Managing the rising costs of child care

ARTICLE
14 March 2022 dot 4 mins read

To make child care more affordable, the federal government offers parents financial assistance to help cover the costs. Here’s what you need to know.

Raising a family can be extremely rewarding, but also incredibly expensive. And now, more and more parents are relying on paid child care services so they themselves can continue working - even when their kids are still very young.
 
Fortunately, Australian families can receive a helping hand from the government to keep up with the rising costs of child care.

What is the Child Care Subsidy?

The Child Care Subsidy (CCS) is based on:
 
  • your household income
  • the hours of recognised activities you and your partner do (work, study or training)
  • the type of approved child care you use and your child’s age, and
  • the number of children you have in care.
     
To apply for the CCS, you need to complete a Child Care Subsidy Assessment online through myGov. Depending on your income and your work or study situation, you could receive a subsidy to cover between 20% and 85% of your child care fees. 
 
Your family income Child Care Subsidy percentage
$0 to $70,015 85%
More than $70,015 to below $175,015 Between 85% and 50%
The percentage goes down by 1% for every $3,000 of income your family earns
$175,015 to below $254,305 50%
$254,305 to below $344,305 Between 50% and 20%
The percentage goes down by 1% for every $3,000 of income your family earns
$344,305 to below $354,305 20%
$354,305 or more 0%
CCS payments are made directly to your child care provider. This means you only need to pay your provider the gap between your subsidy amount and the total fee.
For more information
Your financial planner can help
Talking to a financial planner can help you understand your situation and make confident financial decisions (big or small) so you can get the most out of life.
Disclaimer:
Copyright © 2022 AIA Financial Services Pty Limited (ABN 68 008 540 252, AFSL 231109), trading as AIA Financial Wellbeing. All rights reserved. This information is current at the date of this publication and is subject to change. This provides general information only, without taking into account factors like the objectives, financial situations, needs or personal circumstances of any individual and is not intended to be financial, legal, tax, health, medical, nutritional or other advice. Before acting on the information in this publication, individuals should consider its appropriateness having regard to such factors.

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