An additional payment to help with your child care costs if you’re eligible for Child Care Benefit.
Eligibility basics
- use approved child care
- claim and are eligible for Child Care Benefit, even if your income means your Child Care Benefit payment is $0
- meet the rebate Work, Training, Study test or meet an exception
There are changes to child care assistance from 2 July 2018. Read more about the new Child Care Subsidy and Additional Child Care Subsidy.
Eligibility & payment rates
Eligibility
You can only get Child Care Rebate if you’re eligible for Child Care Benefit.
Approved child care services
To get Child Care Rebate, you must be using a Child Care Benefit approved child care service.
Immunisation requirements
To get Family Tax Benefit (FTB) Part A supplement and child care fee assistance your child must meet immunisation requirements.
Work, Training, Study test
You and your partner need to have met the work, training, or study requirements during the week in which you used child care, or meet an exception.
Payment rates
Child Care Rebate helps with the cost of child care fees.
Payment options
There are 4 ways you can receive Child Care Rebate.
Absences and Child Care Rebate
Child Care Rebate is paid for up to 42 absences per child per financial year.
Details you need to give your approved child care service
When you enrol your child in a Child Care Benefit approved child care service, you'll need to provide them with information to identify your family.
Claiming
To be assessed for Child Care Rebate, you need to claim Child Care Benefit for approved child care.
Read more about claiming Child Care Rebate.
Managing your payment
Change of circumstances
You need to tell us if your circumstances change when you're receiving a payment.
Balancing your family assistance payments
We compare your income estimate with your actual income at the end of each financial year. This is to make sure we pay you the correct amount of Family Tax Benefit or Child Care Benefit.
Balancing your child care payments
At the start of each financial year, we ask you to estimate your family income so that we can work out how much Child Care Benefit for approved care to pay you.
While travelling outside Australia
There are rules about how long your child care payments can be paid while you or your dependent children travel outside Australia.
Someone to deal with us on your behalf
If you want someone else to deal with us, you can authorise them to enquire, act or get payments for you.
What you need to do to get Child Care Subsidy if you currently get a child care payment
From 2 July 2018, Child Care Subsidy (CCS) and Additional Child Care Subsidy (ACCS) will replace the existing child care payments we offer.
Read more about Child Care Subsidy if you get a child care payment
Resources
Child Care compliance
To be eligible for Government fee assistance, all approved child care services must comply with the law.
Australia's online child care portal
The mychild website is Australia's online child care portal.
Payment and Service Finder
Select the options that describe your circumstances, then explore a list of possible Centrelink and Medicare payments and services online.
Manage your money
We’ve got advice and tools to help you with budgeting, borrowing and credit, and managing debt.
My bank account is overdrawn
You can get help to manage your money if your bank account is overdrawn.