Child Care Subsidy (CCS) is changing. The Commonwealth Government has identified the need to make high-quality early education and care more affordable for families. From July 10, 2023, a significant shift will take place that will result in over 96% of families having their out-of-pocket Childcare expenses reduced.

We know that navigating the CCS can be tricky to understand, and we will unpack the key changes further down, but the main points are:

• If you are already receiving CCS, you don’t need to do anything. Our centres will be making contact with you to discuss your new out-of-pocket expenses once the changes to CCS have occurred.
• If you have previously not been entitled to CCS or have never submitted a claim for CCS and have a family income of less than $530,000, you should lodge a claim for CCS with Services Australia as soon as possible to see your family is eligible under the new CCS.

If you would like to have a look at what your new out-of-pocket expenses could be, Starting Blocks has a very user-friendly calculator that you can access here.

The Key Changes

CCS is income and activity tested and has been the system used for Government Funding in the Early Childhood and Care Sector since July 2018. The following is a summary of the changes that will affect our Mother Duck families from July 10.

• If your family income is less than $80 000 per year, your CCS entitlement will increase from 85% to 90%
• The Child Care Subsidy rates will decrease 1% for every additional $5000 earned over $80 000 per family.
• All families earning less than $530 000 per year, will now be eligible to receive CCS. This was previously capped at $356 756 per family.
• For all families earning below $362 408 with more than one child aged 5 or under in care are eligible to receive a higher rate of CCS for one or more of their children.
• First Nations children will be eligible for at least 36 hours of subsidised care per fortnight. These families may be eligible for more subsidised hours based on individual circumstances.

Services Australia has released a range of resources for families if you would like further information.  As always, our Franchisees and Nominated Supervisors are available to have a chat and provide you with any further information or help you break down your out-of-pocket expenses.