FEE PAYMENT TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Last updated: 30 July 2026

Purpose

For parents to gain a clear understanding of Bambini’s fee policy ensuring children’s fees are paid in accordance with our terms and conditions.

Bambini fee structure includes:

1. Enrolment Fee & Bond Payment

Effective 16th August 2022, to secure a place, a $300 refundable* (see Section 14) bond payment per child is required at the time of submitting your enrolment.
Effective 1st October 2024, a $100.00 non-refundable enrolment fee is payable per child at the time of submitting your enrolment.

2. General Fees

Fees are charged at a set daily rate.
Fees are payable weekly in advance.
Fees are to be paid weekly via a direct debit payment service.
Families are charged for all days their child is booked into Bambini irrespective of their attendance due to illness, family holidays or public holidays.
Fees are charged on a full-day basis, regardless of the hours attended.
Casual days may incur a higher charge. Minimum 48 hour notice is required for cancellation of all casual bookings including promotional special offers. Refer to Section 9.
For short-term enrolments, fees must be paid in full in advance prior to the start date.
Fees will be charged based on our most current published fees at the commencement of your booking which may differ from the published fees at the time of your enrolment submission date.

3. Child Care Subsidy and Gap Fees

The family may be entitled to Child Care Subsidy (CCS) and must apply with Services Australia directly. The family must maintain the required obligations of Services Australia to ensure that their CCS is in place.
Eligibility criteria for the Child Care Subsidy is available at https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/child-care-subsidy
Each family’s gap fee amount varies depending on the family’s eligibility for the CCS provided by Services Australia.
The family must provide a Customer Reference Number (CRN) for the child/children and the primary carer’s CRN to the Service, as well as confirm their child’s Bambini enrolment with Services Australia via their MyGov. This task can only be completed by the Primary Carer who is the parent that the child is linked to for CCS purposes.
The CCS will be paid directly to Bambini on the family’s behalf. The family will be required to pay the “gap” being the difference between Bambini’s stated fee and the applied CCS.
Full fees must be paid while a family is finalising their Child Care Subsidy (CCS) application with Services Australia. If you are eligible to receive CCS, Services Australia may backdate your CCS entitlement for up to 28 days from the date your application is finalised. Any backdated CCS payment may be credited to your Bambini account or paid directly to your nominated bank account, as determined by Services Australia.
Please note that each child is entitled to a maximum of 42 allowable absence days per financial year. Once these allowable absences are exhausted, the family may no longer be eligible for the CCS on days when the child does not attend our Service and must pay the full fees. Parents can provide a medical certificate which will be documented as evidence of an illness absence to be determined by Services Australia if CCS will be applied.
Other special circumstances may lead to an increase in the child’s absences. More information is available at https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/child-care-subsidy-if-your-child-absent-from-child-care?context=41186#whenyoucan.
Cessation of Care: If cessation of care occurs for any of the following, you will be liable to pay full fees:
- If your child does not attend their first booked day of care as per their enrolment commencement date and does not attend their last booked day of their enrolment at the Service.
  Services Australia will deem this as cessation of care and revoke any CCS that has been applied on the absence and only apply CCS from the first physical day the child attended and up the last physical day the child attended.
- Your enrolment with the Service will end if your child has not attended care for 14 weeks in a row. To remain eligible for CCS, your child must attend care at least once within the previous 26 weeks. This includes the first 26 weeks from the start of your CCS eligibility. If you have a shared care arrangement, your 26-week period will be calculated based on the portion of care you are responsible for paying.
- If your child is absent for 6 or more weeks overseas Services Australia will not pay CCS.
- If your child’s immunisation is not kept up to date, Services Australia will stop applying CCS – please ensure that child’s doctor has updated the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR) to have your CCS reinstated. More information is available at https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/immunisation-medical-exemptions?context=41186
- Services Australia determines and applies your CCS entitlement. If your entitlement changes for any reason, your gap fee may be affected. You will remain liable for your gap fee until the matter is resolved directly with Services Australia.

