FOR FAMILIES / CHILD CARE SUBSIDY
Make sense of
your childcare costs.
Try a standard Child Care Subsidy estimate using your own fee and session details. This is a guide, not a quote, eligibility decision or guarantee of your actual subsidy.
Your family’s estimate.
For one child under 6 who is not attending school, in centre-based day care, using the standard CCS rate. Current 2026–27 settings, effective 6 July 2026. These are not confirmed 2027–28 rates.
Not suitable for higher sibling CCS or Additional Child Care Subsidy. It also does not model shared care or hours used at another service.
Your entries stay in this page. They are not saved or sent to us. No name, email or Centrelink details are needed.
Use your estimated combined family adjusted taxable income for the financial year, not take-home pay.
Ask your centre for its current session fee. No Expeditions fee has been prefilled. This tool models session fees of $1 or more; that is a calculator range, not a CCS eligibility rule.
Use the charged session length, not just the hours your child attends.
Use your Services Australia assessment. Selecting 100 here does not make you eligible. If you do not know your entitlement, check it first or compare scenarios only.
YOUR INDICATIVE ESTIMATE
An average week, at a glance.
Assumes the same fee, session length and weekly pattern repeats across a fortnight. Your actual weekly bill and Centrelink payments may differ. Each displayed average is rounded independently, so displayed totals can differ by a cent.
The fortnightly breakdown
- Standard subsidy rate
- Booked hours
- Hours modelled with subsidy
- Hours beyond the assessed allocation
- CCS per eligible hour, before withholding
- Total fees
- Gross estimated CCS
- 5% subsidy withheld
- Estimated CCS paid to service
- Estimated out-of-pocket cost
A zero rate gives a zero subsidy estimate even if hours are selected. Withheld subsidy is reconciled by Services Australia; it is not a guaranteed refund. Rounding, attendance, absences, eligibility, other care and individual assessments can change the result.
Check the details before you decide.
Use a current centre fee and your assessed CCS details. You can then ask your centre to explain its sessions, inclusions, invoicing and enrolment process. Confirm your assessed entitlement and the centre’s current fees before making enrolment decisions.
Official references: 2026–27 CCS rates and caps; Services Australia Child Care Subsidy. Checked 28 October 2026 (Australian date). Recheck rates for later financial years.
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