Childcare Cost Calculator

Understanding childcare costs in Australia

What long day care costs before subsidy

Long day care in Australia commonly costs $110 to $160 per child per day in 2026 before any subsidy, and crucially it is charged as a flat daily fee whether your child attends for ten hours or three. A typical 3-day week therefore runs roughly $330 to $480 gross, and a full 5-day week $550 to $800. Inner-city and premium centres sit at the top of that range (and beyond it in the most expensive suburbs), while regional centres are usually noticeably cheaper. This calculator gives you the gross weekly fee, which is the right starting point for budgeting but is not the amount you actually pay, because the Child Care Subsidy is then netted off it.

Gross fee versus what you actually pay

Your real cost is the gross fee minus your Child Care Subsidy, which Services Australia pays directly to the centre so it shows up as a discount on your invoice. The size of that discount is your CCS percentage, set by your combined family income and ranging from 90% at the maximum down to zero for very high earners. A family on the 90% rate paying $150 a day sees most of it covered, leaving a gap of around $15 a day before withholding, while a higher-income family on, say, 50% carries $75 of that same daily fee. This is why two families at the same centre can pay completely different amounts, and why the gross figure here only becomes a real budget once you apply your own percentage.

The hourly rate cap is the hidden cost driver

The detail that catches families out is the government hourly rate cap. CCS is calculated on the lower of your centre’s fee or that capped hourly rate, so any portion of the daily fee that sits above the cap receives no subsidy at all and is paid by you in full. The practical effect is that a premium centre increases your out-of-pocket by more than the headline difference in daily fee suggests, because those extra dollars are entirely unsubsidised. If one centre charges $130 a day and sits under the cap while another charges $170 and pushes above it, the real gap difference at a 70% or 80% subsidy rate is larger than the $40 sticker gap, since the top slice of the dearer centre attracts a 0% effective rate. Asking each centre how its fee compares to the current cap is one of the most useful questions you can put before enrolling.

Turning the gross fee into a real weekly budget

To build your genuine weekly budget, pair this gross figure with your CCS percentage, then layer in three real-world adjustments centres rarely highlight. First, the 5% the government withholds through the year, which makes your in-year gap slightly larger than your headline rate, reconciled after the financial year against your actual income. Second, the activity test, which caps how many hours per fortnight are subsidised, so light part-time work can mean some attended hours are charged at the full fee with no subsidy at all. Third, absences and holidays, since most centres bill for sick days, public holidays and your family holidays, while CCS only covers a limited number of absence days per child each year.

Choosing a centre on total cost, not sticker price

The lowest advertised daily fee is not always the cheapest centre once everything is counted, which is why comparing on total annual cost beats comparing on the headline rate. A centre that sits under the hourly rate cap maximises your subsidy on every hour, whereas a premium centre above the cap leaves an unsubsidised top slice you pay in full. A centre that closes and stops charging over the Christmas and New Year period can save several hundred dollars a child against one that bills all 52 weeks. And an all-inclusive centre that covers nappies, meals, formula and excursions in the daily fee can beat a cheaper-looking centre that adds those as unsubsidised extras. For the centre operator, being upfront about where the fee sits relative to the cap, what is included, and the absence and closure policy is what lets a prospective family compare honestly and removes the bill-shock that drives early withdrawals. For the family, the practical move is to ask each shortlisted centre for a sample weekly invoice at your subsidy rate, then compare those net figures rather than the gross daily rates. Treat the daily rates here as indicative market figures, and confirm the exact fee, what it includes, the absence policy and any enrolment or bond charges with the centre, and your subsidy with Services Australia.