4. Holiday Fee Discount

Bambini offers two (2) weeks of Holiday Fee Discount, per child on a pro-rata basis, based on their booked attendance to be utilised per calendar year. Holiday discount cannot be accrued to be used in the next calendar year.
A Holiday Fee Discount is a 50% reduction on the regular daily fee. The net fee payable by a family will be equal to the Holiday Fee less their CCS.
To apply for the Holiday Fee Discount, at least two (2) weeks’ notice must be given in writing to the Centre Manager stating the inclusive dates they wish to have the discount applied.
Families must attend for a minimum of six (6) months before holiday fees can be utilised.
A Holiday Discount cannot be applied during the termination notice period.
Not to be used in conjunction with any other discount.

5. Sibling Fee Discount

Bambini offers a discount when more than one child from the same family is in the same service.
The discount is applied as below:
– For families with two children, a $10 per day discount will be applied to the older child.
– For families with three children, a $20 per day discount will be applied to the oldest child, $10 per day discount applied to the middle child.
Not to be used in conjunction with any other discount.

6. Public Holidays
Fees apply to all gazette public holidays except for Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.

7. Payment of Fees

Fees are payable using a payment gateway provided by an unrelated third-party service.
All merchant fees associated with the family account payment are charged to the family. These fees include but are not limited to credit card fees, direct debit fees, dishonour fees as well as dispute fees.
Effective 1st August 2025, a dishonour fee of $20 will be charged for any direct debit transactions that fails.
Your statement will be available on the Bambini App.
Fees will be reflected on the family’s bank statements as payments made to “YORK MANAGEMENT SERVICES”. York Management Services is the management and administration entity within the Bambini Group.
Should you dispute the transaction with your bank and your claim is unsuccessful, you will be liable for any dispute fees incurred by Bambini.

8. Late Fees

If a child is collected after the Service closing time, a late fee will apply. A fee of $15.00 per 10-minute block and part thereof will be charged.
This late charge will be added to the family fee account for payment.

9. Special Offer

‘Friday Fun Day’

Session hours: 10am to 3pm.
Limited places available; bookings are subject to availability.
Casual bookings only (refer to ‘Change or Reduction of Booked Days’ for terms and conditions).
Bookings open two (2) weeks in advance; requests can be made via email at bookings@bambini.au or by calling the Support Office on 03 9699 3980.
40% off the standard daily fee applies.
This Offer cannot be combined with any other offer.
Early Drop-Off & Late Collection Fees:
A full-day fee applies if a child is dropped off before 10am.
A full-day fee applies if a child is collected after 3pm.

‘Nurture Pathway Sessions’

Session hours: 10am to 3pm, for Nursery rooms only.
Limited places available; bookings are subject to availability.
Two (2) weeks’ written notice sent to bookings@bambini.au is required to cancel.
After four (4) sessions, bookings will revert to permanent full day sessions – full daily fees apply.
Requests can be made via email at bookings@bambini.au
40% off the standard daily fee applies.
This Offer cannot be combined with any other offer. This offer is only valid to be used prior to your permanent booking commencing.

Early Drop-Off & Late Collection Fees:

A full-day fee applies if a child is dropped off before 10am.
A full-day fee applies if a child is collected after 3pm.

‘Short Day Care’ – Seven-Hour Day Offer

Session hours: 9am to 4pm.
Available for a limited time only, ending 31 December 2026.
A minimum of one (1) long day (full-day session) must be booked per week to be eligible for this offer.
This Offer cannot be used on a casual booking basis.
Limited places available; bookings are subject to availability.
Requests can be made via email at bookings@bambini.au or by calling the Support Office on 03 9699 3980.

This Offer cannot be combined with any other offer. Early Drop-Off & Late Collection Fees:

A full-day fee applies if a child is dropped off before 9am.
A full-day fee applies if a child is collected after 4pm.

10. Failure to Pay

If a family fails to pay the required fees on time, a reminder will be issued after one (1) week and then again after two (2) weeks.
Where the fees are still outstanding after two (2) weeks, a child’s position may be suspended.
If payment has not been made after three (3) weeks, the child’s position will be terminated. At this time Bambini will also initiate its debt collection procedure. You will be liable for any recovery costs in addition to the outstanding amount.

