Feb 11
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Product Team
ACT Free 3-Year-Old Preschool
The following feature will be available via a phased rollout beginning 11 February 2026.
ACT Free 3-Year-Old Preschool
QikKids now supports the ACT Government's Free 3-Year-Old Preschool program for managing preschool funding for eligible 3-year-old children.
Service Program Setup
Service Program Setup
ACT services can configure their participation in the Free 3-Year-Old Preschool program. The program offers two funding options:
Services set up their funding preferences by year, including the program start time for sessions.
Child Eligibility and Recipient Service Management
Children marked as eligible for ACT Kindy funding must have a designated recipient service. The recipient service identifies which service receives the funding for that child.
You can set effective date ranges (week beginning Monday to week ending Friday) for each recipient service assignment. The system maintains a history of all recipient service assignments and tracks when funding has been allocated.
Booking Pattern Integration
When creating or editing booking patterns for eligible children, you can designate which day will receive the ACT Kindy funding. When the Kindy checkbox is ticked on a specific day in the booking pattern, all attendance sessions created from that booking day will automatically be marked as ACT Kindy sessions.
Attendance Marking for Kindy SessionsFor individual attendance sessions, eligible children can have the ACT Kindy checkbox marked when recording attendance on the roll. This allows for:
Sessions marked as ACT Kindy are included in funding calculations and CCS statements.
ACT Kindy Fee Relief
The ACT Kindy Fee Relief screen provides tools for managing funding allocations. You can view historical allocation data to track processed funding and create new allocations for eligible children within specified time periods. The screen lets you review allocation amounts before finalising them.
Update Past Attendances
A bulk update tool allows retrospective application of ACT Kindy flags to historical attendance data. The tool checks attendance in a specified date range and automatically applies the ACT Kindy flag where:
The tool does not remove the ACT Kindy flag from attendances that already have it. This must be done manually if needed. Only attendances within bookings will be updated.
CCS Integration
Update Past Attendances in Bulk
The tool will apply the ACT Kindy flag to all qualifying attendances within the date range. Attendances already marked with the ACT Kindy flag will remain unchanged.
- 6 Hours per week—Available for 50 weeks per year
- 7.5 Hours per week—Available for 40 weeks per year
Services set up their funding preferences by year, including the program start time for sessions.
Child Eligibility and Recipient Service Management
Children marked as eligible for ACT Kindy funding must have a designated recipient service. The recipient service identifies which service receives the funding for that child.
You can set effective date ranges (week beginning Monday to week ending Friday) for each recipient service assignment. The system maintains a history of all recipient service assignments and tracks when funding has been allocated.
Booking Pattern Integration
When creating or editing booking patterns for eligible children, you can designate which day will receive the ACT Kindy funding. When the Kindy checkbox is ticked on a specific day in the booking pattern, all attendance sessions created from that booking day will automatically be marked as ACT Kindy sessions.
Attendance Marking for Kindy SessionsFor individual attendance sessions, eligible children can have the ACT Kindy checkbox marked when recording attendance on the roll. This allows for:
- Adjustments to attendance marked from booking patterns.
- Manually marked attendance for casual bookings.
- Corrections to existing attendance records.
Sessions marked as ACT Kindy are included in funding calculations and CCS statements.
ACT Kindy Fee Relief
The ACT Kindy Fee Relief screen provides tools for managing funding allocations. You can view historical allocation data to track processed funding and create new allocations for eligible children within specified time periods. The screen lets you review allocation amounts before finalising them.
Update Past Attendances
A bulk update tool allows retrospective application of ACT Kindy flags to historical attendance data. The tool checks attendance in a specified date range and automatically applies the ACT Kindy flag where:
- The child's nominated recipient service on the date matches the selected service.
- The child has an ACT Kindy booking on that date.
- The child is eligible for ACT Kindy funding.
- The attendance falls within the booking period.
The tool does not remove the ACT Kindy flag from attendances that already have it. This must be done manually if needed. Only attendances within bookings will be updated.
CCS Integration
ACT Kindy funding is automatically integrated with CCS Session Reports and appears as 'Other Subsidies' on statements. The system allocates funding to the first qualifying session for each eligible child.
ACT Kindy Service Set Up
ACT Kindy Program Settings
The operating weeks are automatically displayed based on your selected funding option.
Child Eligibility
The recipient history list shows all current and past service assignments, including when funding was last allocated. You can delete recipient entries that have not been used for funding allocation.
Booking Patterns
When creating or editing a child's booking pattern:
Marking Attendance
When marking the roll or editing attendance for an eligible child:
ACT Kindy Fee Relief
ACT Kindy Service Set Up
- Go to Service Details.
- In the Kindy Funding Program section, select the ACT Kindy radio button.
- Click the ACT Kindy button to configure program settings.
ACT Kindy Program Settings
- In the ACT Kindy dialog, select the Funding Year from the dropdown menu.
- Choose your Funding Option:
- Select 6 Hours (50 weeks per year), or
- Select 7.5 Hours (40 weeks per year).
- Set the Program Start Time (defaults to 9:00 AM).
- Click OK to save.
The operating weeks are automatically displayed based on your selected funding option.
Child Eligibility
- Open the child's record in Child Details.
- Tick the ACT Kindy Eligible checkbox.
- Click the Change Recipient or date button to assign a recipient service.
- To assign or change the recipient service:In the Child Details, click Change Recipient or date.
- Select the Service that will receive funding from the dropdown.
- Set the Effective From date (automatically adjusted to Monday of that week).
- Set the Effective To date (automatically adjusted to Friday of that week).
- Click OK to save.
The recipient history list shows all current and past service assignments, including when funding was last allocated. You can delete recipient entries that have not been used for funding allocation.
Booking Patterns
When creating or editing a child's booking pattern:
- Tick the Kindy checkbox for the day that will receive ACT Kindy funding.
- All attendance sessions generated from this booking day will automatically have the ACT Kindy flag applied.
Marking Attendance
When marking the roll or editing attendance for an eligible child:
- Tick the ACT Kindy checkbox (or Kindy checkbox where applicable) for sessions that should be included in the preschool program funding.
- These sessions will be included in your CCS statements and funding calculations.
ACT Kindy Fee Relief
- Go to the Kindy Funding menu.
- Select ACT Kindy > Fee Relief.
- Select your Service from the dropdown menu.
- Use the View section to review historical allocation data and select specific children to see detailed breakdowns.
- Use the Allocate section to set date ranges and calculate new allocations.
- Review the calculated amounts before confirming.
Update Past Attendances in Bulk
- Go to the Kindy Funding menu.
- Select ACT Kindy > Update Past Attendances.
- Select the Service from the dropdown menu.
- Set the Start Date (defaults to start of current financial year).
- Set the End Date (cannot be later than today).
- Click 'Process'.
The tool will apply the ACT Kindy flag to all qualifying attendances within the date range. Attendances already marked with the ACT Kindy flag will remain unchanged.
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