Child Care Subsidy calculator
What the subsidy actually pays, and what you’re left with. Official 2026-27 rates, including the higher rate for younger siblings and the 3 Day Guarantee — the two things most calculators leave out.
You’d pay
$67/week
$3,226 a year, over 48 weeks of care
- Your subsidy
- 84%
- Full fee
- $420/wk
- Government pays
- $353/wk
- Gap, per hour
- $2.24
- At 3 days a week you're inside the 3 Day Guarantee — 100 subsidised hours a fortnight, with no income test and no activity test.
Is another day worth it?
Going from 3 days to 4 costs $22 more a week in fees. You’d be $258 a week ahead, before tax.
Gross pay against the extra gap fee. We don’t model income tax — your payroll office can tell you the after-tax figure, and inventing a second tax engine to guess at it would make this less reliable, not more.
The subsidy is one of 211 things we track.
Family Tax Benefit, Parental Leave Pay, your state’s rebates, the deadlines that close quietly. Eight questions, about a minute.
See everything your family can claimQuestions people actually ask
- How much Child Care Subsidy will I get?
- It depends on your combined family income. Families earning $88,520 or less get the maximum 90%. Above that the percentage drops by 1 point for every $5,000 of income, reaching zero at $538,520. A second or younger child aged 5 or under gets a higher rate, up to 95%.
- What is the hourly rate cap?
- The subsidy is worked out on the lower of your centre's fee and an hourly cap. For centre-based day care below school age the cap is $15.19 an hour; family day care is $14.08; outside school hours care is $15.19; in home care is $41.31 per family. If your centre charges more than the cap, the difference is yours.
- What is the 3 Day Guarantee?
- From January 2026 every family gets at least 100 subsidised hours a fortnight per child — roughly three days a week — with no activity test. There is no income cap on the guarantee itself, so a family who would otherwise get no subsidised hours still gets three days.
- Do I still get the subsidy if I'm not working?
- The 3 Day Guarantee covers the first 100 hours a fortnight regardless of activity. Beyond that, the number of subsidised hours depends on the activity test, which counts work, study, volunteering and looking for work.
- Should I go back four days instead of three?
- It depends on your gap fee and your daily pay. The calculator on this page compares the extra day's gross pay against the extra out-of-pocket cost. It doesn't model income tax — your payroll office can give you the after-tax figure.
- Is it worth claiming if my income is over the cut-out?
- Yes. Child Care Subsidy is reconciled against your actual income after the end of the financial year, so if you end up earning less than you estimated, Services Australia pays the difference. You can't get that money if you never claimed.
Rates as at 2026-08-13, from Services Australia. This is an estimate based on what you entered — your actual subsidy depends on your income estimate, your activity test result and your provider’s reported sessions. General information only, not financial advice. We’re not affiliated with Services Australia, Centrelink or any government agency, and we can’t lodge a claim for you. Spotted something wrong?