The fines applied to 24 services operating across each state and territory in Australia, excluding the Northern Territory.
Family Day Care (FDC) made up over 90 per cent of offenders, with a number of its co-ordination services being penalised for actions including making excessive claims for payments on behalf of children in their care, often unbeknown to parents.
Thirteen of 22 non-compliant FDC co-ordination services have had their operations restricted or suspended.
FDC represents a network of over 1500 homes educators across Australia.
One Long Day Care centre in Queensland had their service suspended after it failed to notify the state's education department that its service approval had been revoked by the state regulator.
Assistant Minister for Education Sussan Ley said the number of infringements uncovered across the country are "deeply concerning".
"The results are troubling, there’s no two-ways about it," she said. "It’s always disappointing to uncover these sorts of dodgy practices, particularly when these services are meant to be focussed on the high-quality care and education of our children, not ripping off taxpayers."
Ms Ley said a government taskforce had uncovered the practices in targeted investigations into suspicious claims, random checks and forensic data analysis.
She said the childcare services fined could face further sanctions, including suspension and cancellation, if they fail to comply.
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