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Child Care Subsidy (CCS)
Changes to CCS
From 10 July 2023, CCS is changing. Most families using child care will get more subsidies. Some families previously not eligible for CCS will now get it.
Key changes :
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The maximum amount of CCS is increasing from 85% to 90%.
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Families earning $80,000 or less will get a CCS rate of 90%.
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Families earning over $80,000 get a CCS rate that decreases by 1% for each $5,000 of family income.
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If your family earns under $530,000 per year, you'll receive increased Child Care Subsidy rates.
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Families with more than one child aged 5 or under, with income below $356,756 can still get a higher rate for their second and younger children.
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First Nations children will be eligible for at least 36 hours of subsidised care per fortnight. Families can get more subsidised hours based on their circumstances.
Am I eligible for CCS?
Who can get CCS?
You need to meet some requirements to get Child Care Subsidy. The subsidy will be paid directly to your child care provider to reduce the fees you pay.
You may be eligible if you or your partner meet all of the following:
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care for your child at least 2 nights per fortnight, or have 14% care
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are liable for fees for care provided at an approved child care service
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meet the residence rules.
Your child must also meet both of these:
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not be attending secondary school unless an exemption applies.
Four factors that affect your CCS entitlement:
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your family’s income
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the hourly rate cap based on the type of approved child care you use and your child’s age
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the activity test (hours of activity you and your partner do)
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the number of children in your care.
Use Startingblocks to estimate how much Child Care Subsidy (CCS) you may get.
How much CCS will I be entitled to?
What does activity test mean?
Hours of Fortnightly Activity
Between 8 and 16
16 to 48
More than 48
Hours of
Subsidised care
(Fortnightly)
36 hours
72 hours
100 hours
=
Paid work
including leave
Volunteering/
Working for free (family business)
Studying
approved course
Self-employed work
Actively job seeking
Time taken to travel between the child care service and your place of work, training, study, or other approved activity will also be included.
Claim online
You’ll be applying for CCS via your MyGov Account, which is linked to Centrelink.
The entire process may take between 4-6 weeks.
It is not necessary to wait until you’ve found a centre that you’re happy with. Do this as soon as you know when you might be sending your little one into care so that it’s all set up and ready to go for your child’s first day as you may be paying full fees until the process is complete (which may be backdated up to 28 days).
Need help setting up a MyGov account?
Read more online at Services Australia.
How to apply?
*More information about individual subsidy rates and annual cap changes is available in the New Child Care Package brochure.