11. Financial Difficulties

If a family is experiencing financial difficulties, they may be eligible for Additional Child Care Subsidy (ACCS) via Services Australia.
Should you experience financial difficulties please advise your Centre Manager for further assistance.

12. Change of Fees

Bambini will provide a minimum of four (4) weeks written notice of any change to our fees.
Bambini has applied the Government cap on increasing fees in line with the Workers Retention Payment (WRP):
- 8th August 2024 by not more than 4.4%
- 8th August 2025 by not more than 4.2%
- 17th August 2026 by not more than 5.8%
Future increase will be in-line with Government requirements whilst the WRP is in place.

13. Changes or Reduction of Booked Days

Where a change is required to a child’s booked days, two (2) weeks’ written notice must be provided to the Centre Manager.
Where a change is required to a child’s casual booking, 48 hours’ written notice must be provided to the Centre Manager.
In instances where an enrolment has been confirmed and a family chooses to cancel the enrolment, please refer to the Termination of Enrolment policy.
No Commencement: If care is no longer required, two (2) weeks’ written notice must be submitted directly to the Centre Manager, ensuring a full bond refund.
Change of Start Date: Two (2) weeks’ written notice is required prior to the original start date.
The start date may be adjusted once only.
If a further extension to your start date is required, this may result in your enrolment being placed back on our waitlist until care is required depending on our availability.

14. Termination of Enrolment

Parents/Guardians are required to provide two (2) weeks’ written notice (to include the entirety of the permanent booked days).
The child is required to attend their two (2) weeks’ notice period to be eligible for CCS entitlements otherwise full fee is payable.
More information on CCS Cessation of Care is available at https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/child-care-subsidy-if-your-child-absent-from-child-care?context=41186
Failure to provide two (2) weeks’ written notice will result in the family paying the daily fee as per the child’s current booking pattern for two (2) weeks. If this occurs, your end date may be altered to reflect the relevant two (2) week notice period.
The bond payment will be refunded to families four (4) weeks after the last date of care provided the account has been paid in full with no outstanding balance upon Services Australia finalising the ceased Government Enrolment and reconciling final CCS payments.

15. Free Kinder

The Victorian Government provides funding to kindergarten and long day care services to deliver high-quality kindergarten programs in the two years before school. This support ensures all Victorian children get the best start in life. This saves families approximately $2,101 per year for a 15-hour program—and even more for eligible Pre-Prep programs. To pass on this saving, your service will apply a weekly credit that will offset out of pocket expenses to your account throughout the year.

Your child can access:

One funded year in a Three-Year-Old Kindergarten program (between 5 and 15 hours per week), and
One funded year in a Four-Year-Old Kindergarten / Pre-Prep program.
From 2026 children in Victoria can apply to access an additional year of kinder program.
- More information is https://www.vic.gov.au/early-childhood-update-november-2024/apply-now-second-year-funded-four-year-old-kindergarten

How it works:

Families must complete the Funded Kindergarten Place Declaration form to nominate their child’s participation in either the Three-Year-Old or Four-Year-Old Funded Kindergarten program at one service only. Families attending more than one service will only receive funding through the nominated service.
Once funding is received for eligible children and families, credits are applied directly to the family account. Funding is generally received from March each year and applied weekly to reduce out-of-pocket expenses, continuing until the full annual funding amount has been applied.
For children who commence mid-year (after the official kindergarten year has started), funding received by Bambini will be applied on a pro-rata basis. Pro-rata credits will be applied to family accounts from the week funding is approved and then weekly.
If a family ceases care with Bambini, we will end the child’s enrolment in the nominated kindergarten program. The funding will be adjusted based on the duration of the child’s attendance.
If a family receives funding credits which they are later deemed ineligible for, Bambini will seek reimbursement of the amount credited.

Bambini Terms and Conditions are subject to updates at any time.