Centre charges a flat fee
If the early childhood education centre or service charges a flat fee, calculate the amount of Early Learning Payment payable by dividing the service's weekly fee by the number of hours the child is enrolled for.
Enrolled hours means, the number of hours the child is booked to attend the centre or service, whether or not the child attends.
Example 1
Weekly childcare centre fee | $140.00 |
Divided by enrolled hours | 35 hours |
Hourly fee equals | $4.00 |
The amount payable in this example is $4.00 per hour.
Example 2
Weekly childcare centre fee | $315.00 |
Divided by enrolled hours | 30 hours |
Hourly fee equals | $10.50 |
The maximum amount payable is $10.02 per hour (as at 1 April 2026).
As the calculated hourly fee is higher than the maximum rate we can pay, this client would only be entitled to get the maximum hourly rate of the subsidy.
We cannot pay more than the maximum rate.
Legislation
- Rate of assistance clause 8 Family Start and Early Start (Childcare Assistance) Programme
