Who can get early childhood education assistance
You can’t claim for early childhood education in family day care or home-based care or preschool. You can’t claim the costs of a nanny or an au pair.
When you can claim early childhood education assistance
When early childhood education assistance stops
You may get child education assistance instead when your child starts preschool.
Rate of early childhood education assistance
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Deduct the annual contributions from the annual compulsory fees charged by the benchmark school.
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Divide the result of step 1 by 52.
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Divide the result of step 2 by 50
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Round up the result to the nearest dollar.
The benchmark school fees include their enrolment and application fees. The assistance you get to cover these fees at your child’s facility is included in the hourly rate.
Calculating the hours:
You drop your child off at 7:45 am and return to pick up your child by 2:15pm.
You’re eligible for 7 hours of assistance, broken down as:
- from 8am – 2pm = 6 full hours
- plus 15 minutes either side = 30 min, rounded up to the nearest full hour = 1.
You’re an unaccompanied member, your regular pattern of work is 5 days per week, and you have a child who attends the benchmark early childhood education facility for 10 hours a day. The benchmark fees for your location are $46,000 a year. Your contribution is $14,861 a year.
The rate of assistance is $12 an hour. This is calculated by:
- Annual contribution is $31,139 a year ($46,000 − $14,861).
- $31,139 ÷ 52 = $598.83 ÷ 50 = $11.97
- $11.97 rounded to the nearest dollar = $12
If the early childhood education facility your child attends costs more than the benchmark facility, you do not get a higher rate of assistance.
You're an accompanied member. Your regular pattern of work is 5 days per week, and your partner’s regular pattern of work or study is 3 days per week. Your child attends a centre-based early childhood education facility for 10 hours a day. The benchmark fees for your location are $46,000 a year. Your contribution is $20,665 a year.
You'll get a benefit for the 3 days your partner is working. The rate of assistance is $10 an hour for 3 days a week. This is calculated by:
- Annual contribution for 5 full days is $25,335 a year ($46,000 − $20,665).
- The hourly rate is $9.74 ($25,335 ÷ 52 = $487.21 ÷ 50 = $9.74).
- $9.74 rounded to the nearest dollar = $10.
Fees the assistance doesn’t cover
You can use your child supplement allowance to help you pay for other early childhood education costs.