What is vacancy.care?
| Vacancy.care is Australia’s first service dedicated to raising the profile of child care vacancies at all types of care providers. We enable you to find and book care in a fast and easy way that gives you the flexibility when you need it. We also power many care providers with our 24/7 service that enables permanent parents to register absences and receive payments for sharing as part of our Parent Rewards program. |
Is there daily vacancy in my favourite child care centre?
| It is highly likely that there is. Even full and in-demand day care centres experience 10-15% natural vacancy, this can go to as high as 30% during the year. Nearly every day, across all ages, our mid to large child care providers, experience vacancy that could be made available to other families. This is not permanent vacancy but could arise from child sickness, holidays or other parental reasons. Currently there are no comparable Share Care systems or rewards programs for alerting centres and making places available in real-time to other parents. |
Should I download the app?
| Yes, vacancy.care is primarily mobile app based and you will receive many more features through the app than you do through the website. The website does not allow you to create a profile that approved providers can use to make bookings for you or that you can use to access the vast array of payments and incentives that vacancy.care offers. |
Is vacancy.care free to use for parents?
| Yes, all parent features are free including finding and booking vacancies, registering absences and receiving priority notifications. We only charge care providers a fee and do not charge parents. Any booking you make through our services are made directly with your provider and charged according to their set daily rate. |
Can I find permanent and occasional day care places?
| vacancy.care makes it easy to find centres with permanent and temporary daily vacancies as well as being able to book occasional extra care whenever you need it. |
Does vacancy.care help me jump up the waiting list at my desired child care centre?
| Waiting lists are a very inefficient and manual process, even for popular child care centres. Many parents can be on waiting lists for over 2 years, however the most common reality is that when a permanent place becomes available, the person calling around will make selective calls from this list as they are unsure of who is still looking for care. When you register on a waiting list with vacancy.care for a particular care provider, you are being verified to book and use occasional care (which may be semi-permanent) when it is available. When a permanent place becomes available, you are already in the day care centre with your child as a customer and are therefore more likely to be offered a place. |
My child already has permanent long day care, how would I use it?
| You would use it to easily book extra care days and add absences for your child, when they are sick or on holidays. When another parent is notified and books that place which you created, you can receive a Share Care Rewards payment. As a permanent parent, you also receive notification priority on extra care days which become available when you register your absences through the app. |
Can I sell child care places I am not going to use?
| You will receive payment when your child care provider accepts another booking, but you cannot sell your place direct as the provider needs to manage their resources. You will instantly receive priority for extra days of care when you use vacancy.care to register an absence. |
How can I book extra days of care for my child?
| Once you have downloaded the app and created a profile, you can request automated pre-approval at any care provider that you wish to apply for. Once your care provider is verified and approves your registration – you can instantly book care places and be notified about availability, based on the management rules of the provider. You will be informed instantly if your booking has been accepted. |
Can I get my current child care centre to sign up?
| Absolutely, we recognise that we make it easier for parents to register their absences, receive payments and make extra bookings. If you are the first app registration for your centre or provider, you may be eligible for our Parent Rewards Connect introduction payment. See more information on our Parent Rewards Payment scheme. Otherwise encourage your provider to check us out, we would be happy to speak with them. |
How do I know if my child care centre has already signed up to vacancy.care?
| The best way to find out is to download the app! When you select your child care provider, if your centre has signed up and is a vacancy.care verified provider, you will have the ability to request approval. If not, and you are the first person to register for your day care centre, then you will be eligible for our Parent Rewards Connect payment. |
I only want semi-permanent or occasional care, is that ok?
| Yes, vacancy.care makes it easy for you to see in real-time where there are vacancies at your favourite day care, family day care, before school, after school and in home care providers. Note – you first need to register your profile and then request verification by a provider in order to make bookings. |
Can I book family day care places?
| Absolutely! Family day care is a big focus for us! Family day care has a very important role to play in providing permanent and occasional care to Australian families. We cover all types of care and in many cases, it is easier to book extra care at family day care providers due to the smaller sizes. |
Can I check vacancy for before school and after school care?
| We provide coverage of more than 10,000 providers of all types, including before school and after school care. Most before and after school care programs are quite basic so we are slowly converting them to real-time bookings and absences. If you know your local care program, please mention us to them and ask them to make contact. |
What is semi-permanent care?
| With vacancy.care, we have created a new concept of child care, where child care is regular each week, but the days are not fixed and permanent. Child care is typically booked on specific days of the week, however modern lifestyles and employment mean that parents needs can changed weekly. This has created the need for parents to find semi-permanent care, in that it is regular, but flexible and is not fixed on the same day each week. Parents could be verified as a Permanent parent by a child care provider on the vacancy.care system but without any locked in days. This means that parents can simply book care vacancies that match their specific needs week to week and still maintain a stable and positive relationship between the child and the care provider. Great huh? |
What is Parent Rewards?
| Parent Rewards is vacancy.care’s world-first benefits program for sharing child care places that parents are unable to use. Parents are rewarded when other parents book that place. We have other added benefits such as our Parent Rewards Connect payments for introducing care providers plus a range of discount offers from partners.
