NestWise
Australia's family financial guardian
One tool.
Your numbers.
CCS · tax · extra day take-home — combined. Official 2025–26 rates. Free.
nestwise.net.au →
Your family & childcare
Family situation
Single parent
I have a partner
Your income / yr
Enter your before-tax income
$
At this income level your CCS rate is 0% — families earning above $535,279 combined are not eligible. Childcare fees are fully out of pocket.
Your work / study hours per fortnight
Participation — what counts?
Paid work✓
Study or training✓
Volunteering (recognised)✓
Job seeking✓
Paid parental leave✓
Unpaid work in family business✓
48hrs or less/fn72 hrs
Both partners 49+ hrs/fn100 hrs
⚠ Both partners must each exceed 48 hrs — CCS uses the lower of the two
Services Australia
48hrs or less
72 hrs subsidy
49hrs or more
Unlocks 100 hrs
On 48hrs or less? If you can reach more than 48 hours of work, study or training per fortnight, you may unlock up to 100 subsidised hours — a significant saving worth chasing.
Did something change recently? If you've lost your job, had a serious illness, or experienced a major financial event in the last 6 months, you may qualify for ACCS Temporary Financial Hardship — which can cover your full childcare fees for up to 13 weeks with no income test. Apply via myGov → Centrelink
Type of care
Hourly rate caps 2025–26
Centre — under school age$14.63/hr
Centre — school age (5+)$12.81/hr
Family day care$13.56/hr
OOSH — under school age$14.63/hr
OOSH — school age (5+)$12.81/hr
In home care (per family)$39.80/hr
Dept of Education 2025–26
Centre
Family
Day Care
OOSH
In Home
Government cap: $14.63/hr · Centre based day care
Daily childcare fee
The full daily fee your centre charges — before any subsidy.

The government subsidises up to the hourly cap. Fees above the cap are not subsidised.
Enter your centre's daily fee
$
Your fee is above the national average — most Brisbane centre-based care runs $130–$175/day. The government cap is $14.63/hr, so anything above that comes out of pocket regardless of your subsidy rate.
Days per fortnight
Subsidised hours per fortnight
Standard (3 Day Guarantee)72 hrs/fn
Both partners more than 48 hrs/fn100 hrs/fn
First Nations families100 hrs/fn
42 absence days per child per year.
= 3 days/week avg
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Adding a care day? Remember to update your activity hours with Centrelink via myGov — your approved hours determine how much subsidy you receive. Changes take effect from your next CCS assessment.
Session hours / day
How many hours your child's session runs. Most full-day centres are 10–11 hours. Longer sessions at the same daily fee = lower hourly rate = more likely fully subsidised.
Most centres are 10 hrs
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
10 hrs selected
Is it worth working an extra day?
Enter your hourly rate and we'll work out whether the extra day leaves you better off — after tax, childcare costs and any subsidy changes.
Your hourly rate
How we calculate your net
Gross day payrate × work hrs/day
Tax deductedATO differential method
Extra childcare gap feeon the new day only
Any subsidy rate changeif income crosses a threshold
Tax uses your individual income, not household combined.
On the extra day you're considering
$ /hr
Hours worked / day
Your work day length (not childcare hours)
6
7
7.6
8
9
This extra day pushes you into the next tax bracket — meaning more of your day's pay is taxed at a higher rate. The calculator handles this correctly using the ATO differential method.
Children in care
1
2
3
4
Good news — families with more than one child under 5 in care get a higher subsidy rate for their second child and younger. We apply this automatically.
School age child detected — the hourly cap is lower for school age children ($12.81/hr vs $14.63/hr). If your centre charges above this, you pay the difference out of pocket.
Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child
If your child is Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander — unlocks 100 subsidised hours regardless of your work hours
Activity exemption applies
Activity exemptions — 100hrs regardless of work hours
Disability or impairment (you or partner)✓
Carer Payment recipient✓
Temporary incapacity✓
Grandparent — principal carer, no income support✓
Grandparents receiving income support use ACCS (grandparent) — a separate higher pathway via Centrelink
FA Guide 3.5.2.20
Unlocks 100 subsidised hours regardless of work hours
Results hidden until you calculate — your data stays on your device.
Enter your details above.
Worth working more?
Net pay after tax & childcare
My CCS subsidy
What the govt covers for you
🔬
Working an extra day each week nets you
—
after tax, childcare & subsidy changes
—
Gross day's pay
—
Extra care cost /wk
Your subsidised hours cap means part of the extra day is unsubsidised.
Step 1 — Gross pay for the extra day
Gross day's pay
—
—
Worked every week → annual extra income —
Step 2 — Household income & CCS rate impact
Household now
—
After extra day
—
CCS rate now
—
CCS rate after
—
Step 3 — Tax & Medicare on the extra income
Tax this day
—
—
Income tax
ATO differential — actual extra tax ÷ 52 weeks
—
Medicare levy
2% on individual income
—
Step 4 — Childcare cost on the extra day
Weekly childcare cost change
Fortnightly diff ÷ 2 — extra care cost this week vs current
—
Full daily fee —
Govt pays to centre (— rate · 95% of subsidy) —
Your gap per extra day —
5% of the govt subsidy is withheld — you'll get it back after lodging your tax return
Step 5 — Subsidy change across all existing days
Weekly subsidy impact
—
—
In your pocket — per extra day worked
—
per day worked
\
NestWise aggregates publicly available government information. Not financial advice.
Rates based on official 2025–26 sources. nestwise.net.au
3 Day Guarantee — in effect from Jan 2026
All eligible families now get 72 hours of subsidised care per fortnight regardless of work hours. Both partners doing more than 48 hrs/fortnight unlocks 100 hours.
Want to know your FTB entitlement too?
FTB Part A & B · State kindy subsidies · Income tracking — all coming to NestWise. Drop your email to be first to know and lock in founding member pricing.
Learn more about NestWise →
Coming soon in NestWise
Family Tax Benefit A & B
Worth up to $6,000+ per year
SOON
Child support impact
How it affects your ATI & entitlements
SOON
Full income optimisation
Find the exact income where you keep the most
SOON
iOS & Android app
Save your profile, check anywhere
SOON
These estimates assume
✓You are an Australian resident meeting CCS residency requirements
✓Your child's immunisations are up to date — CCS stops within 63 days if not
✓Your child attends care at least once every 26 weeks
✓You have at least 14% care of the child (2 nights per fortnight minimum)
✓Your centre is an approved CCS provider
✓You are not repaying a Centrelink debt
Know a family who could use this?
It's free. Takes 2 minutes. Stop leaving money on the table.
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Estimates based on official 2025–26 rates from Services Australia & StartingBlocks.gov.au
Not financial advice · Always verify at servicesaustralia.gov.au
NestWise aggregates publicly available government information only
Questions? [email protected]
v59.11 · 2025–26