Childcare guide

We’ve popped together a guide to help you truly navigate the daycare and centrelink system. It’s complex, so we hope this makes it easier.

Am I entitled to the Child Care Subsidy?

Yes, if your child is:

• Under 13 years old
• Is up to date with their immunisations
• Is attending centre-based care, including long day care, occasional care, family day care or outside of school hours care (also known as OSHC, which includes before and after school care and vacation care)
• Is enrolled at least 2 days per fortnight

What am I entitled to get from the government?

The subsidy is based on your income (dual income for couples) the age of your child/children, the type of child care you use and the hours of recognised activity you and your partner work.It can range from 85% to 0%. For example, for families earning

less than $65k per year, the subsidy covers up to 85% of their costs. To find out how much you are eligible for, follow the steps below.

• Select Child Care Subsidy from the menu, then Child Care Subsidy Summary. 
• Next to your child’s name, select View details. You’ll then be able to see how much the government will subsidise.

Do I have to pay the full amount of my child care each week?

No, the Child Care Subsidy is actually paid from the government to your child care provider and you are billed the difference. This is generally a fortnightly direct debit.

Do I have to work to receive it?

No, you can be setting up a business, looking for work or even studying. Whilst the government doesn’t give you as many of these hours it’s great to know that these hours are also recognised.

Hot tips and hacks:

• Most child care providers are closed on public holidays but you are still billed for these hours.
• If your child is sick and does not attend you still need to pay. You are granted 42 absences in a financial year.
• Most centres do not allow you to swap days so additional days are at your extra cost.
• Different child care providers have different opening hours. For example, some are open 7.00am–6.00pm (11 hours) and some 8.00am–5.30pm (9.5 hours). No matter how long you send your child to care, Centrelink will dock you for the full day.

To make your claim:

Sign into myGov and go to Centrelink.

Step 1

• Provide your child care provider with your CRN number.
• From here you should get a prompt from Centrelink confirming if these details are correct. Both you and your partner will have to accept these from your separate accounts.

Step 2

• Select My family > Child care > Activity test and follow the prompts to input your and your partners hours of work.

Step 3

• Select Income and Assets details > Update my family income estimate and input your income and your partner’s (if applicable).

Step 4

• From here you should receive fortnightly invoices from your child care provider. This will be the outstanding balance that the government has not covered.