Child care providers such as long day care centres, family day care, before and after school care need to be able to plan by booking parents and children in permanently. However, 10-15% of permanent child care places are not used, even though parents typically pay for them and care providers already have the staff available. vacancy.care matches this availability with all of the hidden demand that parents have for care. |
When do I receive priority for extra days of care that I need?
| Under our Parent Rewards program you will receive priority notification for any extra days of child care when you have history of adding an absence for your child. Note that payments for any permanent place you own that has been booked and paid for by another parent, will be paid when the care provider reconciles payments. |
How does Parent Rewards work for payments, who pays me?
| We do! When another parent books the care place you have made available, they pay the fees directly to the child care provider. We then collect a fee from the child care provider and remit that to you as a payment under the Parent Rewards program direct to your bank account. Make sure you update your banking details for smoother payment. |
Is the Parent Rewards program a world first?
| We believe so! And we are proud to have created the world’s first system that pays back to parents who have shared their available care that they couldn’t use. Due to the unique nature of Australia’s government funded child care system, we have one of the highest daily fees and demand for care in the world. As you probably have experienced with long and unfair waiting lists, it made no sense for all those child care places to go unused when there are people on waiting lists who can use them. However parents have little reason to share those places, so vacancy.care was created to provide a proper incentive for parents to notify and share. |
What payment will I receive for sharing my child’s care place?
| Parent Rewards payments are dependent upon 3 things: the fees that you currently pay, your child care providers policies and the time in advance that you add an absence through the vacancy.care app. Our system will take care of notifying your provider. Generally, you will receive a sliding scale of up to 50% of the daily or place fees that you pay at your provider and this typically ranges from $20-$90 for long day care places depending upon your individual circumstances. If you are notifying of a short-term place that is only available today then it is likely to be at the lower end. Due to administration and transaction costs, Parent Rewards payments are only made for amounts greater than $10. |
Are there any changes to how I currently pay for child care?
| Absolutely none. You still maintain your normal billing relationship with your child care provider, except that we now provide a share care reward payment and priority notification incentive in order to encourage parents to share the care that they cannot use. |
Is the Parent Rewards payment different whether it is for long day care at a centre or family day care?
| No there is no difference between long day care and family day care in terms of Parent Rewards payments. What determines the end payment is the actual fees you pay, the individual policies of the child care provider and the length of time vacancy.care is notified before the place is available. The longer the time period, the more time there is to find a matching parent who needs care. |
How often are Parent Rewards payments made?
| Parent Rewards payments are made once per month based on reconciliation of payments from care providers who confirm which places have been booked and paid for. We then reconcile and make Parent payments directly to your bank account. Make sure your banking details are entered in your profile to streamline this process. |
How are Parent Rewards payments received?
| Directly to your bank account. You can update your bank account details in the settings area of the vacancy.care app |
How do Parent Rewards payments affect government child care benefits?
| We see no impact on government child care benefits and rebates from receiving Parent Rewards payments. These are strictly speaking payments for notifications to other parents that you cannot use your permanent care place which another family may book. |
What is the Parent Rewards Connect payment?
| Parent Rewards Connect is a $250 payment to reward parents who bring their child care provider into the mobile age by connecting them with vacancy.care. Parents are typically more technically savvy than businesses and it takes encouragement to show care providers it is easier for parents to manage absences and bookings on their mobiles. To claim the $250, you need to download the app and be the first to register for your daycare provider and get them started! You can find out the full terms and how to claim via our Parent Rewards page. |
How can I add an absence and let other parents know a place is available?
| You can add an absence, inform your child care provider and make the place available for other parents to book, all in two simple steps at anytime of the day or night (24 /7 ). Once you have registered and your family is verified, just open up the vacancy.care app and select Add Absence next to your child and confirm the day. It’s that simple! No more calling first thing in the morning or leaving a voicemail and hoping the centre picks it up. Two taps and you are done – Easy ! |
What are the benefits of adding absences through the vacancy.care app?
| There are a few benefits worth mentioning. Firstly, you can add an absence 24/7 and with a couple of clicks in our app. There is no need to contact or call your child care provider as we will automatically notify your centre on your behalf and make that place available for other parents. Secondly, you will immediately benefit from the Share Care Rewards program, whereby you receive a payment from us when your place is booked AND priority notification for extra care for your child should you need it in the future. |
What time can I add an absence up until?
| There are no time constraints as to how early or late you add an absence. Often parents know at 2am 🙂 that their child will not be going into care the following day, but have previously not had any way to inform others of an absence and make it available for booking. You can now use vacancy.care app to inform your provider of this vacancy! This vacancy will then go out as an alert and any parent looking for care that day can book it as soon as they wake up. If you add it late in the day then it is less likely that someone will be able to book and take that day care place. If the care vacancy is for after school or nighttime care, then there is more time available for someone to be notified and instantly book that place. |
Can I allocate an absence/place I created to someone I know?
