Child Care Subsidy and Additional Child Care Subsidy

We want your child to benefit from being in the best learning environment — a place that genuinely supports their unique growth and wellbeing. That is why we work hard to maintain our designated CCS status.

CCS is a government program that helps parents and families with out-of-pocket childcare costs. It offers fee assistance that can make a difference to you and ensures that quality childcare is accessible to all families.

This subsidy is income and activity tested and is paid directly to your childcare centre to reduce the fees you pay

Basic Eligibility for Child Care Subsidy (CCS)

To be eligible for CCS you will need to:

  • care for a child 13 years or younger and not attending a secondary school
  • use an approved childcare centre. All Petit ELJ centres are approved.
  • be responsible for paying the childcare fees
  • to ensure your child meets residency and immunisation requirements or has an exemption
  • see full conditions on Service Australia website

You can get up to 42 allowable absence days per child each financial year. If you reach your allowable absence limit, you may be able to get additional absences (click HERE for more details).

Enrolments with your childcare service will have ended if your child hasn’t attended childcare for 14 weeks in a row. Children who haven’t attended a session of care in 26 consecutive weeks will no longer be eligible for CCS, you will need to submit a new CCS claim for your child to re-commences care.

Amount of CCS

The amount of CCS, you and your family, can receive depends on your circumstances. All the following are considered by Centrelink in determining the amount of CCS your family may receive:

1. Your Family Income

Your CCS percentage will be dependent upon the amount of your Family Income.

(a) Your Family Income CCS Percentage (from 10 July 2023)

From 10 July 2023, the maximum amount of CCS is increasing from 85% to 90% for families earning up to $80,000. The income limit for CCS is also increasing from $356,756 to $530,000.

Your Family Income CCS Percentage
Up to $80,000 90%
More than $80,000 to below $530,000o

Subsidy gradually decreases by 1% for each $5,000 of income your family earns

More than $530,000 0%

(b) Families with more than one child in care

Families with more than one child aged 5 or under in care will get a higher subsidy for their second child and younger children.

(c) Withholding

Centrelink withhold 5% of your CCS. This is to help reduce the likelihood of you getting an overpayment. You can vary this amount to suit your circumstances.

You can do this up to twice a year using your Centrelink online account through myGov. If you would like to change it more than this, call the Families line.

Centrelink use your family income estimate to work out how much subsidy you will get. This means at the end of each financial year Centrelink will balance your payments using your actual adjusted taxable income. They compare this information to make sure they have subsidised your childcare fees correctly in the financial year.

If you underestimated your family income, you may end up with an overpayment which you will need to pay back. Centrelink will use the amount they withheld to help reduce the debt.

If you overestimated your family income and did not get enough subsidy, they will pay any outstanding amount directly to you. This will include the amount they withheld.

2. Your Family Level of Activity

The number of hours of subsidised childcare your family is entitled to each fortnight is determined by an activity test. The higher the levels of activity, the more hours of subsidised care your family will be able to access, up to a maximum of 100 hours per fortnight.

From 10 July 2023, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children can get at least 36 hours of Child Care Subsidy (CCS) per fortnight, regardless of your activity levels.

The parent or guardian with the lowest hours of activity in your family will determine the hours of subsidised care.

Hours of recognised activities each fortnight Hours of subsidised care each fortnight
Less than 8 hours 0 hours if you earn above $72,466

24 hours if you earn $72,466 or below

8 hours to 16 hours 36 hours
More than 16 to 48 hours 72 hours
More than 48 hours 100 hours

Recognised Activities include:

  • Paid work including being self-employed or on paid or unpaid leave such as parental or maternity leave
  • Actively studying or training
  • Unpaid work in a family business, work experience or internship
  • Actively setting up a business

Activities can also include any of these:

  • doing an approved course of education or study
  • doing training to improve work skills or employment prospects
  • actively looking for work
  • volunteering
  • other activities on a case by case basis

Some of these activities will only be recognised for a certain amount of time. Centrelink only count:

  • periods of unpaid leave for up to 6 months, this doesn’t apply to unpaid parental leave
  • setting up a business for 6 months out of every 12 months.

If you are setting up a business and then start working in the business, you need to update your activity details. You need to update your activity from setting up a business to paid work.

3. Type of CCS

Your Child Care Subsidy percentage will apply to the lowest of either the hourly fee you’re charged by your childcare service or the hourly rate cap.

There is a different hourly rate cap depending on the type of approved childcare you use. From 10 July 2023, the CCS hourly rate cap for centre-based Long Day Care is $13.73.

CCS Estimator

To calculate an estimate of how much CCS you may receive, we recommend you visit Centrelink’s Child Care Estimator.

FEE ASSISTANCE

CCS Claim process

1. Get your documents ready
Common documents and information requested in the claim process are set out at Services Australia Child Care Subsidy Supporting Documents Page.

2. Make your Claim
a. Online. You will need a myGov account linked to Centrelink.
     – Sign in to myGov and go to Centrelink
     – Select Make a claim, then Start a new claim
     – Under Families, select Get started.
     – Answer all the questions. Each screen has information to help you.
     – Submit your claim
b. For support queries you can call the Centrelink hotline on 136 150 Monday to Friday 8am – 8pm.

3. Track Your Claim
After you submit your claim you will get a receipt advising that you’ve successfully submitted your claim, the ID number of your claim and an estimated completion date. You can track the progress of your claim:

a. online by sign in to myGov and go to Centrelink
b. by using the Express Plus Centrelink mobile app

Further information