Three things will determine a family’s level of Child Care Subsidy:

• A family’s combined income will determine the percentage of subsidy they are eligible to receive.
• An activity test will determine how many hours of subsidised care families can access, up to a maximum of 100 per fortnight.
• The type of childcare service will determine the hourly rate cap.

Some basic requirements must be satisfied for an individual to be eligible to receive the Child Care Subsidy. These include:

• The age of the child (must be 13 or under and not attending secondary school).
• The child meeting immunisation requirements.
• The individual, or their partner, meeting the residency requirements.

The number of hours of subsidised childcare that families will have access to per fortnight will be determined by a three-step activity test. In two parent families, both parents, unless exempt, must meet the activity test. In the case where both parents meet different steps of the activity test, the parent with the lowest entitlement will determine the hours of subsidised care for the child. Low-income families who earn under a government set threshold who do not meet the activity test will be able to access 24 hours of subsidised care per child per fortnight without having to meet the activity test, as part of the Child Care Safety Net.

What counts as activity?

You will only be able to access the Child Care Subsidy if you are doing suitable activity and the amount of activity will then determine how many hours of Childcare Subsidy you are eligible for.

Activity counts as:

• Paid work (including unpaid lunch breaks)
• Commute time from childcare centre to work (excludes time travelling from home to childcare centre and vice versa)
• Authorised leave (e.g. maternity leave, long service leave, annual leave etc)
• Unpaid leave of up to 6 months
• Unpaid work in a family business
• Setting up a new business
• Study
• Training and study (includes semester breaks)
• Work experience/internships (whether paid or not)
• Volunteering
• Looking for work (e.g. internet research, contacting employers, preparing resumes/letters of application, preparing for and attending job interviews, travel time for interviews)