Child Care Subsidy calculator

To find out if your family is eligible to receive Child Care Subsidy, follow these steps:

1. Check your eligibility on the Services Australia website or with Centrelink.

2. Complete the Activity Test via your MyGov account, which will determine your Child Care Subsidy eligibility and entitlements (percentage and hours)

3. Use our Child Care Subsidy Calculator above, which will step you through the calculations to work out your estimated entitlements and out-of-pocket cost for the days of care you require.

If your family are not Australian citizens or permanent residents, you won’t be eligible for Child Care Subsidy in most instances. However, there may be extenuating circumstances, such as Temporary Protection Type Visa holders, certain Provisional Visa holders or Special Category Visa holders, so please contact Centrelink to confirm your situation.

The Australian Government’s Activity Test determines your eligibility for Child Care Subsidy. If you’re eligible, it determines the subsidy percentage and eligible hours per fortnight you are entitled to.

There are four key factors to determine your Child Care Subsidy eligibility and entitlements:

• The combined family income
• The hours of activity for each parent or carer
• The number of children you have in care
• The type of childcare service your family uses (i.e., long day care/Outside School Hours Care)

You can update your Activity Test via your MyGov account at any time. It is important to keep this current to ensure you get the correct Child Care Subsidy entitlements. This is especially important if you do not get 100 hours of subsidised care and have only provided your contracted hours to Centrelink. You may be eligible for additional hours.

If you have any questions about what counts as an activity, such as travel, breaks, or volunteering, please contact your centre manager.

Families with more than one child aged 5 or under in care may be eligible for a higher rate of Child Care Subsidy for their second child and younger children.

To get the higher childcare subsidy, a family must meet the following criteria:

• earn less than $365,611.00
• have more than one child aged 5 or under in in an approved early education centre
• each child must have their own Child Care Subsidy claim.

Services Australia works out which children get the higher childcare subsidy by:

• assessing all children in the family
• identifying the standard rate child, and
• identifying the children eligible for a higher rate.

The child who gets the standard subsidy rate is usually the eldest eligible child aged 5 or under in the family. Younger and subsequent children may get a higher subsidy rate. The higher subsidy amount for each child is based on the combined family’s income.

Our easy-to-use Child Care Subsidy Calculator above can estimate Child Care Subsidy rates and out-of-pocket costs for multiple children in care. If you have any further questions, please discuss them with your centre manager.

If the sibling attending another centre is aged 5 or under, and the family meet the eligibility criteria (income), the higher rates of Child Care Subsidy will be paid for 2nd / younger child, regardless of the child care centre they attend.

Here are some options available to you.

Additional Child Care Subsidy (ACCS)

ACCS provides support to families experiencing a significantly reduced ability to pay child care fees, such as if a parent has lost income due to being unable to attend work. This can be applied for via Centrelink and MyGov. You can view an easy application guide here.

Preschool Exemption Program

If your child is currently enrolled in our Government Approved Preschool or Kindergarten programs, this comes with a CCS exemption that is available for preschool-aged children, whose CCS subsidy is less than 24 hours per fortnight. You can access 36 hours of subsidised care per fortnight if you:

• Would usually be entitled to less than 36 hours of subsidised child care per fortnight because you do not meet the activity test; and
• Have a preschool-aged child attending an early education program at a centre-based day care service.

A preschool-aged child is one who is in the year before primary school e.g. if a child is starting school in February 2025, the child is deemed preschool-aged from February 2024. Read more information via the Service Australia page here.

You will apply for the Child Care Subsidy (CCS) via your MyGov Account, which is linked to Centrelink. Do this as soon as you know when you might be sending your child into care so that it is all set up and ready to go for your child’s first day.

The entire process may take up to six weeks. If your Child Care Subsidy claim has not been finalised when you commence care, you will be required to pay the full fees until your claim is approved.

Check out this video to see how to apply for the CCS online in five easy steps. You can then track the progress of your claim online, every step of the way.

Five easy steps to apply for the Child Care Subsidy:

1. Sign into your MyGov Account and go to Centrelink.
2. From the menu select ‘Payment and Claims’, ‘Claims’ and then ‘Make a claim’.
3. Under ‘Families’ select ‘get started’.
4. Answer all the questions.
5. Press submit.

Once your child is enrolled you receive a link via Xplor home app to sign your Complying Written Agreement (CWA). You will also need to log into MyGov and confirm your government enrolment with your chosen centre to start receiving Child Care Subsidy from your first day. This needs to be done before your child commences care.

If you need help setting up a MyGov account, watch our video guide here, or read more online at Service Australia.

We have supported thousands of families through the CCS application process before and understand it can be a lengthy process to complete. Our Family Support Team are here ready to help guide you along the way. Contact us today to start your journey with us.

As you complete your claim in MyGov, Services Australia will ask you to provide certain documents or information. These will come up as ‘required’ in your claim.

As they work through your claim, Services Australia may ask you for more information. If this happens, they will put your claim on hold as they wait for these documents. You need to provide them within 14 days of your request or your claim may be rejected.

Financial information – Bank account details, your tax file number, and details on income and assets, including real estate assets and superannuation.

Study – Including planned and previous course details, fee receipts and academic transcripts.

Work – Such as income tax returns, PAYG certificates, payslips or Taxation Notices of Assessment (NOA) if self employed.

Living arrangements – Housing, rental property or real estate details, proof of assets ownerships documents, rates notices.

Relationships – Parent or guardian details, including work and income details; partner details, including citizenship, study, work and income details; or separation details.

Residence details if you’ve lived outside Australia – Including visa information.

Children – Birth certificates, adoption or surrogacy agreements.

Medical – Health Care card claims, medical reports, Centrelink medical certificates and doctor-issued medical certificates.