Simple Child Care Subsidy Calculator

This simple version of the Child Care Subsidy Calculator (CCS Calculator) is developed for parents who know if their child is eligible for the Higher CCS or not and want to estimate the CCS for that one child only (not multiple children).

This Child Care Subsidy Calculator allows you to estimate your child care subsidy for one child in 3 simple steps:

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AU$
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Need help? Please check out the examples:
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Early Learning Centre


Example:

Your child (below school age) is attending an Early Learning Centre (ELC). The hours for the Early Learning Centre are 8.10am-3.10pm at $120, with After School Care at $20 from 3.10pm to 6pm. The Centre also runs Vacation Care during the School Holidays that runs from 8am-6pm for $100 per day.

Your child is enrolled in the ELC care and After School Care 5 days per week for 40 weeks per year. In addition your child is enrolled in Vacation Care 5 days per week for 10 weeks per year in the same centre.

How to Fill in the Information:

The days per week are all same across different care types so you only need to convert the daily fees and daily hours to the average over 50 weeks.

The ELC part is simple as it is Centre Based Day Care:

    The Daily Hours = (7 hrs X 40 weeks) / 50 weeks = 5.6 hrs per day

    The Daily Fees = ($120 X 40 weeks) / 50 weeks = $96 per day

The tricky part is the after school care and Vacation Care as both are Outside School Hours Care:

    The Daily Hours = (3 hrs X 40 weeks + 10 hrs X 10 weeks) / 50 weeks = 4.4 hrs per day

    The Daily Fees = ($20 X 40 weeks + $100 X 10 weeks) / 50 weeks = $36 per day

Now you need to choose "No" for the "Is this child attending school?" question.

Then you enter your numbers into the calculator as shown below:

Per Week
Hours
$
Weeks
Per Week
Hours
$
Weeks
Still have questions on how to use this Calculator, please Contact CCSC and we will get back to you in one hour.
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Long Day Care + Family Day Care


Example:

Your child (below school age) is enrolled at two child care centres:

    (1) at a Centre Based Day Care 3 days (10 hours per day) per week at $120 per day for 50 weeks per year;

    (2) and at a Family Day Care 2 days (10 hours per day) per week at $110 per day for 50 weeks per year.

How to Fill in the Information:

For the Centre Based Day Care:

    The Days = 3 days per week

    The Daily Hours = 10 hrs per day

    The Daily Fees = $120 per day

For the Family Day Care:

    The Days = 2 days per week

    The Daily Hours = 10 hrs per day

    The Daily Fees = $110 per day

Now you need to choose "No" for the "Is this child attending school?" question.

Then you enter your numbers into the calculator as shown below:

Per Week
Hours
$
Weeks
Per Week
Hours
$
Weeks
Still have questions on how to use this Calculator, please Contact CCSC and we will get back to you in one hour.
×

After School Care + Vacation Care


Example:

Your school aged child is enrolled in both After School Care and Vacation Care (both are Outside School Hours Care):

    (1) in the After School Care 4 days (3 hours per day) per week at $30 per day for 40 weeks per year;

    (2) and in the Vacation Care 5 days (10 hours per day) per week at $90 per day for 10 weeks per year.

How to Fill in the Information:

For the After School Care, you need to convert the numbers to 5 days per week (same as the Vacation Care):

    The Days = 5 days per week

    The Daily Hours = (3 hrs X 4 days) / 5 days = 2.4 hrs per day

    The Daily Fees = ($30 X 4 days) / 5 days = $24 per day

    Weeks per Year = 40 weeks

For the Vacation Care, you need to convert the numbers to 40 weeks (same as the After School Care):

    The Days = 5 days per week

    The Daily Hours = (10 hrs X 10 weeks) / 40 weeks = 2.5 hrs per day

    The Daily Fees = ($90 X 10 weeks) / 40 weeks = $22.5 per day

    Weeks per Year = 40 weeks

Now you need to choose "Yes" for the "Is this child attending school?" question.

