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Jobs, Education and Training Child Care Fee Assistance

Helps with the cost of approved child care for eligible parents undertaking activities such as job search, work, study, training or undertaking rehabilitation to enter, or re-enter the workforce as part of an Employment Pathway Plan or Participation Plan.

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Helping young parents

From 1 January 2012, if you are 19 years of age or under and you receive the Parenting Payment and live in one of 10 selected Local Government Areas, we’ll be contacting you as part of the Helping Young Parents program.

JET Child Care Fee Assistance can help you meet the cost by paying some of the 'gap fee' not covered by Child Care Benefit for the hours of care you need for approved activities. JET Child Care Fee Assistance payments are made directly to the child care service on your behalf. You will still need to make a contribution toward the cost of care.

You need to know

Eligibility for JET Child Care Fee Assistance

Find out whether you are eligible for Jobs, Education and Training Child Care Fee Assistance

JET Child Care Fee Assistance

JET Child Care Fee Assistance will apply to the sessions of Child Care Benefit approved child care that you use when you undertake approved activities.

JET Child Care Fee Assistance can be paid in some situations if you are charged for child care when your child is absent. Talk to your Child Care Benefit–approved child care service provider about the reason for the absence. There is a limit to the number of child care absences for which Child Care Benefit and JET Child Care Fee Assistance can be paid. Your Child Care Benefit–approved child care service will be able to tell you how many absences you can claim in one financial year.

Parents and guardians should consider how the limit on absences may affect their situation for periods where they may not require care (e.g. semester breaks for study).

The number of weekly JET Child Care Fee Assistance hours you may be approved for is based on an allocation of 12 hours per day. If a session (or sessions) of care is for less than 12 hours in total, any remaining hours cannot be used or transferred to another day.

Approved activities for JET Child Care Fee Assistance

The period you can receive JET Child Care Fee Assistance for each of these activities is limited.

Approved activities include:

paid work or setting up a business
unpaid work
job search
study or training
personal support activities (e.g. government-funded rehabilitation programs)
participation in a labour-market program (e.g. Work for the Dole, Green Corps)

Changes to JET Child Care Fee Assistance

As part of the May 2012 Budget, the Australian Government announced reforms to JET Child Care Fee Assistance, including:

changes to the approved study activities
changes to the parental co-contribution
new work, training, study test requirements.

The Australian Government announced further changes to include eligibility for parents over 20 years of age who are undertaking a Senior Secondary Certificate of Education as defined in the Australian Qualifications Frameworks. This means Year 11 and 12 in most states.

This change will start from 4 February 2013. It means a Senior Secondary Certificate of Education will be an approved study activity for any JET Child Care Fee Assistance claim lodged on or after 4 February 2013.

First steps

Claiming JET Child Care Fee Assistance

To claim JET Child Care Fee Assistance, call us on 136 150.

Alternatively, you can download the Request for Jobs, Education and Training Child Care Fee Assistance form. You can then return this form to your local Centrelink Service Centre.

Resources

More information on JET Child Care Fee Assistance

More information for families using child care can be found on the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations site.