20 Hours Early Childhood Education and up to 9 hours Childcare Subsidy

Generally, clients who are getting 20 Hours Early Childhood Education (ECE) cannot get 9 hours Childcare Subsidy.

There are 2 exceptions to this:

If a client is getting less than 9 hours of 20 Hours ECE they can get Childcare Subsidy for the remaining standard childcare hours (up to the maximum number of hours they qualify for).

For example, if a client qualifies for 9 hours Childcare Subsidy and is getting 6 hours of the 20 Hours ECE, they can get up to 3 hours of Childcare Subsidy.

For these clients, if their child is attending early childhood education for more than 9 hours a week, they are likely to be better off getting the full 20 Hours ECE entitlement instead of Childcare Subsidy for those hours.

If a client is charged home-based educator top up payments, they can get Childcare Subsidy and 20 Hours ECE.

In this situation, it doesn't matter how many hours of 20 Hours ECE the client is getting for their child.

If a client is getting 9 hours or more of 20 Hours ECE, the 9 hours of Childcare Subsidy can only be used for home-based educator top up payments.

Example

A client has their child enrolled with a home-based educator for 10 hours of 20 Hours ECE and is being charged a home-based educator top up payment for those hours.

The client can get 9 hours of Childcare Subsidy to use towards home-based educator top up payments.

If a client is getting less than 9 hours of 20 Hours ECE, the 9 hours of Childcare Subsidy can be used for a combination of both home-based educator top up payments and standard childcare hours.

Example

A client has their child enrolled with a home-based educator for 6 hours of 20 Hours ECE and is being charged a home-based educator top up payment for those hours.

Their child is also enrolled for 3 hours of standard childcare.

The client can get Childcare Subsidy to use towards 6 hours of home-based educator top up payments and 3 hours of standard childcare.