The Child Care Subsidy (CCS)

Since Nido Early School is a government approved childcare provider, you could be entitled to a government subsidy on your fees.

The initiative is designed to enable low and middle-income families to access affordable, flexible and high-quality childcare. The Government reduces the amount you may pay for your childcare, to increase the level of care your child can receive. This enables parents or carers to allow their child to attend childcare, so that they can either work or study more hours.

How does it work?

Subsidies are paid directly to Nido Early School, and we then pass them to you as a fee reduction. You then pay the difference between the subsidy and the fees charged.

Families with an adjusted taxable income of $0 to $72,466 p.a. receive a subsidy of 85% (subject to CCS hourly rate cap)

Families with an adjusted taxable income between $72,466 to $177,466 p.a. will receive a subsidy of between 85% and 50%. The percentage reduces by 1% for every $3,000 of income earnt

Families with an adjusted taxable income of $177,466 to $256,756 p.a. receive a subsidy of 50%

Families with an adjusted taxable income of $256,756 to $346,756 p.a. receive a subsidy of between 50% and 20%. The percentage reduces by 1% for every $3,000 of income earnt

Families with an adjusted taxable income of $346,756 to $356,756 p.a. receive a subsidy of 20%

Families with an adjusted taxable income of $356,756 p.a. or more will not be eligible to receive a subsidy

How much Child Care Subsidy can I receive?

Child Care Subsidy is calculated using:

Your combined family income
The number of children under five you have in childcare
The level of activity you may be doing; if you are studying or volunteering, this may work in your favour towards your childcare subsidy
Your childcare provider’s hourly rate

Families with more than one child aged five or under in care can get a higher subsidy. The higher CCS will be paid to their second child and younger children.

Eligible children will get a 30% higher subsidy up to a maximum of 95%. If you have children born on the same day, such as twins, Services Australia should be contacted to ensure one child is determined as receiving the standard CCS rate with the other, the higher rate.

Girl child is learning to place numbers on number board

nido teacher and kid playing with a cat at nido child care centre

Who is eligible for CCS?

The child you are responsible for is under thirteen and not attending secondary school unless an exemption applies
You care for your child at least two nights per fortnight (or have 14% care)
All immunisation requirements for that child are met
You or your partner, claiming the Child Care Subsidy, meet residency requirements
You are liable for childcare fees provided at an approved childcare service

You may apply for exemptions to these criteria if your child:

Attends secondary school but needs supervision; they must be either 13 years old or under 14 to 18 years old with a disability. In these circumstances, you must provide evidence why your child can’t be unsupervised which may include evidence of your child’s disability. You will also need to confirm that an adult is unable to care for your child during this time
Is following an immunisation catch-up schedule according to the current Australian Immunisation Handbook
Has approved medical exemption from immunisation which has been recorded on the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR)

The CCS system has now been enhanced to recognised combined families, where there may be diverse family circumstances, and each parent or carer is receiving CCS for different children in their family. Services Australia will backpay the higher subsidy amount to affected families for the period March to July 2022.

Additional Support

Some families can get  additional Child Care Subsidy to provide extra support with childcare fees.

There are four different types of additional Child Care Subsidy that you can apply for if you’re either:

a grandparent
transitioning to work
experiencing temporary financial hardship
caring for a child who is vulnerable or at risk of harm, abuse, or neglect

kid trying to paint at nido child care centre

Approved childcare

These childcare services have Australian Government approval to obtain Child Care Subsidy to reduce fees on your behalf:

Centre Based Day Care, including long day care and occasional care
Family Day Care
Outside School Hours Care, including before, after and vacation care
In Home Care

Options to increase your subsidy

Activities such as studying and volunteering also work in your favour towards your childcare subsidy. Taking some extra time to follow your interests or develop some new skills, even through online learning platforms like Coursera, or other online TAFE and university courses, will count as activity towards your subsidy.

Recognised activities:

paid work including being self employed
paid or unpaid leave, including paid or unpaid parental or maternity leave
doing an approved course of education or study
doing training to improve work skills or employment prospects
unpaid work in a family business
actively looking for work
volunteering
unpaid work experience or unpaid internship
actively setting up a business
other activities on a case-by-case basis

kid viewing object at nido child care centre

However, some of these activities will only be recognised for a certain amount of time. The government will 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

How does the activity test work?

For families earning up to $356,756 per annum, the table adjacent indicates how many hours of subsidy you will receive per hour of activity per fortnight.

If you’re looking to apply for the childcare subsidy for the first time or have any questions about the system, please visit the  Australian Government website  for more information.

Hours of Activity	Hours of Subsidy
8 to 16 hours	36 hours
16 to 48 hours	72 hours
Over 48 hours	100 hours