Child Care Subsidy · guide
The Child Care Subsidy 3-day guarantee
The old activity test is gone for the first three days. What the guarantee covers, and when you can get more.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How we calculate
Since 5 January 2026, every family eligible for Child Care Subsidy gets at least 72 subsidised hours of care per child each fortnight, whatever the parents' work, study or volunteering: enough for three 12-hour days a week, or close to four days at the more common 10-hour session. This floor is the 3-day guarantee. Families where both parents, or the single parent, have more than 48 hours of recognised activity a fortnight, or an exemption, get 100 hours, and every family caring for an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child gets 100 hours for that child regardless of activity. The guarantee changes the number of hours covered, not the percentage: the subsidy per hour still depends on family income and the hourly cap. Hours booked beyond the limit are charged at the full fee.
Subsidised hours for your child
Subsidised hours a fortnight
72
| Hours of care booked | 80 |
| Hours without subsidy | 8 |
| Days fully covered (at these hours) | 3 |
What changed in January 2026
Before the guarantee, the number of subsidised hours depended on an activity test: parents who worked, studied or volunteered only a few hours a fortnight could be limited to far fewer subsidised hours, and some families received none. From 5 January 2026, the Family Assistance Guide sets a basic result of 72 hours a fortnight for all eligible individuals, regardless of participation (section 3.5.2). A parent at home with a toddler, a parent between jobs and a parent working two days a week now start from the same floor.
Seventy-two hours in practice
Seventy-two hours is a fortnight figure. Most centres charge a full day session of 10 to 12 hours, so the guarantee covers three days a week at 12-hour sessions, or three days plus part of a fourth at 10 hours. The hours are counted per child and per fortnight; unused hours in one fortnight do not carry over to the next.
| Session length | Days a week fully covered by 72 hours | Days a week fully covered by 100 hours |
|---|---|---|
| 8 hours | 4 | 6 (care is booked five days at most) |
| 10 hours | 3, plus 2 hours of a fourth day | 5 |
| 11 hours | 3, plus 6 hours of a fourth day | 4, plus 6 hours of a fifth day |
| 12 hours | 3 | 4, plus 2 hours of a fifth day |
Take a family earning $95,000 with a two-year-old in day care four days a week at $145 for a 10-hour day. With little or no recognised activity, the 72 hours cover 72 of the 80 hours booked each fortnight, and the subsidy reaching the centre is about $873. If both parents have more than 48 hours of activity, all 80 hours are covered and the subsidy rises to about $970 a fortnight.
Who gets 100 hours
A family receives 100 subsidised hours a fortnight when the parent, and the partner if there is one, each complete more than 48 hours of recognised participation in the fortnight, or have an exemption. The calculator asks for the hours of the parent with fewer, because that is the one that decides. Families caring for an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child receive 100 hours for that child whatever their activity (Family Assistance Guide 3.5.2).
Recognised participation is broader than paid work. It includes paid and unpaid leave from a job you will return to, approved study and training with self-directed hours and placements, unpaid work experience, unpaid work in a family business, actively setting up a business for up to 13 fortnights a year, and reasonable travel time between the child care service and the place of work or study. Volunteering and actively looking for work count too, but on their own only their first 16 hours a fortnight are recognised, so they cannot by themselves lift a family above the 72-hour floor; combined with other participation, every hour counts (section 3.5.2.10 of the guide). Work does not have to happen during child care hours: a parent who works weekends can use care on weekdays.
Parents on JobSeeker, Parenting Payment or Carer Allowance
A parent with compulsory mutual obligation requirements for JobSeeker, Youth Allowance, Special Benefit or Parenting Payment starts from 72 hours like everyone else, and can add the time spent on those requirements to other recognised participation to pass 48 hours. A Carer Allowance recipient can likewise add caring hours to other participation. Families receiving Additional Child Care Subsidy for child wellbeing, temporary financial hardship or as grandparents do not report participation at all and are entitled to up to 100 hours.
Telling Centrelink about activity
Your hours result is set from the activity you report in your Centrelink online account. If your work or study increases past 48 hours a fortnight, update it so that the 100-hour result applies from the next fortnight. If activity drops, you stay on 72 hours; there is no longer a lower level. The new result applies from the start of the next fortnight, not retrospectively.