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We base your activity level on the hours of recognised activities you do and the type of activity you’re doing. We use your activity level to work out how many hours of subsidised child care you can get each fortnight.
If you have a partner, we’ll look at both of your activity levels. We’ll use the lower of your or your partner’s activity level to work out your hours of subsidised care. The hours of subsidised child care you can access per fortnight apply to each child.
There are 4 activity levels.
| Activity level each fortnight | Hours of subsidised care each fortnight |
|---|---|
| Less than 8 hours | 0 hours if you earn above $83,280 24 hours if you earn $83,280 or below |
| More than 8 to 16 hours | 36 hours |
| More than 16 to 48 hours | 72 hours |
| More than 48 hours | 100 hours |
If volunteering or looking for work is your only recognised activity, we will count the first 16 hours towards your activity level.
Other activities
You can get at least 36 hours of subsidised care per fortnight if both apply:
- you’re a Parent Pathways participant
- you’re getting an eligible income support payment.
Read more about Parent Pathways.
If you were participating in ParentsNext when it ceased on 31 October 2024, you’ll continue to get at least 36 hours of subsidised care until 11 May 2025.
If you’re getting, Carer Allowance you’ll be able to access 72 hours of subsidised care per fortnight.
If you have mutual obligation requirements, you can access 36 hours of subsidised care per fortnight. You must also be getting one of these payments:
If you have a partner, we’ll look at both of your activity levels. We’ll use the lower of your or your partner’s activity level to work out your subsidised hours. This applies even if one of you has an exemption.
Example of when we’ll use the lower activity level
John and Charlie have 2 children that attend child care. John gets Carer Allowance which means they can access 72 hours of subsidised child care each fortnight. Charlie does 15 hours of paid work each fortnight. This means they can access 36 hours of subsidised child care each fortnight.
We use the person with the lower activity level to work out the hours of subsidised care they’re entitled to. This means John and Charlie can access 36 hours of subsidised child care per fortnight for each of their children.
Multiple activities
If you do more than one recognised activity, you can combine the hours you spend doing each activity. This may increase the hours of subsidised care you’re entitled to.
Example of combining hours
Oliver is a single parent working 40 hours a fortnight. They spend another 10 hours a fortnight doing unpaid work in his family’s business. Oliver can combine the hours they spend each fortnight doing these 2 different recognised activities.
Oliver does 50 hours of recognised activity per fortnight. This means they can access up to 100 hours of subsidised child care for each child per fortnight.