From Monday 7th March families across Australia who have more than one child in care who is aged 5 or under will be eligible for a higher Childcare Subsidy, also known as CCS. So, what does this actually mean? Basically, the subsidy from the government for your second or subsequent children will be higher, meaning more money in your pocket.
To qualify for the higher subsidy, your family income will need to earn less than $354,305 a year and as mentioned above, have more than one child aged 5 or under in a child care service. Families can receive a 30% higher subsidy, up to a maximum of 95%.
For those who have twins or multiples the government will automatically assign one of the children to be the ‘oldest’ and apply the higher subsidy rate to the other children.
As of July 2022 a child who hasn’t attended a care service for 26 consecutive weeks will no longer be eligible for CCS and this in turn could effect a family’s entitlement to the higher CCS. If the same child is enrolled to attend care again the family can submit a new claim for CCS.
Combined families, where each parent or carer received CCS for different children in their family, will also be eligible for the higher CSS, however this will not come into effect until July 2022. The good news is that Services Australia will back pay combined families the higher subsidy amount for the March to July period.
If your child turns 6 during the fortnightly billing cycle for CCS, which started Monday 12th July 2021 for the 2021-2022 financial year, the higher CSS amount will be paid for the entire fortnight. Once the child is 6 and the new billing cycle begins the family will no long be eligible for the higher CCS subsidy.
As the billing cycle for the new higher CCS starts Monday 7th March it is advised to check your statement from your care provider, with the current fortnight ending 20th March.