The JET scheme helps eligible parents meet the cost of child care by paying some of the gap fee (the difference between the total cost of child care and the amount covered by the Child Care Benefit) while they work, train or study to enter or reenter the workforce.

JET Child Care Fee Assistance payments are made directly to the child care service on your behalf. You will still need to make a small contribution toward the cost of care.

Am I eligible to receive JET assistance?
You may be eligible for the JET Child Care Fee Assistance if you are in receipt of one of the following income support payments:

• Parenting Payment
• Partner Allowance
• Widow Allowance
• Carer Payment
• Widow B Pension
• Means tested ABSTUDY
• Newstart Allowance
• Youth Allowance (for job seekers, not full-time students)
• Special Benefit, where you qualify for Parenting Payment or Newstart Allowance except that you do not meet the residency requirements (for example permanent residents, provisional visa holders or temporary protection visa holders)
• Community Development Employment Projects Participant Supplement, where you had immediate previous entitlement to a payment from this list that is no longer payable due to Community Development Employment Program (CDEP) income.

For more information on these payments click here

You may also be eligible for the JET Child Care Fee Assistance if you:

• Have an Employment Pathway Plan in effect; an Employment Pathway Plan is a written agreement that sets out the actions you agree to take to find work
• Require Child Care Benefit and use approved child care to take up paid employment or to conduct the activities in your Employment Pathway Plan
• Receive the maximum rate of Child Care Benefit
• Use Child Care Benefit for approved child care (for example, Long Day Care, Family Day Care, and Outside School Hours Care).

Unlike the Child Care Benefit, which is available to everyone who uses child care, JET Child Care Fee Assistance is only available to people involved in certain approved activities for a limited amount of time. These activities include:

• paid work or setting up a business
• unpaid work
• job search
• study or training
• personal support activities (e.g. government-funded rehabilitation programs)
• participation in a labour-market program (e.g. Work for the Dole, Green Corps)

How much can I claim under JET assistance?
If you are eligible to receive JET assistance you will have to pay your child care provider 10 cents per hour per child (increasing to $1.00 per hour per child in December 2012). The Government will pay your Child Care Benefit and any remaining gap fee. Remember that the number of hours you receive JET child care fee assistance cannot be more than the hours you receive Child Care Benefit and if you use more hours than you are entitled to you will have to pay the full cost for these hours.

JET child care fee assistance is paid directly to your approved child care provider and you receive the benefit as a reduction in your up-front child care fees.

Certain changes to the JET assistance scheme were announced in the 2012 Budget to read about these changes and learn whether you will be affected click here.

For more information about the JET scheme visit the Department of Human Services website or call them on on 13 61 50.