The Child Care Subsidy explained
Child Care Subsidy, often called CCS, is an Australian Government subsidy that helps reduce the cost of approved child care.
If your family is eligible, CCS is paid directly to your child care provider. This means you usually do not pay the full daily fee. You pay the remaining amount, often called the gap fee or out-of-pocket cost.
This guide explains how CCS works, what affects your out-of-pocket cost, and how to apply through myGov and Centrelink.
What is Child Care Subsidy (CCS)?
Child Care Subsidy is financial support from the Australian Government to help families with the cost of approved child care.
If your family is eligible, CCS is paid directly to your provider and applied to your fees.
The amount your family receives depends on your family income, your recognised participation, your subsidised hours, your child care fees and the government hourly CCS rate cap.
Am I eligible for Child Care Subsidy?
To get CCS, you and your partner (if you have one) need to:
- care for your child at least 2 nights per fortnight
- use an approved child care service
- be responsible for paying the child care fees
- meet Australian residency rules, such as being an Australian citizen, permanent resident, or holding an eligible visa
Your child must also meet immunisation requirements.
If you are unsure whether your family is eligible, you can check the official Services Australia CCS eligibility criteria or speak to our Family Support Team.
How does CCS reduce my child care fees?
If you are eligible for CCS, in most cases, families do not pay the full daily fee.
Your Child Care Subsidy is applied first. You then pay the remaining amount. This is often called your gap fee or out-of-pocket cost.
For example:
- your child care centre charges a daily fee
- your CCS is applied to reduce the fee
- your family pays the remaining gap fee
Your actual out-of-pocket cost will depend on your CCS percentage, your subsidised hours, your centre’s fees and the hourly CCS hourly rate cap.
What affects how much CCS I get?
There are 3 main things that affect your Child Care Subsidy.
1. Your family income
Your combined family income helps determine your CCS percentage. Families on lower incomes receive a higher CCS percentage. As family income increases, the CCS percentage reduces.
2. Your recognised participation (or activity level) and subsidised hours
Recognised participation refers to the approved activity the Australian Government uses to work out how many hours of subsidised care your family can receive.
Recognised participation can include:
- working
- travel time to and from work (from the child care centre)
- studying or training
- volunteering
- looking for work
Families eligible for Child Care Subsidy can get at least 72 hours of subsidised care per fortnight, or around 3 days per week.
Families can access up to 100 hours of subsidised care per fortnight if:
- you and your partner (if you have one), each do more than 48 hours of recognised participation per fortnight
- you have a valid exemption
- you receive some types of Additional Child Care Subsidy
- you care for an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander child
3. Your child care fees and the hourly rate cap
CCS is worked out using the lower of:
- the hourly fee charged by your child care service,or
- the government’s CCS hourly rate cap
This means your out-of-pocket cost can vary between centres, even if your CCS percentage is the same.
How can I estimate my out-of-pocket cost?
To estimate your child care costs, it helps to know:
- your estimated family income
- your CCS percentage, if you already know it
- your approved subsidised hours
- your preferred number of days or sessions
- the daily fee at your chosen child care centre
If you already know your CCS percentage and subsidised hours, we can provide a more accurate estimate.
If you do not know them yet, you can still get a useful guide by using your estimated family income, preferred days of care and the fee at your chosen centre.
How do I apply for Child Care Subsidy?
You apply for Child Care Subsidy through myGov and Centrelink.
The usual steps are:
- Create or sign in to your myGov account.
- Link Centrelink to your myGov account.
- Make a claim for Child Care Subsidy.
- Provide your family income, recognised participation and child details.
- Upload any documents Services Australia asks for.
- Wait for Services Australia to assess your claim.
- Confirm your child’s enrolment after your centre submits the details.
You will be asked to provide documents such as proof of identity, income details, your child’s details, residency information, activity details or immunisation records.
It is a good idea to start your CCS claim before your child begins care, as it can take time for Services Australia to assess your claim.
What happens after I enrol at a centre?
After you accept a place, your child care centre will submit your child’s enrolment details to Services Australia.
You then need to check and confirm the enrolment through your Centrelink online account.
Before confirming, check that the details are correct, including:
- your child’s name
- the name of your child care service
- session details
- fees
- start date
CCS cannot be paid until your claim is approved and your enrolment details are confirmed.
Keep your Child Care Subsidy up to date
After your child starts care, it is important to keep your Child Care Subsidy details up to date.
Your CCS is based on the information held by Services Australia and the enrolment details recorded by your child care centre. If your family circumstances, income, recognised activity or care arrangements change, your CCS may also change.
