Fees dependent on things such as the number of days in care, the age of your child as well as your eligibility for any government subsidies.

We recommend speaking with your Centre Director who will be able to provide you with a quote.

Little Explorers Learning Centre, along with many other providers in the sector, closes for public holidays. If your scheduled booked day falls on public holidays, fees will still apply as staff and operating costs still need to be covered.

The Australian Government's Child Care Subsidy (CCS) covers up to 42 absence days a year, which includes public holidays. Therefore, unless you exceed this quota, you will be eligible for the CCS discount on public holidays. You may also able to use our holiday discount on these days, provided you have given us the required two weeks' notice* (*conditions apply).

Yes, fees still apply for sick days. However, your Centre Director may be able to arrange a make-up or swap day at their discretion. The Child Care Subsidy (CCS) will cover up to 42 absence days a year with no documentation and unlimited sick days if you're able to provide a medical certificate or similar.

Normal fees apply for all absences (including Public Holidays) that fall on a usual schedule day of attendance. However, Little Explorers may offer a holiday discount and the holiday discount may be applied at the discretion of the Centre Director. Child care fee payments need to be up-to-date to receive a holiday discount.

The Child Care Subsidy (CCS) is available, offered by the Australian Government for which you may be eligible. To find out if you are eligible for this subsidy, visit the Department of Human Services website www.humanservices.gov.au

In 2018 July, the Child Care Subsidy replaced the Child Care Benefit (CCB) and Child Care Rebate (CCR) with a single, means-tested subsidy.

The New Child Care Package

We have a Family Relations Team that is dedicated to answering all your enquiries and can walk you through the entire process, including eligibility, subsidy caps, calculators and more.

• Phone: 8362 3000
• Email: enrolments@activekidsgroup.com.au

What’s changing?

From 2 July 2018, there will be a New Child Care Package. The Package will help parents with children aged 0 – 13 work, train, study, and volunteer. The Package includes a new Child Care Subsidy, which replaces the current Child Care Benefit and Child Care Rebate. It will be paid directly to services.

The new Childcare Subsidy (CCS) will

• be simpler than the current multi-payment system
• reduce out of pocket expenses for most families
• be more targeted, providing further assistance to low and middle-income families

Child Care Subsidy Activity Test Requirements

Family entitlement to the Child Care Subsidy will be determined by a three-step activity test, more closely aligning the hours of subsidised care with the combined hours of work, training, study or other recognised activity undertaken, and providing for up to 100 hours of subsidy per fortnight.

  Step   |    Hours of activity (per fortnight)     |    Maximum number of hours of subsidy (per fortnight)

    1       |    8 hours to 16 hours                          |   36 hrs
    2      |    More than 16 hours to 48 hours      |   72 hrs
    3      |    More than 48 hours                         |   100 hrs

A broad range of activities will meet the activity test requirements including paid work; being self‑employed; doing unpaid work in a family business; looking for work; volunteering or studying. There will be exemptions to the activity test for parents who legitimately cannot meet the activity requirements.

Low-income families on $66,958 or less a year who do not meet the activity test will be able to access 24 hours of subsidised care per fortnight without having to meet the activity test, as part of the Child Care Safety Net.

If you don't meet the activity test and you have a preschool-aged child attending an early educational program (such as a preschool or kindergarten program) at a Centre Based Day Care service, you can access 36 hours of subsidised care per fortnight.

For the first time, families who currently use Budget Based Funded services will be eligible for child care fee assistance.

Annual cap (effective from 13 July 2020)

Your letter of assessment will note if you have an annual cap or not. The cap is not applied to all families and is dependent on the income associated with the claim.

If your family earns $189,389 or less, you won’t have an annual cap on your subsidy.
If your family earns between $189,390 and $353,680 your subsidy will be capped.
This means Centrelink will subsidise your fees up to the annual cap of $10,560 per child each financial year.

Note: the government will be holding back 5% of CCS paid to families until reconciliation at the end of every financial year. This balance will be paid back to families in their tax return if they are eligible.

What do you need to do now?

To transition, you will be required to complete an online Child Care Subsidy assessment using your Centrelink online account through myGov.

You will be asked to provide some new information and confirm your current details, including:

1. Combined family
2. Activity level of parents
3. Type of child care service

A Family Child Care Subsidy Estimator has been provided to assist in working out the impact on your individual situation.  We encourage all our families to review this ‘Subsidy Estimator’ so that you are well informed on what this change means for you.

More information about the new child care subsidy can be found on the Department of Education and Training website (Information for families).