Travel outside Australia rules for Child Care Subsidy - Child Care Subsidy

If you leave Australia to live in another country, your subsidy will stop when you depart.

If you travel for a short term, you’ll get your subsidy for up to 6 weeks. But you must be paying for child care in Australia while you’re overseas.

After 6 weeks your subsidy will stop.

Your payment will also stop when you depart if all of these apply:

you travel for more than 6 weeks
you return to Australia
you then leave again within 6 weeks of that return.

If your subsidy stops while you’re outside Australia, you may have to submit a new claim when you return.

You may get your subsidy for up to 3 years if you’re either:

a member of the Australian Defence Force deployed overseas
a member of the Australian Federal Police engaged in peacekeeping or capacity building activities overseas.

You can have 42 paid absences each financial year from child care, except for occasional care. You can take an absence for any reason. You don’t need to give evidence. Read more about what happens if your child is absent from child care.

Payments while outside Australia

To get your payment or concession card while outside Australia, you must continue to meet the qualification rules at all times.

When you hold a temporary visa

You can’t get Child Care Subsidy overseas for any reason if you hold most temporary protection type visas.

When and how to tell us about your travel

When you get Child Care Subsidy, you may need to tell us if you’re leaving Australia.