The CCS hourly rate cap.

The Child Care Subsidy doesn't pay a percentage of your full daily fee. It pays a percentage of the lower of your centre's hourly fee or the government's hourly rate cap. For 2026-27 that cap is $15.19 per hour for centre based day care for children under school age.

The 2026-27 caps

• Centre Based Day Care (CBDC), under school age: $15.19/hour
• Centre Based Day Care, school age: $13.30/hour
• Family Day Care: $14.08/hour
• Outside School Hours Care: $13.30/hour
• In-Home Care: $41.31/hour per family

The cap is the maximum amount the government will subsidise. The cap is reviewed each year and indexed.

How the cap interacts with your fee

Imagine an 11-hour day at $15.19/hour. That comes to $167.09. If your centre charges less than $167.09 for an 11-hour day, the subsidy applies to the full daily fee. If your centre charges more than $167.09, the subsidy only applies up to $167.09, and you pay 100% of the rest.

Across our 4 centres, fees range from $135 (Roseville preschool) to $185 (Possum Room at Normanhurst). For most rooms in most centres, the daily fee is at or near the cap.

A worked example: a family on 75% CCS

Let's say a family with combined income of $135,000 has a 90% - 10pp = 80% CCS rate. Their child is in our Possum Room at Normanhurst, which charges $185/day for an 11-hour day.

• Daily fee: $185.00
• Capped portion (subsidised): 11 × $15.19 = $167.09
• Above-cap portion (full fee, no subsidy): $185.00 - $167.09 = $17.91
• Subsidy: 80% × $167.09 = $133.67
• Daily gap fee: $185.00 - $133.67 = $51.33

If the family chose 5% withholding (the default), they'd pay $38.47 + 5% of $125.53 = about $44.75 per day, with the withheld amount returned at tax time if their estimate is accurate.

Why is the cap there?

The hourly rate cap is in place to prevent unlimited subsidy of high-fee services. Without a cap, a centre charging $300/day would receive a much higher subsidy than a centre charging $150/day, despite delivering the same child-hours. The cap rewards efficient services and prevents the subsidy system from being a blank cheque.

Try the calculator

The gap-fee calculator handles all the cap arithmetic for you. Just enter your income, your activity, and the centre, and it shows what you'd pay out of pocket.