CCS Hourly Rate Caps 2026/2027

CCSS Hourly Rate Caps 2026-2027 F/Y

CCSS have updated their CCSS hourly rate caps for the upcoming 2026-2027 Financial Year.

The Child Care Subsidy (CCS) hourly rate caps will go up from 6th July 2026.

Note: This new hourly rate has been uploaded into the Xap program, to allow correct estimations to be based on the new calculations.

Hourly Rate caps are the upper limit on the amount of CCS that CCSS will provide for sessions of care provided by an approved Child Care Service.
The CCSS hourly rate caps are used in combination with a Families CCS Applicable percentage to calculate the amount of subsidy per hour a family is entitled to receive for all the hours in a session of care.
CCS is calculated as a percentage of the actual fee charged, or the relevant hourly rate cap (whichever is lower)

See: DESE Child Care Subsidy Rates 2026 - 2027 effective 6th July 2026

CCSS Hourly Rates

Care Type	Current Below School Age	New Below School Age Child	Current School Age	New School Age
CBC	$14.63	$15.19	$12.81	$13.30
OSHC	$14.63	$15.19	$12.81	$13.30

Manual CCS GAP Calculation

The Manual Calculation for CCSS is:

Hourly Rate of the Service x CCSS hours x CCSS percentage x 5% withholding = CCSS
Total Fees - CCSS = GAP

Family Information

There are a few changes in relation to CCS eligibility for Families from the 6th of July 2026.

Current CCS Rates

Family Income	Subsidy Rate
$0 to $85,279	90%
More than $85,279 to below $535,279	Decreasing from 90%. The percentage decreases by 1% for every $5,000 of income a family earns
$535,279 or more	0%

CCS Rates from 6th July 2026

Family Income	Subsidy Rate
Up to $88,520	95%
More than $88,520 to below $538,520	Between 90% and 0%. The percentage decreases by 1% for every $5,000 of income a family earns
$538,520 or more	0%

Rates for second and younger children 2025- 2026

Family Income	Subsidy Rate
Up to $143,273	95%
More than $143,273 to below $183,273	Decreasing from 95% The percentage decreases by 1% for every $3,000 of income a family earns
$183,273 to below $262,563	80%
$267,563 to below $357,563	Decreasing from 80% The percentage decreases by 1% for every $3,000 of income a family earns
$357,563 to below $367,563	50%
$367,563 or more	Higher CCS rates no longer apply, all children in the family will receive the standard CCS rate

Rates for second and younger children 2026-27

Family Income	Subsidy Rate
$0 to $146,437	95%
More than $146,437 to below $191,437	Decreasing from 95% The percentage decreases by 1% for every $3,000 of income a family earns
$191,437 to below $270,727	80%
$270,727 to below $360,727	Decreasing from 80% The percentage decreases by 1% for every $3,000 of income a family earns
$360,727 to below $370,727	50%
$370,727 or more	Higher CCS rates no longer apply, all children in the family will receive the standard CCS rate

3 Day Guarantee

All CCS eligible families can now get 3 days of subsidised childcare per week.
Families can get 100 hours of subsidised childcare each fortnight for each child if they:

care for an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander child
have more than 48 hours of recognised participation each fortnight
have an exemption or experience exceptional circumstances
receive Additional Child Care Subsidy (ACCS) child wellbeing, temporary financial hardship or grandparent payments.

ACCS Rates from 6th July 2026

In most cases, the ACCS subsidy will cover the full GAP for a Family (dependant on the Hourly fee calculation)

see: Additional Child Care Subsidy - Department of Education, Australian Government

ACCS - 120% includes:

GCCS - Grandparent ACCS
TFH - Temporary Financial Hardship
CWB - Child Wellbeing

Eligible families will get the lower of either:

100% of the fee charged where it’s equal to or below the hourly rate cap
up to 120% of the hourly rate cap where the fee charged is above the hourly rate cap.

Care Type	Children below School Age (under 6yrs)	School-Aged Children (over 6yrs)
CBC	$17.56	$14.42
OSHC	$17.56	$14.42

Number of children in care

Families with more than one child aged 5 or under in care can get a higher subsidy for their second child and younger children. 
They currently get an extra 30% on top of their income tested rate for eligible children, up to a maximum of 95%.
Children who are entitled to both the higher subsidy and Additional Child Care Subsidy (ACCS) will be paid the ACCS rate.

To assist families further with number of children in care queries see: Services Australia website number of children in care

Updated on: 16/06/2026

Was this article helpful?

Thank you!