To help avoid incorrect CCS payments, make sure you:
- update your income, activity and family details with Services Australia through myGov
- review your child’s enrolment details if their care days change
- check your Complying Written Arrangement, also called a CWA, so it reflects your current care arrangement
- keep an eye on your myGov inbox for annual CCS reconfirmation requests
If your child attends more than one child care centre, you should review your session lengths across both centres to make sure your care arrangement suits your family and your subsidised hours.
Your centre can help explain your session options, but the decision about which days and session lengths to choose is yours as the family.
What extra support is available?
Some families may be able to get extra support through Additional Child Care Subsidy. This may be available for eligible families, including grandparents, families moving from income support into work, families experiencing temporary financial hardship, or families caring for a child who is vulnerable or at risk.
Find out more about the Additional Child Care Subsidy here.
To optimise your CCS entitlements, 9, 10 and Full Day sessions are available. Choosing the session length that best utilises your CCS subsidised hours can help to reduce your daily out-of-pocket cost.
Some Australian states also offer kindergarten or preschool funding to help reduce the cost of early childhood education. Funding rules vary between New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria and South Australia.
Frequently asked questions
Your CCS percentage is the percentage of your child care fee the government subsidises, up to the CCS hourly cap rate.
Your subsidised hours are the number of hours of care the government subsidises each fortnight.
Both affect your out-of-pocket cost.
You can still estimate your child care costs using your family income, preferred days of care and the daily fee at your chosen centre.
Once Centrelink confirms your CCS percentage and subsidised hours, your estimate can be updated.
Great news – the Child Care Subsidy (CCS) is applied individually for each child. To ensure you receive the correct subsidy rates, make sure each child’s enrolment is confirmed with Centrelink.
If you have more than one CCS-eligible child aged 5 or under in care, you may receive a higher subsidy for one or more younger children, depending on your family income and circumstances.
Yes, Child Care Subsidy can be used for multiple approved providers. Each childcare provider will generate a Complying Written Arrangement for families to review and sign, this information is also submitted to Centrelink.
It is important that you review the session hours at both child care providers to ensure you are optimising your CCS entitlements.
A Complying Written Arrangement, or CWA, is the written agreement between your family and your child care service.
It includes details such as your child’s enrolment, care days, session times and fees.
Your CWA should reflect your current care arrangement. If your child’s days or session lengths change, you should review your CWA and make sure the details are correct.
Keeping your CWA up to date helps make sure your CCS is applied to the correct care arrangement.
You should update your details with Centrelink as soon as possible. Changes to your family income, recognised participation or care arrangements may affect your CCS.
You can notify Centrelink of any changes through your Centrelink online account via myGov. Navigate to the relevant section and update your details accordingly.
Yes. If your child increases or decreases the number of days they attend care, it is important to review the session lengths recorded on your enrolment.
Sessions that no longer reflect your child’s actual attendance may lead to incorrect CCS payments, and corrections can be difficult to apply later.
If your child attends more than one child care centre, you may need to review the session lengths across both services together. This can help make sure your care arrangement suits your family and your subsidised hours.
A CCS overpayment can happen if Services Australia pays more subsidy than your family is entitled to receive. If this happens, Services Australia may ask you to repay the amount.
To help avoid a CCS overpayment, update Services Australia as soon as possible if there are changes to:
- your income or your partner’s income
- your work, study, training or volunteering activity
- your relationship or family circumstances
- the number of days or hours your child attends care
- your child’s enrolment details
You can update many details through your Centrelink online account via myGov.
Each year, Services Australia will ask you to confirm your family details so you can continue receiving CCS.
If you do not complete this step, your CCS may stop and you may need to pay full fees until it is reinstated.
Keep an eye on your myGov inbox and any letters or emails from Services Australia, especially around the end of the financial year.
If you were not eligible for CCS when your child enrolled, but your circumstances have changed, contact our team as soon as possible.
Services Australia will decide whether your CCS claim can be backdated. However, your centre can only backdate up to 28 days, including the current week. Acting quickly can help make sure your CCS is applied as soon as possible.
If your CCS payments stop or there’s a delay, it may be because some details need updating. Check your myGov account to make sure everything is correct. If you’re still unsure, reach out to Centrelink for help.
CCS can usually still be paid for 42 allowable absence days each financial year, including public holidays and family holidays, as long as your child would normally attend that day.
Let your child care centre and Centrelink know before you travel, as longer absences may affect your CCS payments or your child’s enrolment.
Holiday absences and public holidays are included in your allowable absences.
Always check with Centrelink before your trip to understand how your payments may be affected.
Child care fees are still charged for public holidays, as these fees help cover staffing, resources and your child’s place at the centre.
Jellybeans centres offer a holiday discount, which can be applied to public holidays if you submit a Holiday Discount Request Form at least 2 weeks in advance.
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