| Not specifically no, but of course you can tell them the moment you add an absence that there is now a day care place available to be booked. If they are verified at the same provider then they can request to book the place instantly. |
My child is no longer sick, can I undo an absence that I have added?
| No – once you have confirmed your absence it cannot be undone. |
We are going on holidays in 6 months time, is that too early to add an absence?
| The earlier you add an absence the more likely it is to be booked by another parent and for you to receive a higher Parent Rewards payment and priority for extra care. You will receive priority ranking for extra care days from the date you register an absence. |
What happens with child care fees when I add an absence and give up my childs place for a day?
| There is no change to what currently happens at your child care provider when your child is absent. vacancy.care does not collect any child care fees directly from parents. You would still pay fees as you do now – the only difference is that with the Parent Rewards Program, we are able to give you some payback and priority on any future extra care. What goes around comes around! |
Does the new parent taking my child’s place pay me direct?
| No, the new parent would book directly through vacancy.care and pay fees directly to the child care provider. Please refer to the Parent Rewards section for information on payments and priority. |
What happens if I add an absence for my permanent place but it is not booked?
| Under Parent Rewards you will receive priority notification for any extra days of child care you want from the moment you add an absence for your child. As the vacancy is not booked and paid for by another parent, then there is no payment that would apply. |
How can I add or edit my permanent days?
| Simply open the app and send a request to the provider to update your details. |
How do we find available care for our child?
| Download the vacancy.app at the links below, setup a profile for your family and instantly search for available care in your area. You can narrow the search by type such as long day care, family day care, before school care, after school care or in-home services. Once you have found child care providers you like, you can then request waiting list registration and verification with that provider so that you can book available places whenever you need. |
Can I get alerts for when new child care places are available?
| When you setup your families profile in the vacancy.care app you can change your matching notification settings. We will only ever notify you about child care places that match your needs, such as long day care for a 3 year old. However, you can also check in the calendar in the app at any time to see what is available with just a couple of quick steps. Note that parents who use the app to register when their child is going to be absent, receive priority notifications. However the calendar is real-time, so if you check back in regularly, you may find availability before you receive a notification. |
Can I search for child care on a specific day?
| Yes. You can select a specific day in vacancy.care app calendar and narrow it down according to the type of care you would like and whether there are any spots available at your preferred child care provider. |
What is the difference between Permanent and Waiting List parents?
| If you currently have your child in a care provider facility or centre, then you will have a permanent place on specified days each week and you will be a “permanent parent”. When you are verified by your child care provider you will be able to add absences for your permanent days of care and others will then be able to book these (and you will be eligible for Parent Rewards). If you do not have permanent care for your child and either want permanent care or would like available care in the meantime, you would register as a Waiting List parent. When approved by your care provider, you can then book vacancies as they arise. Care providers can also turn your profile into a Permanent Parent but without set days, which means you can make instant bookings. By using the vacancy.care app and waiting list system, you are then prioritising your child at the front for when a permanent place does become available. |
I do not currently have permanent care, do I request Waiting List registration?
| Correct. If you have selected a child care provider and wish to go onto a waiting list either for when permanent care becomes available or to book available places when daily vacancies come up, then you select to be verified as an approved Waiting List parent. This will enable you to book care at that provider and establish a closer relationship, which means you are more likely to get permanent care when it becomes available. |
When I book care, do I have to pay upfront?
| No, you pay all fees directly to child care providers. When you book care through our app, this is passed across to the child care provider who will then bill you direct through normal processes, including applying government rebates and benefits. |
Who do I pay my child care fees to?
| You pay all fees directly to your child care provider. Vacancy.care does not charge or bill families for any part of our system. Your child care fees and benefits are normally reconciled at the end of each month directly by your child care centre. |
Will I still receive my government benefit and rebate?
| Absolutely. You pay all fees directly to your child care provider, who will process your payment as normal. If you are entitled to the government child care rebate, then this will be calculated by your child care centre. There is no involvement by vacancy.care in relation to government child care benefits and care provider fees. |
Can I book extra care if I have not added any previous absences for my child?
| Yes, although note that under Parent Rewards there are priority benefits for extra care for parents who use the app to register absences. This rewards parents who share care! |
I have been verified as a Waiting List parent – why do I have to wait for a booking confirmation?
| Child care providers can select different processes for how parents can book available care and vacancies in their day care centres. Firstly, it is a government requirement for care providers to prioritise at risk children, but also providers generally like to give priority for extra care to other permanent families. Some care providers who use Vacancy.care, elect to verify all requested bookings individually – however, we suggest that you contact your care providers and request they convert your approval to Permanent, so that you can instantly book casual places. |
I am not receiving any vacancy alerts
| Open up the app and tap on My Alerts. Also, check that you have the right settings for email and mobile notifications. Lastly, also check that you have given approval for mobile notifications for the vacancy.care app in your phone’s settings. |