Child Care Services
This policy provides guidelines for the provision of child care to injured workers
October 2014
The WorkSafe Agent (the Agent) can pay the reasonable
costs of child care services for a worker engaged in the care
of a child prior to a work related injury or illness, which
impacts on his/her ability to provide child care services.
The Agent will periodically review a worker’s entitlement to
ongoing child care services to ensure that the service
remains appropriate and payable under Victorian workers
compensation legislation (the legislation).
Definitions
 Child Care Services refers to duties and tasks that relate
to the direct care of a child, such as feeding and bathing,
which a worker performed prior to their workplace injury or
illness. These services replace the care and supervision of
a child whose caregiver has sustained injuries that prevent
or limit the normal provision of these services.
 Household Help Services refers to tasks within the
primary residence, e.g. vacuuming and mopping floors,
gardening, etc. which an injured worker performed prior to
the work-related injury or illness. See also the Household
Help Services Policy
 Paid employment is considered by WorkSafe to be
income received as a result of work performed in
employment. This does not include income received from
other means such as a common law damages settlement,
or from income protection insurance. Full time
employment is defined as working 35 hours per week or
more, while part time is defined as working less than 35
hours per week.
Guidelines
What can the Agent pay for in relation to child
care services?
The Agent can pay the reasonable costs of child care
services where:
 the worker is unable to provide child care as a result of
their work-related injury or illness.
 the worker requires child care services in order to receive
or attend medical or rehabilitation treatment for their workrelated injury or illness
 there is an absence of other community and/or family
support that might reasonably be expected to provide
child care services.
What information does the Agent require to
consider paying for child care services?
The Agent requires a current request from an injured
worker’s treating medical practitioner prior to approving
child care services. The request of the treating practitioner
must document the:
 nature and extent of the worker’s injuries or illness
 impact of the worker’s injuries or illness on his/her ability
to perform child care tasks
 expected duration of the injured worker's incapacity to
perform child care tasks.
On receipt of a treating medical practitioner request, the
Agent will determine the need for an Occupational Therapist
(OT) to conduct and Activities of Daily Living (ADL)
assessment or a Benefit and Support Service Assessment
(BASSA). The OT will consider the following:
 type, frequency, duration and cost (if any) of child care
arrangements in place prior to the work related injury or
illness
 impact of the work-related injury or illness on the worker’s
reasonable capacity to provide child care
 the worker’s need (if any) to attend appointments for the
rehabilitation or treatment of a work-related injury or illness
 whether the provision of equipment or other services may
increase the worker’s capacity to provide child care
independently
 capacity of other family, friends or household members to
provide child care
 age, number and specific needs of the child/children to be
cared for and the type of child care service required
 numbers of hours and/or days per week that child care
services are required and the extent the worker is able to
contribute to the child care independently
 period of time the child care services will be required
Note: This policy is a guideline issued by WorkSafe Victoria under Victorian workers compensation legislation in respect of
the reasonable costs of services, and services for which approval should be sought from the WorkSafe Agent or self-insurer
(as the case may be) before the services are provided.
WSV1624/01/09.14
Policy for Child Care
 the necessity and appropriateness of providing child care
services in the worker’s individual circumstances.
Who can provide child care services?
Child care can be provided as either approved or registered
child care services. All child care providers must be
approved by WorkSafe prior to approval or provision of
services to injured workers.
Approved child care is an accredited service under the
Commonwealth government and licensed under Victorian
law because it meets strict criteria. Types of approved care
are Long Day Care, Occasional Care, Outside School Hours
Care programs (OHSC), Family Day Care and In Home
Care. Further information can be found at -
http://www.mychild.gov.au/sites/mychild/childcareinformation/pages/information
Approved child care is considered the minimum standard of
child care for injured workers and their families.
Registered child care refers to child care provided by an
individual registered with the Department of Human
Services. This can include a nanny/au pair, relative or friend.
Registered and In-home child care services will only be
considered when all other forms of child care have been
explored and deemed inappropriate and where:
 an injured worker’s injury prevents them from undertaking
child care tasks, and
 the family lives in a rural or remote location.
 child care services for a child coming into the injured
worker’s care (i.e. conceived, adopted or fostered) after
the workplace injury or illness
 expenses normally associated with caring for a child, e.g.
food, nappies or school uniforms
 services for a circumstance not a direct result of the
workplace injury or illness. For example, if an injured
worker goes on holidays without his/her children, the
Agent cannot pay for child care services as the service
would have been required regardless of the work related
injury or illness
 any child care service that an injured worker paid utilised
prior and continued to use after the work related injury or
illness
 additional fees associated with child care services, e.g.
excursion fees or meals
 services carried out by a provider not approved by
WorkSafe under Victorian workers compensation
legislation
 services subcontracted to, or provided by a non-registered
provider
 fees associated with cancellation or non-attendance
 services provided outside the Commonwealth of Australia
without prior written approval from the Agent
 the cost of telephone calls and telephone consultations
between providers and workers, and between other
providers, including hospitals.
When will the Agent respond to a request?
Further information
Upon receiving the written service request, the Agent will
advise whether:
Contact the referring Agent, email
[email protected] or refer to:
 the request has been approved
 the request has been denied, or
 further information is required to make a decision.
 How to Invoice WorkSafe guidelines
What are WorkSafe’s invoicing requirements?
Refer to the How to invoice WorkSafe guidelines.
What fees are payable for child care services?
Refer to the WorkSafe Child Care Services Fee Schedule.
In relation to child care services, what won’t the
Agent pay for?
The Agent will not pay for:
 services for a person other than the injured worker
 child care services for tasks that the injured worker did not
perform prior to the onset of the workplace injury or illness.
For example a worker who had a relative providing unpaid
care for his/her child for 2 days per week is not entitled to
receive child care services for duties performed by that
relative
 WorkSafe’s Online Claims Manual