The Child Care Subsidy (CCS) is the largest form of child care assistance in Australia and is provided by the Federal Government. Primarily, this subsidy reduces the childcare costs for families with children attending long day care. It also reduces the costs of out of school hours care, family daycare and in home care. The CCS became available to families on 2 July 2018.

The purpose of providing child care assistance and reducing costs is to:

1. 1. improve the development of children by increasing the level of early education they receive, and
2. 2. increase the level of work and study conducted by parents and guardians by decreasing their childcare costs

The CCS also simplifies child care fee assistance by replacing several previous programs including the Child Care Benefit, Child Care Rebate and Jobs, Education and Training Child Care Fee Assistance Programme.

Prior to calculating the amount of subsidy your family can claim, you must first assess your family’s eligibility. To be eligible for the CCS, you or your partner must meet all of the following four (4) eligibility criteria:

1. 1. care for your child 2 or more nights per fortnight (or have at least 14% care),
2. 2. be responsible for paying the childcare fees,
3. 3. live in Australia for at least 46 weeks of the financial year, and
4. 4. meet the residency requirements, those being:
   1. 1. have Australian citizenship, or
   2. 2. hold a permanent visa, or
   3. 3. hold a Special Category visa, or
   4. 4. hold a certain temporary visa type.

If the fourth criteria is not met, you may seek an exemption if you or your partner are a student sponsored by the Australian Government, are experiencing hardship or have special circumstances.

In addition to you or your partner meeting the eligibility criteria, your child must also meet two (2) eligibility criteria in order for your family to be eligible for child care support. Your child must be:

1. 1. 13 years of age or under, and not attending secondary school, and
2. 2. up to date with immunisations listed in the National Immunisation Program Schedule published by the Department of Health.

Exemptions to these criteria may apply if your child is:

1. 1. on an immunisation catch-up schedule according to the current Australian Immunisation Handbook,
2. 2. has an approved medical exemption from immunisation which has been recorded on the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR),
3. 3. 13 or under and attending secondary school
4. 4. 13 or under with a disability, attending secondary school, or
5. 5. 14 to 18 with a disability, attending secondary school.

To qualify for an exemption, you must also offer evidence as to why your child cannot be left without supervision, and confirm that there are no adults available to care for your child.

If your family is eligible to receive childcare support, the amount of funding that your family can receive depends on three (3) factors:

1. 1. the type of childcare your child attends,
2. 2. the amount of income your family earns, and
3. 3. the amount of ‘Activity Hours’ your family conducts.

The payments you receive are paid directly to your childcare provider and apply against your childcare fees to determine your family’s out of pocket costs. For payments to be paid to your childcare provider, you will be required to complete several steps:

1. 1. apply for a customer reference number (CRN) from Centrelink,
2. 2. create a Centrelink account online,
3. 3. create a MyGov account, and
4. 4. complete your Child Care Subsidy assessment and make a claim.

If you already have a customer reference number, Centrelink account online and MyGov account then you should be able to progress straight to step 4 above. To do so, log into myGov and select Services > Centrelink. Select Complete your assessment task and work through the steps to complete your application.