Then you enter your numbers into the calculator as shown below:

    The Days = 5 days

    The Daily Hours = 2.4 hrs per day + 2.5 hrs per day = 4.9 hrs per day

    The Daily Fees = $24 per day + $22.5 per day = $46.5 per day

    Weeks per Year = 40 weeks

Make sure you change the Centre Based Day Care Daily Hours & Family Day Care Daily Hours to 0!

Per Week
Hours
$
Weeks
Still have questions on how to use this Calculator, please Contact CCSC and we will get back to you in one hour.
Step 3.1 - Fill in details for child 1
What type of childcare(s) does this child attend?
Centre Based Day Care
Per Week
Hours
$
Weeks
Child 1 Summary [Subsidy Rate 95.00%] Weekly Average Quarterly Average Yearly
Child Care Fees $0.00 $0.00 $0.00
Child Care Subsidy $0.00 $0.00 $0.00
Child Care Subsidy Withholding $0.00 $0.00 $0.00
Child Care Subsidy Paid to Service Provider $0.00 $0.00 $0.00
Out-of-pocket Child Care Cost $0.00 $0.00 $0.00
Child Care Cost after EOY Reconciliation $0.00 $0.00 $0.00

Calculation

In case you wonder how the CCS is calculated please read through the CCS calculation steps listed below. Please note: This is only accurate for the standard CCS rate child. For your higher CCS rate child you need to use the higher CCS rate in Step 4. In addition if your child is attending more than one type of care this will be accurate only if you estimate one type of care at a time.

Step 1 - Work out the CCS hours per fortnight

In your case your activity test result is 100 hours. This means you are eligible for up to 100 hours of subsidy per fortnight (50 hours per week).

Step 2 - Work out the hourly fee

In your case you pay $140 for a 10 hours session so the hourly fee is $140 ÷ 10 = $14.

Step 3 - Work out the lower of the hourly fee and the hourly rate cap

In your case the hourly subsidy rate cap is $12.74 which is lower than the hourly fee $14. This mean the CCS will be calculated based on $12.74 instead of $14.

Step 4 - Work out the hourly CCS amount

In your case since your CCS percentage is 50% the hourly CCS amount will be $12.74 × 50% = $6.15.

Step 5 - Work out the weekly CCS amount

In your case you can get 50 hours of subsidy per week so your weekly CCS entitlement is $6.15 × 50 = $307.75.

Step 6 - Work out the withholding amount

In your case the withholding percentage is 5% so the weekly withholding amount is $307.75 × 5% = $15.39.

Step 7 - Work out the CCS paid to service provider

In your case the CCS paid to service provider is $307.75 − $15.39 = $292.36.

Step 8 - Work out the out-of-pocket cost

In your case the out-of-pocket child care cos is $140 × 5 − $292.36 = $407.64.

Higher Child Care Subsidy

From 7 March 2022, the Australian Government will increase a family's CCS if they:

  • earn under $354,305 (2021–22), and
  • have more than one child aged under 6 in care.

The Australian Government will increase the subsidy by 30% (capped at 95%) for their second child and subsequent children aged under 6 in care. For example, where the second child would have been eligible for a CCS rate of 50% of the fee paid or hourly cap, they will receive a CCS rate of 80% (50% + 30%) of the fee paid or hourly cap. The standard rate child will get the standard CCS rate. This is usually the eldest CCS-eligible child aged 5 or under in the family. Younger children will get the higher subsidy.

Note: The increased subsidy will not apply to In Home Care sessions as IHC is subsidised on a family rather than per child basis. However, children aged 5 or under in IHC are included in the family unit when determining the standard rate child. A family with their standard rate child in IHC will get the higher subsidy for younger children who attend other care types.

If you want to learn more about the Higher Child Care Subsidy, you can visit the Higher Child Care Subsidy information page.