UNDERSTANDING THE CHILD CARE SUBSIDYA Simple Guide For
Families
Families can estimate their CCS entitlement using the child care subsidy calculator
at the bottom of this page. This tool considers factors like family income,
activity level, and care type to provide an estimate, helping families plan for child care costs.
What Is The Child Care Subsidy?
The Child Care Subsidy (CCS) is a government-funded program that assists families by covering a portion of their child care fees. This subsidy, paid directly to child care providers, aims to make child care more affordable for Australian families, allowing parents to balance work and caregiving responsibilities.
The Child Care Subsidy helps reduce the cost of child care by paying a percentage of the fees directly to approved providers like Jenny's Early Learning Centres. The amount depends on various factors, including family income, the number of children in care, and parental activity levels.
The Child Care Subsidy (CCS) is an Australian Government payment that helps eligible families with the cost of approved child care. CCS is paid directly to Jenny’s ELC, reducing the fees you pay.
Your out-of-pocket cost is the difference between:
-
your CCS entitlement (based on your income and subsidised hours), and
-
the daily fee charged by the service
This difference is often referred to as the gap fee.
From 5 January 2026, all CCS-eligible families can access at least 72 hours of subsidised care per fortnight (the “3 Day Guarantee”), regardless of work or study hours
The Australian Government provides CCS to help make early learning and care more affordable and accessible for families. It supports children to participate in quality early childhood education and helps families balance work, study, training and family life.
The changes introduced from 5 January 2026 are designed to make subsidised early learning access simpler and more consistent for more families.
Eligibility for CCS is based on several factors:
- Residency Requirements: At least one parent or guardian must be an Australian resident or hold a permanent visa.
- Income Limits: Your family income affects the subsidy rate.
Immunisation Requirements: Children must meet immunisation requirements or have an approved exemption to qualify for CCS.
Once your CCS is approved, Services Australia will determine:
-
your CCS percentage (based mainly on family income), and
-
the number of subsidised hours you can receive per fortnight.
From 5 January 2026, all CCS-eligible families can receive at least 72 subsidised hours per fortnight for each eligible child. Some families may be eligible for up to 100 subsidised hours per fortnight depending on their circumstances (for example, higher recognised participation or approved exemptions).
How Much CCS Can a
Family Receive?
Family income plays an important role in determining your Child Care Subsidy (CCS) percentage. In general, families with a lower combined household income receive a higher subsidy rate, while families with higher incomes receive a lower rate.
Your CCS percentage is assessed by Services Australia based on your estimated annual family income and is applied directly to your child care fees.
Income thresholds are set by the Australian Government and may be updated from time to time. Families with a combined annual income of up to approximately $530,000 may be eligible to receive some level of CCS.
It’s important to keep your income details up to date in your myGov account to ensure your CCS is calculated correctly and to avoid under- or over-payments.
CCS rates are set by the Australian Government and are primarily based on your combined family income. Generally, families with lower incomes receive a higher CCS percentage, and the percentage reduces as income increases. Income thresholds are updated over time.
As a guide, the CCS system includes:
-
a maximum subsidy rate for families under the lower income threshold, and
-
a sliding scale where the CCS percentage decreases gradually as income rises, until it reaches 0% at the upper income threshold.
To view the current CCS percentage rates for your situation, we recommend checking the most up-to-date information via Services Australia (or your myGov account), as thresholds can change.
Families with multiple children in care may receive a higher CCS percentage for the second and subsequent children under five. This increased rate aims to support larger families in managing child care expenses.
Rates for Second and Younger Children
The higher CCS percentage for second and younger children works alongside other CCS settings, including the minimum 72 subsidised hours per fortnight available to all CCS-eligible families from 5 January 2026
Activity Levels 2026
From 5 January 2026, the Child Care Subsidy no longer uses the activity test to determine a family’s minimum subsidised hours.
All CCS-eligible families are now entitled to at least 72 subsidised hours per fortnight (equivalent to around three days per week) for each eligible child, regardless of work, study or volunteering hours.
Recognised activities such as paid work, study, training or volunteering may still be assessed by the Government to determine whether a family is eligible for additional subsidised hours, up to a maximum of 100 hours per fortnight.
This change helps ensure families can access early learning while supporting workforce participation, education and training.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families receive additional assistance to promote access to early learning programs. This includes higher CCS rates, exemptions, and additional support, ensuring equitable access to child care and education.
The Child Care Subsidy applies to various care types. As a long day care provider, Jenny’s Early Learning Centre’s primary focus is on providing high-quality early learning experiences that foster children’s growth and development.
Each type of approved child care has an hourly rate cap set by the Australian Government. The Child Care Subsidy (CCS) is calculated using the lower of:
-
the hourly fee charged by the service, or
-
the Government’s hourly rate cap for that care type.
This means that if a service’s hourly rate is higher than the Government cap, families will need to pay the difference in addition to their CCS gap fee.
Hourly rate caps are reviewed and updated periodically by the Government to reflect changes in the cost of providing child care.
Calculating How Much Your
Family Can Claim
Families can estimate their CCS entitlement using the child care subsidy calculator
on the Services Australia website. This tool considers factors like family income,
activity level, and care type to provide an estimate, helping families plan for child
care costs.
