From 5 January 2026, the Child Care Subsidy (CCS) activity test is changing. All CCS eligible families can get 3 days of subsidised child care per week. These changes are known as the 3 Day Guarantee.
What are the changes?
From 5 January 2026:
- all CCS eligible families can get 3 days’ subsidised care a week (72 hours per fortnight) for each child
- families caring for First Nations children can get 100 hours of subsidised care each fortnight for their First Nations child.
Families who want to get more than 72 hours will need to report their recognised participation to Services Australia.
Families can still get 100 hours of subsidised care each fortnight for each child if they:
- have more than 48 hours each fortnight of recognised participation, or
- have an exemption or experience exceptional circumstances.
The 3 Day Guarantee doesn’t change how a family’s rate of CCS is worked out, and most families will still need to pay a gap fee. The guarantee is about access to subsidised hours, noting enrolment still depends on provider availability.
Who will benefit?
The 3 Day Guarantee is part of the next steps in building a universal early childhood education and care system.
It will provide access to subsidised child care for a wide range of families, with benefits for:
- low-income families
- families with unstable or irregular work patterns
- families caring for First Nations children
- single-parent families.
In its first full financial year:
- over 100,000 families will be entitled to more subsidised hours
- 66,700 families are expected to be better-off, saving an average of $1,370 per year.
Examples
Example 1
Current:
Sarah and Alex are a couple.
- Nina goes to child care 3 days a week (72 hours a fortnight).
- Their combined family income is $90,000 per year. Sarah works full-time and Alex works 8 hours per week.
- They receive 36 subsidised hours of CCS per fortnight.
From 5 January 2026
- Sarah and Alex can now get 72 subsidised hours per fortnight for Nina.
Example 2
Current:
After Jean notified Services Australia that her child Tuli is First Nations, she gets 36 subsidised hours per fortnight.
From 5 January 2026:
Jean can now get 100 subsidised hours per fortnight for Tuli.
Example 3
Current:
Murali works 60 hours per fortnight.
His partner Sangeetha does not do any recognised activities. She is a full-time stay-at-home carer to their children Amar aged 6 months and Nila aged 3 years.
Murali’s income is over the low-income threshold at $85,000. This means he is not entitled to subsidised hours for Nila and Amar due to Sangeetha not participating in any recognised activity.
From 6 January 2026:
Murali can now get 72 subsidised hours per fortnight for Nila and Amar.
Example 4
Current:
Sue is a single parent to twins Sam and Sebastian. Sue works casually for around 6 hours per fortnight.
Her income is below the low-income threshold, so she gets 24 subsidised hours per fortnight.
From 5 January 2026:
Sue can now get 72 subsidised hours per fortnight each for Sam and Sebastian.
Example 5
Current:
Ye receives JobSeeker payment and meets mutual obligation requirements.
She gets 36 subsidised hours per fortnight for Mei-Li.
From 5 January 2026:
Ye can now get 72 subsidised hours for Mei-Li.
Example 6
Current:
Charlotte’s child Luna attends a preschool program at a Centre Based Day Care service and is starting school next year. She gets 36 subsidised hours per fortnight for Luna, even though she undertakes no recognised participation per fortnight.
From 5 January 2026:
Charlotte can now get 72 subsidised hours for Luna.
What's next?
The Australian Government Department of Education is continuing to work with Services Australia to ensure child care providers and families are ready for the change from January 2026.
Learn more about the changes at 3 Day Guarantee - Department of Education.
Frequently asked questions
What is the 3 Day Guarantee, and who does it apply to?
The 3 Day Guarantee will replace the activity test from January 2026, to provide at least 3 days (72 hours per fortnight) of subsidised ECEC each week for CCS eligible families.
Under the 3 Day Guarantee:
- All CCS-eligible families will be entitled to at least 72 hours of subsidised ECEC per fortnight, per eligible child.
- Families caring for a First Nations child will be eligible for 100 hours of subsidised ECEC per fortnight for each First Nations child.
- Families will still be eligible to receive 100 hours of subsidised ECEC per fortnight if they meet participation requirements or have a valid exemption.
The Government has announced the 3 Day Guarantee as one of the next steps in building a universal early education and care system, aiming to improve access, particularly for children experiencing disadvantage and vulnerability, by removing barriers which are linked to parental activity.
Is this a new subsidy, or a change to the existing CCS settings?
- The 3 Day Guarantee is a change to existing Child Care Subsidy settings.
- Under this change, all children eligible for CCS will be guaranteed at least 72 hours of subsidised early childhood education and care (ECEC) per fortnight, regardless of their parents’ or guardians’ activity levels. This entitlement will be universal and not subject to any activity test.
- All eligibility criteria for CCS have not changed. The 3 Day Guarantee does not affect a family’s subsidy rate (CCS percentage). The 3 Day Guarantee only amends the Activity Test component of the CCS scheme.
How do we identify whether children get a baseline result of 72 hours or a higher result of 100 hours?
- All CCS-eligible families will be entitled to at least 72 hours of subsidised ECEC per fortnight, per eligible child, which will be the new baseline entitlement for the CCS under the 3 Day Guarantee.
- Families who are caring for a First Nations child will receive 100 hours of subsidised ECEC per fortnight, for that child.
- Families who engage in more than 48 hours of recognised participation will still be eligible to receive 100 hours of subsidised ECEC, noting that a family’s entitlement relies on the individual engaging in the least hours of recognised participation types.
- Entitlement to subsidised hours above the baseline result of 72 hours for relevant ACCS or Minister’s Rules results will continue to apply for eligible families.
What happens with the current activity test automatic results or exemptions?
- Any results or exemptions that yield a CCS result of over 72 hours a fortnight will remain as they are now.
- Any results or exemptions that yield a CCS result of 72 or less hours a fortnight will update to the new baseline entitlement of 72 hours.
Does the 3 Day Guarantee affect families with already high activity levels — do their entitlements change?
- No, for families already receiving 100 hours of CCS, the 3 Day Guarantee will not affect their current entitlement.
- 3 Day Guarantee is targeted at providing subsidised hours for children of low-activity families to enable access to subsidised ECEC and reduce the use of unsubsidised hours of childcare for families with low activity/participation levels.
Do families need to do anything for this to be applied, or will Services Australia apply it automatically?
- For existing CCS eligible families, the 3 Day Guarantee will automatically apply from 5 January 2026 based on their existing reported information in the system. Families should not need to provide any additional information.
- This means families that are currently entitled to less than 72 hours of subsidised care per fortnight will automatically have their entitlement increase to 72 hours per fortnight from 5 January 2026.
- For new families applying for CCS from 5 January 2026 or for existing CCS families updating their details after 5 January 2026, a simplified application process will apply.
Are providers expected to offer three days of care per week for each child?
- Existing processes for enrolment and offering of placements to families will remain unchanged. The 3 Day Guarantee is a guarantee that all families will receive at least 3 days of child care subsidy per fortnight. The 3 Day Guarantee measure therefore is about ensuring all eligible families can access 72 hours of subsidy. The measure does not guarantee families a placement in an approved ECEC for at least 3 days a fortnight.
If a family doesn’t use all their hours, do we still receive payment for the full entitlement?
- No, the 3 Day Guarantee provides a minimum number of subsidised hours that a family can access per fortnight. It is not a guarantee for providers to be paid a minimum number of hours per family, per fortnight.