Generally, Child Care Subsidy (CCS) is paid to providers who pass it on to families. Families must make a co-contribution by paying the gap fee. Providers must take all reasonable steps to collect gap fees electronically. Providers must report fee information to the government.
On this page:
Managing payments
Services Australia pays CCS to approved providers to pass on to families as a fee reduction. To calculate CCS payments, Services Australia uses session reports. For each care type, we set a maximum hourly rate of subsidy.
A CCS fortnight is a 2-week period that starts every second Monday. Generally, we calculate CCS at the start of a CCS fortnight. This amount continues for the whole fortnight regardless of any change of circumstance.
Services Australia processes payments for sessions of care depending on when session reports were submitted.
| Session report submitted | Payment processed |
|---|---|
| Before 9 pm on Sunday | 9 am the following Monday |
| After 9 pm on Sunday | After 9 am the following Monday or when received in the Child Care Subsidy System (CCSS) |
Passing CCS on to families
You must pass payments on to families, as a fee reduction, within 14 days of receiving it. If you cannot pass on a payment within this timeframe, you must pay it back to Services Australia as a fee reduction via the CCSS.
Payments are made to a provider's nominated bank account. You must keep your bank account details up to date in the CCSS.
Once a payment has been processed, you’ll receive a payment advice in the CCSS. Access the payment advice via the PEP or your third-party software.
The payment advice outlines:
- how much CCS was paid
- how much CCS was withheld
- if any amount was taken as payment towards a debt owed
- the total amount paid to the provider.
You must provide a statement of entitlement to families who get CCS every fortnight.
Find out more about what to include in a statement of entitlement
Payment adjustments
You can update or withdraw session reports up to 28 days after the start of the week for which the report relates. If you update or withdraw a session report, any payment adjustments made after 9 pm Sunday will be processed when received in the CCSS.
Learn how to manage session reports
Managing overpayments and debt
Sometimes, you may receive more CCS than you're entitled to. This is known as an overpayment. If this happens, we’ll use your future CCS payments to pay back the difference.
Learn about managing overpayments and debt
Payments to families overseas
There are rules about when families can get CCS when they travel outside Australia. The rules also apply to Additional Child Care Subsidy (ACCS). Families can find more information on the rules of travel outside Australia on the Services Australia website.
A family can use their 42 allowable absences for short term travel overseas. After 6 weeks overseas, the family will need to pay full fees if you choose to charge fees. However, you are not obliged to charge fees. You may choose to temporarily backfill available places with casual enrolments.
Families planning to be overseas longer than 6 weeks may prefer to end their enrolment and start a new enrolment upon return.
Payments directly to families
Services Australia may occasionally pay CCS directly to a family. This occurs when care is provided before a family has been assessed as eligible for CCS.
Generally, families should make a CCS claim and establish their eligibility before their child attends care. You may occasionally provide care to a child before their claim has been finalised.
In this scenario, you should charge the family full fees. You should not charge fees based on estimated CCS or ACCS entitlements.
This is because Services Australia will pay any backdated CCS directly to the family if they are assessed as eligible.
Providers that charge fees based on estimated entitlements are responsible for recovering any unpaid amounts.
Services Australia may also pay CCS directly to a family if the family tells them about a change of circumstances that would increase their entitlement after a session report has been submitted.
Withholding
Services Australia withholds 5% of a family's CCS. If a family receives too much CCS, the withholdings that have been set aside will reduce what they owe at the end of the financial year.
Families can find out more about withholding on the Services Australia website.
Balancing payments
Services Australia balances CCS payments after each financial year to ensure families are paid the right amount. The balancing process is a matter between families and Services Australia.
Reporting third-party payments
There are rules when a third party contributes to a family’s ECEC fees. In most cases, the third-party contribution will reduce the family’s CCS amount. There are some exceptions which do not impact the family's CCS amount. These are called prescribed third-party payments.
Learn about reporting third-party payments
Managing fees
Families who get CCS must make a co-contribution to their ECEC fees. They do this by paying the difference between the provider’s fee and the CCS amount. This is known as the gap fee. This is a requirement under Family Assistance Law.
Collecting gap fees
Providers must take all reasonable steps to collect gap fees from families electronically.
Learn about collecting gap fees
Waiving fees
You may be able to waive gap fees in certain circumstances, such as during a period of emergency.
Learn about waiving gap fees during a period of emergency
Discounts for early childhood workforce
Providers can offer a discounted fee to educators or cooks they employ whose children are enrolled at one of their services. The discount will not affect the employee’s CCS entitlement.
Notifying us of fees
You must notify us of your current fees in the CCSS. You must tell us:
- your current hourly fees or session fees before CCS, discounts or reductions
- any changes to fees, within 14 days of the change
- twice a year – after the end of the financial year and calendar year, including reporting no change in fees.
Notify us via the PEP or your third-party software. For help see the task card on reporting fees in the PEP or contact your software provider. We cannot accept fee reporting by phone or email.
This is a requirement under Family Assistance Law. We publish your fee information to the Starting Blocks website. Families use Starting Blocks to make informed choices about care. We may take compliance action if you fail to meet your obligations.
Complete the Accurate fee reporting course in Geccko to learn more.
Service closures
You must tell us within 14 days if you close your service or change your operating hours. This is a requirement under Family Assistance Law.
Let us know via the Provider Entry Point (PEP) or your third-party software. You also need to tell your state or territory regulatory authority.
Families can only get CCS when your service is open and providing care, unless it is a public holiday or during a period of emergency.
You cannot claim absences when your service is closed, except on a public holiday or during a period of emergency.
On a public holiday, you may only claim absences for children who would have otherwise attended care on that day.
If your service is closed for part of the day, your reported sessions of care must align with your opening hours.
If you close your service, you must not submit session reports unless it is a public holiday or during a period of emergency where your service would have been otherwise open.