSkey website.
- Do you want information on managing an AUSkey, including using AUSkey on another computer? Go to the AUSkey website.
The Inclusion Agency can grant access to the IS Portal for the first user in the service, who has an AUSKey and unique email address, and then the first user can provide access to additional users for the service.
Click here for further information on provisioning other users.
Do you need further information or technical support?
For further information about accessing the IS Portal refer to the Department "
IS Portal Information" page, including the
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) Inclusion Support Portal.
Clearing the cache in your web browser regularly will help the IS Portal to function as intended. Below are instructions which can be used to clear the cache for different browsers:
Internet Explorer
Firefox
Google Chrome
If you need technical support, refer to the
Where to go for technical support for the Inclusion Support (IS) Portal.
For further advice about IS Portal Provisioned Users and Authorised Personnel - see the
Fact Sheet.
About Inclusion Agency (IA)
Each state and territory has an IA to assist services to build their capability and capacity to provide and embed inclusive practices in their delivery of early childhood and child care services. IAs employ skilled Inclusion Professionals (IPs) who provide tailored support to eligible ECCC services to address inclusion barriers and develop their inclusion capability. This will occur through the development of a Strategic Inclusion Plan (SIP) using reflective practice and a strengths based approach.
How to access the Specialist Equipment Library (SEL)
If the Strategic Inclusion Plan (SIP) identifies the need for specialist equipment, the IA will assist the service to borrow equipment to facilitate and support the inclusion of a child with additional needs. For more information about the Specialist Equipment Library contact your Inclusion Agency.
About the Inclusion Development Fund (IDF)
Under the ISP, funding will be available for ECCC services to address barriers to inclusion through the Inclusion Development Fund (IDF), including subsidising the employment of an additional educator in centre based services, a subsidy top up for FDC educators and funding to support innovative and flexible solutions to inclusion barriers.
There are four funding streams available to address barriers to inclusion that cannot be resolved through support from an IA or the SEL. The four streams of IDF support have different eligibility criteria, application processes and approved funding purposes.
- IDF Subsidy for an Additional Educator provides per hour funding to centre based services. This subsidises the employment of an additional educator to increase the educator to child ratio in the care environment. The increased ratio assists educators to support the inclusion of children with ongoing high support needs alongside their peers.
- The IDF Subsidy for Immediate/Time limited Support enables centre based services to immediately engage an Additional Educator to assist with the inclusion of a child with a disability, undergoing assessment for disability, or children presenting with challenging behaviours. This is for a limited period of time while alternative support options are being considered.
- The IDF FDC Top Up provides a fee top up payment to an educator who is including a child with additional needs, with ongoing high support needs. If the child requires significant additional support resulting in the educator being unable to enrol the maximum number of children allowed under National Law the educator may be eligible for FDC Top Up.
- Innovative Solutions Support funds flexible and alternative solutions to address inclusion barriers which are not funded under other IDF support streams and addressed through support provided by the Inclusion Agency. Inclusion Agencies can assist services to identify and apply for Innovative Solutions Support. Bicultural Support is an option for support through the IDF Innovative Solutions.