How the CCS hourly rate cap affects a family’s childcare cost

Child Care Subsidy is not always applied to the full fee a service charges.

For each session, the subsidy calculation generally uses the lower of:

• the service’s hourly fee; or
• the applicable CCS hourly rate cap.

For 2026–27, the Department of Education lists the Centre Based Day Care hourly rate cap as $15.19 for children below school age and $13.30 for school-age children. Other care types have different caps. ^R16

Consider a simplified example:

• daily fee: $190;
• session length: 12 hours;
• hourly fee: $15.83;
• applicable cap: $15.19.

Because the service’s hourly fee is above the cap, the subsidy percentage is applied to the capped amount rather than the whole $190 fee. The amount above the cap is paid by the family in addition to its subsidised share.

This is why a family with a nominal CCS percentage of 80% may pay more than 20% of the centre’s daily fee.

Centres should show:

• the total daily fee;
• the session length;
• the equivalent hourly fee;
• what is included;
• a plain-language cap explanation;
• a statement that the estimate is not an official entitlement decision.

Do not describe a family’s CCS percentage as a discount on the full fee unless that is actually how the calculation works. Services Australia determines and later balances CCS using the family’s circumstances and reported information. ^R14

Last checked: 19 July 2026. Rates can change each financial year.

Practical next step: calculate the hourly fee for each session and update family-facing examples whenever fees, session lengths or government caps change.

Related guides

• Should childcare centres show fees online?
• How should childcare centres explain costs after Child Care Subsidy?
• Why can a family’s gap fee be higher than its CCS percentage suggests?