Late Pickup Fees

Each service is licenced to operate only between its start and end time.  You must collect your child on or before the service closing time, otherwise you might incur a late pickup fee.

Does my service charge late pickup fees?

Each service displays its applicable policies and charges on its LookedAfter school page.  You can find your school here and then look for the Prices & Times tab.  The Late Pickup fee is expressed as an amount per minute per child.  The most common setting is $2 per minute per child.

How do you know when I collected my child?

Collection times are recorded electronically.  Most services provide a tablet, where you or an authorised collector enters a phone number and signs out your child.  This time is captured to the exact second.

If a service does not use a tablet, the educator will record electronically the time your child was picked up.

How are late pickup fees calculated?

Late pickup fees are charged per whole minute late.  Fractions of minutes are ignored.

Can I see some examples of what the late pickup fee might be?

Example 1) The service has a closing time of 6pm and its late pickup fee is shown as $2 per minute.  You sign out your child at 6:00:59.

In this example, the number of whole minutes late is zero.  So no late pickup fee would apply.

Example 2) The service has a closing time of 6pm and its late pickup fee is shown as $2 per minute.  You sign out your child at 6:04:29.

In this example, you are 4 whole minutes late.  The late pickup fee would be $8 (= 4mins x $2 per minute).  If two children were signed out the late pickup fee would be $16.

Does Child Care Subsidy apply to late pickup fees?

Child Care Subsidy can only be used for care provided during the session operating hours.  The "late" period is outside of these hours and is not covered by CCS.

When does the late pickup fee appear on my account?

Any late pickup fee is added to your account at 11pm Melbourne / Sydney time on the day AFTER the occurrence.  The delay allows us to assess if exceptional circumstances apply to your situation.

I was late but I wish to request leniency.  What should I do?

To request leniency you must contact us immediately, i.e. no later than the following morning.  This gives us time to contact the service provider and assess whether the collection time should be amended.  If you do not contact us then a charge will appear on your account the following evening.