On 2 July 2018, the Child Care Benefit and Child Care Rebate was replaced by a single Child Care Subsidy. The Child Care Subsidy is means tested based on the combined family income, the fortnightly activity of families – such as work, study or volunteering – and the type of service a child attends.*
Receiving the new Child Care Subsidy is not an automatic process and there are a few things you need to do now, to transition to the new subsidy.
If you haven't already, you will need to complete a Child Care Subsidy assessment and apply for the Child Care Subsidy with Centrelink by following the below steps.
Families that do not complete these steps will not receive the Child Care Subsidy, paying full fees from 2 July 2018.
Families who received the Child Care Benefit and/or Child Care Rebate for approved care received a Centrelink letter about transitioning to the Child Care Subsidy. This should have arrived from April 2018. If you haven't already you should follow the instructions in your letter and go online to complete your Child Care Subsidy assessment or claim for Child Care Subsidy as soon as possible.
Families receiving additional support under Child Care Benefit payments, will need to follow the instructions in their Centrelink notice on how to apply for Additional Child Care Subsidy.
Once this process has been completed and you have been assessed as eligible for the new Child Care Subsidy, the subsidy will be paid direct to your child care service and you will receive it as reduced fees.
If you can’t complete these steps online, you can provide this information to Centrelink verbally.
There is also an Express Plus Centrelink mobile App available to download on Apple and Android devices so that you can easily access your myGov account.
For questions and support contact the myGov helpdesk on 13 23 07, select Option 1.
You can try our simple subsidy estimator to get an idea of how your payments will be impacted – click here to use the estimator.
*There are also eligibility requirements to receive Child Care Subsidy for a child (such as immunisation and residency requirements).
Receiving the new Child Care Subsidy is not an automatic process and there are a few things you need to do now, to transition to the new subsidy.
What you must do to access the subsidy
If you haven't already, you will need to complete a Child Care Subsidy assessment and apply for the Child Care Subsidy with Centrelink by following the below steps.Families that do not complete these steps will not receive the Child Care Subsidy, paying full fees from 2 July 2018.
- Sign in to your myGov account. If you don’t have one, you will need to create a myGov account at https://my.gov.au.
- Link myGov to Centrelink. You can do this under Services.
- Select Centrelink and complete the Child Care Subsidy Assessment form by providing Centrelink with the following information: your estimated 2018-19 combined family income, your activity details (using the parent with the lowest activity level), and confirmation of your child’s enrolment.
Families who received the Child Care Benefit and/or Child Care Rebate for approved care received a Centrelink letter about transitioning to the Child Care Subsidy. This should have arrived from April 2018. If you haven't already you should follow the instructions in your letter and go online to complete your Child Care Subsidy assessment or claim for Child Care Subsidy as soon as possible.
Families receiving additional support under Child Care Benefit payments, will need to follow the instructions in their Centrelink notice on how to apply for Additional Child Care Subsidy.
Once this process has been completed and you have been assessed as eligible for the new Child Care Subsidy, the subsidy will be paid direct to your child care service and you will receive it as reduced fees.
If you can’t complete these steps online, you can provide this information to Centrelink verbally.
There is also an Express Plus Centrelink mobile App available to download on Apple and Android devices so that you can easily access your myGov account.
For questions and support contact the myGov helpdesk on 13 23 07, select Option 1.
Want to get a Child Care Subsidy estimate?
You can try our simple subsidy estimator to get an idea of how your payments will be impacted – click here to use the estimator.*There are also eligibility requirements to receive Child Care Subsidy for a child (such as immunisation and residency requirements).