FAQ: Documentary Evidence

FAQ: Documentary Evidence

Inclusion Support Programme

This FAQ clarifies the intent in the Inclusion Support Programme (ISP) Guidelines around documentary evidence required when accessing streams of the Inclusion Development Fund (IDF) and seeks to assist early childhood and child care (ECCC) services in applying for funding.

This FAQ should be read in conjunction with the ISP Guidelines available on the Department’s website. Note this FAQ may be amended at any time during the program period to provide clarity on this topic.

Contents

1.When is documentary evidence required?

2.How long is documentary evidence valid and how often is it required to be provided?

3.What type of documentary evidence will be considered by the Inclusion Development Fund Manager?

4.How is documentary evidence submitted?

5.Can documentary evidence be shared with a different service following a change in enrolment?

6.Can documentary evidence from an Allied Health Professional be used to confirm a diagnosis of disability?

1.When is documentary evidence required?

Documentary evidence is required when accessing the IDF Subsidy for an Additional Educator and the IDF Family Day Care Top Up.

Eligible services seeking to access thesestreams of the IDF must provide signed, or otherwise validated, documentation dated within the last 12 months by a relevant professional which confirms the child’s:

diagnosed disability (including developmental delay) or diagnosed medical condition, or
current and ongoing assessment for disability.

Provision of documentary evidence does not in itself enable a Service to receive access to the IDF; rather eligibility is determined based on the impact of the child and the barriers to inclusion within the care environment.

Table 1 demonstrates when documentary evidence is required to access streams of the IDF.

Table 1: Documentary evidence required under the ISP
Inclusion Support Case / Innovative Solutions Case
IDF Subsidy for an Additional Educator / IDF Subsidy for Immediate/Time Limited Support / IDF FDC Top Up / IDF Innovative Solutions Support
Documentary evidence / Yes / No / Yes / No

2.How long is documentary evidence valid and how often is it required to be provided?

Table 2 demonstrates how these requirements vary depending on the type of documentary evidence:

Table 2:
Documentary evidence type / Valid for/how often
Supports permanent disability /

Documentary evidence which supports permanent disability is only required to be submitted once while the child is enrolled at the same service.There is no requirement for this documentary evidence to be dated within the last twelve months.
It will not be required to be submitted with future applications while the child is enrolled at the same service or a parent/guardian has correctly completed the appropriate permission to share personal information documents.
On approval of an IDF application the IDFM will confirm that evidence of permanent disability has been submitted.
Refer to Guide to Social Security Law,1.1 R.90 Recognised disability CA (child) for further guidance

Supports current disability /

Documentary evidence of a child which supports a disability diagnosis must be dated within 12 months of an application being submitted for the IDF.

Supports evidence of a child undergoing assessment of disability /

Documentary evidence of a child undergoing assessment of disability must be dated within 2years of an application being submitted for the IDF.

3.What type of documentary evidence will be considered by the Inclusion Development Fund Manager?

Table 3outlines examples of acceptable forms of documentary evidence. See sections C2 and E2 of the ISP Guidelines for more information.

Table 3: Examples of suitable documentary evidence
Type / Explanation
Health Care Card (HCC) stating the disability code (CD) /

This evidence demonstratesthe child has been assessed within the Australian Government system and has been diagnosed with a disability or medical condition.
The HCC must be current when the application is submitted.
This is the preferred type of documentary evidence for demonstrating a diagnosed disability and services are encouraged to seek this information from parents of children with a diagnosed disability or medical condition.

A qualified medical practitioner’s confirmation of a diagnosis /

This evidence demonstrates the child has been assessed by a qualified medical practitioner and has been diagnosed with a disability or medical condition.

Evidence that the child is a participant of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) /

This evidence demonstrates that the child is an NDIS participantunder section 28 of the NDIS ACT 2013.
This may include a copy of the written notice from the CEO of NDIS certifying the child meets NDIS access criteria or an up to date copy of the child’s NDIS Plan.
Note ‘access requests’ for the NDIS alone will not be accepted as documentary evidence.

Documentation stating a child’s eligibility for Child Disability Allowance or parent’s/guardian’s eligibility for Carers Allowance with respect to the child /

This evidence demonstrates that the child has been assessed within the Australian Government system and has been diagnosed with a disability or medical condition.

Diagnosis by a registered psychologist /

This evidence demonstrates that the child has been assessed and has been diagnosed with a disability or medical condition.

Supporting documentation, such as a diagnostic report, signed by a qualified medical practitioner or registered psychologist /

This evidence demonstrates that the child has been assessed and has been diagnosed with a disability or medical condition.

A report or supporting documentation signed by an Allied Health Professional, registered nurse or nurse practitioner of the continuing assessment of a child for the purpose of diagnosing disability /

This evidence should demonstrate that the child is currently undergoing assessment for the purposes of diagnosing disability.
Two pieces of documentary evidence may be used to demonstrate the child is undergoing continuous assessment or disability.
This evidence must be dated within two years of an application being submitted for the IDF.

An appointment letter or referral for an assessment by a qualified medical practitioner or registered psychologist /

This evidence should demonstrate that the child is currently undergoing assessment for the purposes of diagnosing disability.
Two pieces of documentary evidence may be used to demonstrate the child is undergoing continuous assessment or disability.
This evidence must be dated within two years of an application being submitted for the IDF.

4.How is documentary evidence submitted?

The IS Portal requires documentary evidence to be stored on the individual child record. For applications completed on the IS Portal, this means the documentary evidencemust be uploaded by the service to the appropriate child record on the SIP.

Budget Based Funded (BBF) approved services apply for ISS by submitting paper-based applications. BBF services must attach the documentary evidence to their application when they provide it to the Inclusion Agency for endorsement.

5.Can documentary evidence be shared with a different service following a change in enrolment?

Yes.To enable this to occur the parent/guardian must provide their consent by selecting the appropriate box on the Permission to Share Personal Information Form for the purposes of ISPthat allows other services to view documentary evidence previously provided for the purposes of the IDF. The parent/guardian may also elect to provide the documentary evidence themselves, or update the documentary evidence provided.

6.Can documentary evidence from an Allied Health Professional be used to confirm a diagnosis of disability?

Current documentary evidence from an Allied Health Professional, dated within 12 months of the application being submitted to the IDFM, can be used to confirm a diagnosis of disability. This evidence would provide details of the diagnosis, including the qualified medical practitioner or psychologist who gave the diagnosis and date given, and information about the current level or impact of the disability. In additionto confirm a diagnosis of disability, a current report from a Speech Pathologist could be provided showing adiagnosis ofmoderate to severe receptive or expressive language delay, when relevant.