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July 1, 2026
Last updated: July 2026
Applying for the Child Care Subsidy (CCS) has two steps. First, you submit a claim through your Centrelink online account, which is linked to myGov. Second, you confirm your child's enrolment once your child care service, such as Kings Road Long Day Preschool, has submitted it. You must complete both steps before you can receive any subsidy.
The most important rule is about timing. CCS can only be backdated 28 days from the day you submit your claim. So it is best to apply before your child's first day of care, or as soon as possible after.
This guide explains how to set up myGov and Centrelink, how to make your claim, how to confirm enrolment, what happens at tax time, and the most common reasons claims are delayed.
This guide only covers how to apply. For the amount you will actually receive, including the subsidy percentage, income limits, and hourly rate cap, see our full Child Care Subsidy guide for Castle Hill families.
Before you begin, it helps to have the following ready: a myGov account, your Centrelink Customer Reference Number (CRN) or a Digital Identity through the myID app, your and your partner's Tax File Numbers (TFNs), your bank account details, your child's Medicare details, and an estimate of your combined family income for the financial year. Services Australia treats a claim as effective, meaning it can actually be assessed, only once all required information and supporting documents have been submitted.
If you do not yet have a TFN when you claim, you can still lodge with the help of Centrelink staff, but the claim can only be held open for up to 28 days while you provide it. If it is not provided within that window, the claim lapses and a new claim is needed.
You need a myGov account linked to a Centrelink online account before you can claim. If you already have a Centrelink Customer Reference Number (CRN), go to myGov, select View and link services, choose Centrelink, select I have a CRN, and follow the prompts.
If you do not have a CRN, the current pathway is a Digital Identity through the myID app (the service formerly known as myGovID, renamed in late 2024 with no change to how it works). Downloading myID and verifying your identity to the Strong level lets you link Centrelink and prove your identity to Centrelink entirely online, without a visit to a service centre. If you cannot prove your identity online, you can complete the remaining steps by visiting a Services Australia service centre with acceptable photo identification.
Once your Centrelink online account is linked to myGov, the claim itself follows a set path:
You can track your claim's progress at any time through your Centrelink online account or the Express Plus Centrelink app.
Already receiving CCS for one child and adding another? A simplified path is available: sign in to myGov, select My family, then Child Care Subsidy summary, then Add child to Child Care Subsidy. This shortcut only works if you already receive CCS for at least one child and Family Tax Benefit for the child you are adding. Otherwise, submit a full new claim.
CCS can be backdated to the first Monday of a CCS fortnight, provided that Monday falls no more than 28 days before the date you submit your claim. For example, if your child started care on a Monday and you submitted your claim five weeks later, you would lose part of that backdating window and pay full fees for the days that fall outside it. Applying before your child's first day, or within the first couple of weeks at the latest, protects the subsidy for that entire period.
After you submit, Services Australia assesses your claim and writes to you (usually to your myGov Inbox) with the outcome, including when your first payment will start and how much you will receive. Straightforward, complete claims are generally processed faster than claims needing further information or manual assessment, so having your documents, TFN, and bank details ready when you claim helps avoid delay.
Submitting your claim is not enough on its own. Your child care service must also submit an enrolment notice, based on the Complying Written Arrangement (CWA), the written agreement between you and the service covering sessions of care and fees. Once your provider submits this, a task appears in your Centrelink online account (under My family, Child care, Enrolments) for you to review and confirm. Services Australia cannot pay any CCS until you have confirmed these details, and they must match your CWA. If they do not match, contact your provider and ask them to correct and resubmit the enrolment before you confirm it.
Two attendance rules affect an existing enrolment. If your child does not attend any session of care for 14 continuous weeks in a row, the enrolment automatically ends. Separately, if your child has not attended child care at all, including via absences, for 26 consecutive weeks, your CCS eligibility for that child stops altogether. If your child returns to care after either of these points, your provider needs to submit a new enrolment notice for you to confirm again.
CCS is balanced against your actual income each year, from mid-August, once your family income for that financial year is known. You (and your partner, if you have one) confirm this either by lodging a tax return, or, if you are not required to lodge one, by telling Services Australia directly through your Centrelink online account. The standing rule is that you generally have one year from the end of the financial year to confirm your income; for the 2024-25 financial year, that deadline was 30 June 2026. If your family received CCS in 2024-25 and you have not yet confirmed your income, do this as soon as possible, since CCS payments are affected once the confirmation deadline passes. Confirming income for CCS is separate from confirming it for Family Tax Benefit, so you need to do this even if you have already sorted your FTB.
Most delays trace back to one of a handful of causes:
No, but you do need to confirm your family income for the previous financial year each year so Services Australia can balance your payments, and you should keep your income estimate and activity details up to date throughout the year.
Yes. Applying before your child's first day is the best way to protect the full 28-day backdating window and avoid a gap where you pay full fees.
Contact your child care service and ask them to submit the enrolment notice. The confirmation task will not appear in your Centrelink online account until they do.
Not always. If you already receive CCS for one child and Family Tax Benefit for the child you are adding, the "Add child" option in your online account is usually available and is faster than a new claim.
Your ongoing CCS is affected once the standard one-year deadline passes, so it is worth confirming income as soon as your tax return is lodged, or as soon as you know you are not required to lodge one.
We know the paperwork side of starting care can feel like the hardest part, even after you have chosen a preschool. At Kings Road Long Day Preschool, our team will submit your child's enrolment notice promptly once you enrol, so the confirmation task appears in your Centrelink online account without delay, and we are always happy to help you understand what a Complying Written Arrangement covers. If you are also weighing up NSW Start Strong fee relief alongside CCS, our Start Strong fee relief page explains how the two work together.
If you would like to see our Learning for Life approach in person while you sort out the subsidy side, we would love to show you around.
Book a tour or contact us and we will help however we can.
