How to keep receiving childcare rebates under the government’s new system

Parents who are reliant on the Child Care Benefit and Child Care Rebate need to update their details with the federal government’s MyGov site within the next three months to ensure their payments roll over, as a new system is put in place.

Update your details!

The new system of childcare subsidies swings into place on July 2 of this year, but it’s vital that the 1.2 million families who use this system update their details with MyGov if they want their payments to continue. 

Centrelink will contact all families currently receiving these payments, in the next two weeks with further instructions, but mums and dads can also head straight to the Centrelink website via MyGov to fill in the new form.

A simplified system?

The governments’s new childcare rebate system was announced last year and rolls the current existing childcare subsidies into a single means and activity tested payment.

For parents to receive the rebate, they must be working, studying, looking for work or volunteering for a minimum of eight hours a fortnight.

Under the new system, families with annual incomes of under $186 958 will no longer face a cap on the amount of fee rebate the government will pay each year. This will come as a huge relief to mums and dads who had previously found themselves out of pocket by thousands of dollars.

  Read more about childcare:

• 10 sneaky signs that tell you this childcare centre is the one for you
• 7 things that are easier to find than childcare
• Confused about proposed changes to childcare? Here is the rebate breakdown

Your income bracket determines your fee subsidy

The changes announced last year broke down various income brackets and the subsidies parents can expect into the following,  according to the federal government:

• Families with a combined income of less than $65 710 a year will be able to claim 85 percent of their childcare fees. For families earning above that figure (but less than $170 710), the per hour subsidy tapers down 1 percent for each extra $3 000 earned.
• Families with a combined income of over $170 710 will be able to claim up to 50 percent of their childcare costs, capped at $10 190 annually.
• Families with a combined income of $251 248 or above will be able to claim dependent on their actual income, with subsidies starting at 50 percent and reducing to 20 percent when they hit $341 248 per annum (again capped at $10 190 annually).
• Families with a combined income of $351 248 or more will no longer be eligible for subsidised childcare.

Pop over to Centrelink’s website at MyGov to find out more.