The Child Care Subsidy (CCS) is a government subsidy that offers different levels of financial assistance to help cover the cost of childcare for Australian families. It is a means tested subsidy (annual income) that is paid directly to your childcare provider. Perfect Start Childcare is an approved provider for the Government Childcare Subsidy.

You are eligible for the CCS if you earn less than $354,305 in combined family income and are undertaking one or more of the following activities for at least 8 hours a fortnight; paid work (includes if you are currently on leave); self-employment; unpaid work in a family business; unpaid work experience or unpaid internship; looking for work; volunteering; training; or studying

How much subsidy you receive depends on three main factors

1:your family’s combined income – this is used to calculate the percentage of child care fees you receive a subsidy for.

2: the type of care your child is attending – the maximum subsidy you receive per hour depends on the type of care (family day care, long day care, kindergarten)

3:the number of hours you are undertaking the activities outlined above – this is used to calculate the number of hours you can claim the subsidy for.

Please note: Children that are unimmunised do not receive CCS.

CCS is paid in a percentage of fees and also on an hourly basis. This means per fortnight families will be eligible for 24 hours, 36 hours, 72 hours or 100 hours of subsidised care.

You will then be provided with a percentage and this is calculated in correspondence with how many hours your eligible to create an out of pocket fee that is payable to your childcare provider.

You can find information on the recognised activities and tips to update your activity details on the Australian government services website: (https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/individuals/services/centrelink/child-care-subsidy/how-much-you-can-get/your-income-can-affect-it).