The 3 Day Guarantee is a new update to the Child Care Subsidy (CCS). From 5 January 2026, all families who are eligible for CCS will receive at least 3 days of subsidised childcare each week (or 72 hours per fortnight), no matter their work, study, or volunteering situation.
What is the 3 Day Guarantee?
This Australian Government initiative aims to increase accessibility of childcare for families across Australia. Families can still access up to 100 hours per fortnight if they work, study, train, or volunteer for 48+ hours per fortnight, or have a valid exemption.
First Nations families will automatically receive 100 hours per fortnight. To be eligible for CCS families must be earning under $533,280 annually (2024–25 threshold) and meet immunisation requirements.
How can your family benefit?
If your family doesn’t currently meet the activity test for work, study, or volunteering, you may now be eligible for up to 3 days of subsidised childcare each week under the new 3 Day Guarantee. This means lower out-of-pocket childcare costs for your family.
If you currently attend 0, 1, or 2 days and would like to increase to 3 days, you’ll be able to access 3 days per week of government-subsidised childcare from January 2026.
How can you apply for CCS?
- Create a myGov account;
- Link Centrelink to your myGov account;
- Apply for the childcare subsidy through Centrelink;
- Enrol your child in an approved childcare providing service; and then
- Once approved and enrolment is confirmed, begin receiving the childcare subsidy.
Find out how the CSS works here.
How it CSS Works
Childcare subsidies are not paid directly into your bank account or given to you as cash. Instead, the government ensures that the money you “receive” gets spent in the right places. Once you have confirmed enrolment at a particular service, the government will send the money directly to that service. This means you don’t actually see the money, you are simply left with lower childcare fees.
A gap fee is the left-over amount of money to be paid out of pocket by you after the childcare subsidies have been applied. For example, if a day at childcare costs $100 and the subsidies cover $80, the remaining $20 you would need to pay out of pocket are the gap fees. The childcare subsidies do not cover 100% of your fees, but they can cover a noticeable percentage based on your household income.
Payments don’t begin as soon as you are approved to receive subsidies. The government will wait until your child’s first day at childcare to ensure money does not get spent unnecessarily. If you are approved after your child has already begun childcare, the childcare subsidy can be backdated up to 28 days. If you would like more information regarding how to apply for childcare subsidies, please feel free to reach out to us here.