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Family income
We’ll work out your Child Care Subsidy (CCS) percentage using your family income estimate.
Your CCS percentage is the amount we’ll subsidise. It will apply to either your hourly fee or the relevant hourly rate cap, whichever is lower.
| Your family income | Child Care Subsidy percentage |
|---|---|
| $0 to $72,466 | 85% |
| More than $72,466 to below $177,466 | Between 85% and 50% The percentage goes down by 1% for every $3,000 of income your family earns |
| $177,466 to below $256,756 | 50% |
| $256,756 to below $346,756 | Between 50% and 20% The percentage goes down by 1% for every $3,000 of income your family earns |
| $346,756 to below $356,756 | 20% |
| $356,756 or more | 0% |
You can still claim this subsidy even if your family income estimate is $356,756 or more. If you actually earn less than this, we’ll pay you the subsidy you’re entitled to. We’ll do this when we balance your payments at the end of the financial year.
Watch this video to learn more about Child Care Subsidy and your family income estimate.
Withholding
We’ll withhold 5% of your subsidy. This is to help reduce the likelihood of you getting an overpayment. You’re able to vary this amount to suit your circumstances.
You can do this up to twice a year online.
If your Centrelink online account is linked to myGov, sign in now and select View withholdings to manage your withholdings.
If you’d like to change it more than this, call the Families line.
We use your family income estimate to work out how much subsidy you’ll get. This means at the end of each financial year we’ll balance your payment using your actual adjusted taxable income. We compare this information to make sure we’ve subsidised your child care fees correctly in the financial year.
If you underestimated your family income, you may end up with an overpayment which you’ll need to pay back. We’ll use the amount we withheld to help reduce the debt.
If you have a CCS overpayment, we may use some of your CCS each fortnight to pay this back.
If you don’t get CCS each fortnight, the easiest way to repay money is online using the Money you owe service. If your Centrelink online account is linked to myGov, sign in now to do this.
You can also use the Express Plus Centrelink mobile app.
If you overestimated your family income and didn’t get enough subsidy, we’ll pay any outstanding amount directly to you. This will include the amount we withheld.
Watch this video to learn more about Child Care Subsidy and your withholding percentage.
What you need to know from July
From 10 July 2023, the maximum amount of CCS is increasing from 85% to 90% for families earning up to $80,000.
In most cases, you don’t need to do anything to get the increased rate. If you get CCS now, we’ll apply the changes to your CCS automatically from 10 July 2023.
The income limit for CCS is also increasing from $356,756 to $530,000.
If you earn over $80,000, you may get a subsidy starting from 90%. This will go down by 1% for each $5,000 of income your family earns. The CCS percentage you’re entitled to depends on your family’s income.
If you have more than one child aged 5 or under, you can still get a higher rate for one or more of your children.
Use the Child Care Subsidy calculator on the Starting Blocks website to see what you may be eligible for from 10 July 2023.