There are rules around claiming Child Care Subsidy (CCS) for Family Day Care (FDC) and In Home Care educators who care for relatives. The rules do not apply to Centre Based Day Care (CBDC) or Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) educators.
On this page:
Family Day Care
Caring for close family
Providers must not claim CCS when an educator is caring for close family members.
This includes the educator’s or their partner’s:
- child, foster child, adopted child, kinship child or any child for which you have legal responsibility
- brother, sister, half-brother, half-sister, step-brother or step-sister.
This is because care that normally occurs in a family is not eligible for CCS or ACCS.
You must still keep a record of care provided by educators to close family members.
Caring for extended family
You may be able to report CCS eligible sessions when educators are caring for extended family members.
However, your educators must not provide care for more relatives than non-relatives in a CCS fortnight. This is known as the less than 50% rule.
When calculating the 50% rule, you must count all children enrolled in a session of care for the fortnight regardless of whether they attended care.
We may suspend or cancel your provider approval if you do not ensure your educators follow this rule.
Extended family members include the educator’s, or their partner’s, niece, nephew, cousin, grandchild or great-grandchild.
Watch a video about caring for extended family members.
Caring for an educator’s child
You cannot claim CCS for your own children when you are working as a FDC educator on the same day that you provide care to children. This includes when your child attends another FDC service. You can claim CCS if your child attends a CBDC or OSHC service.
As a provider, you must check whether any parents at your service, or their partners, are educators. If they are, you must check whether any of the below exceptions apply to them.
| Exception | Evidence required |
|---|---|
| The child has one of the medical conditions listed in Schedule 1 or 2 of the Minister’s Rules | The provider must collect and keep documentary evidence of the diagnosis. The diagnosis must be less than 24 months old, unless the diagnosis is permanent. |
| The child is undergoing assessment for disability under the Inclusion Support Program | The provider must collect and keep documentary evidence, for example confirmation from the Inclusion Agency. |
| The child lives in a remote or very remote area | The provider must collect and keep documentary evidence, such as evidence of the address. |
| At the time care is provided to the child, the parent was working for at least 2 hours at another job (not as an FDC educator) | The provider must collect and keep documentary evidence that shows the parent was working for at least 2 hours at the time the care was provided by your service. |
| At the time care is provided to the child, the parent was engaged in scheduled activities as part of a Certificate III level or above qualification | The provider must collect and keep documentary evidence that shows the parent was engaged in the activity at the time the care was provided by your service. |
In Home Care
Providers must not claim CCS when an In Home Care educator is caring for close or extended family members.
This includes the educator’s or their partner’s:
- child, foster child, adopted child, kinship child or any child for which you have legal responsibility
- brother, sister, half-brother, half-sister, step-brother or step-sister
- niece, nephew, cousin
- grandchild or great-grandchild.
This is because care that normally occurs in a family is not eligible for CCS or ACCS.
You must still keep a record of care provided by educators to family members.
More information
If you need more information about providing care to relatives, watch our videos:
If you need more information about providing care to relatives, please contact the CCS Provider Helpdesk via email ccshelpdesk@education.gov.au