The Child Care Subsidy is a government payment that reduces a family’s out-of-pocket childcare costs. Each family’s subsidy covers a percentage of their childcare centre’s daily fees, depending on their eligibility and circumstances.
The Child Care Subsidy (CCS) is a government payment that reduces out-of-pocket childcare costs. The subsidy is paid directly to your childcare provider and passed on to families as a fee reduction. Families pay the “gap fee” between daily charges and the subsidy amount, indicated on your invoice.
Centrelink withholds 5% of CCS payments to accommodate for income changes and reduce overpayment risk.
Use our Child Care Subsidy Calculator to calculate your family’s CCS percentage.
If you’re new to childcare, we recommend applying for the Child Care Subsidy as soon as possible.
You may get a higher Child Care Subsidy if you have more than one child aged 5 or younger in care.
Families that earn less than $354,305 per year may be eligible for the Child Care Subsidy.
You need to complete a recognised activity to be eligible to receive the Child Care Subsidy.
There’s a different hourly rate cap depending on the type of approved child care you use.
The Child Care Subsidy will be applied to your daily fees if your child is absent for up to 42 initial absences. Normal daily fees are applicable if your child is absent. Please advise us if your child will be absent so we record their attendance correctly.
You can get up to 42 allowable absence days per child each financial year. These absences can be used for any reason, including a local emergency. If you reach your allowable absence limit, you may get additional absences in some cases. Reasons may include:
Please note that your child must physically attending the centre on their first and last day of enrolment to be eligible to receive the Child Care Subsidy.
If you leave Australia to live in another country, your subsidy will stop when you depart.
If you travel for a short term, you’ll get your subsidy for up to 6 weeks. But you must be paying for child care in Australia while you’re overseas.
After 6 weeks your subsidy will stop.
Your payment will also stop when you depart if all of these apply:
Before the Child Care Subsidy can be paid, families must confirm their child’s enrolment details in the Centrelink App.
Before you confirm your child’s enrolment, please check that the fees and care sessions match your enrolment details.
If your child is currently attending another childcare service, please note that confirming the enrolment with Bright Steps Academy will not effect any subsidies with the current centre.
Please note that the enrolment start date displayed on your Centrelink account is the date the enrolment was submitted. This is done to ensure that families receive their Child Care Subsidy from their child’s start date.
If the information or fees in the enrolment details don’t match your enrolment details, speak to our Centre Director and we will fix this for you.
We would love to hear from you to learn more about your family’s early education and childcare needs. We look forward to becoming your childcare provider and supporting your child’s learning journey.
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