Absences

If the session has not yet occurred and if you know your child will be absent, please let us know by removing the booking.

Remove the booking by viewing your calendar within your LookedAfter account, find the session and follow the steps to remove it:

• A penalty may apply If the session is within the service's cancellation deadline.  The cancellation policy is always specified on the relevant school page.
• If you booked in error, no penalty will apply if you remove the booking(s) within two hours of creation.
• If the session is outside of the cancellation policy, no penalty will apply.

When viewing your bookings in your calendar, the deadline to remove without penalty will show.

If you attempt to remove a booking, it will warn you that any rebooking will be at the prevailing Fee Tier at time of rebooking.  We don't reserve your cancelled bookings for you, and the place is made available immediately for others to book.

If the service provider cannot locate your child and if you have not informed them of your absence, they have a duty to contact you and then contact the relevant authorities if they cannot contact you.

The default stance is to apply penalties (if applicable) even where a session has been cancelled for sickness or other legitimate reasons.  LookedAfter does not decide; the relevant service provider may choose to use its discretion to waive removal penalties but you will need to contact the service provider directly.

The actual decision on absence treatment will be decided by the relevant service provider at their discretion.  If a waiver is approved, an adjustment will be made to your account.

If a penalty applies, Centrelink grants fee relief for up to 42 absences per child per financial year.