Eligibility for Child Care Benefit (CCB) 007-03040000

In most circumstances, as long as a child is in the physical care of the customer claiming and paying for the child care, the child can be considered to be an eligible child for CCB. A Family Tax Benefit (FTB) child of a person is an eligible child for CCB.

For children aged under 20 years old, immunisation requirements for Child Care Benefit (CCB) must be met.

Child is not an FTB child

If the child is not an FTB child or Regular Care Child, they may still be an eligible child for CCB if they are in the customer's care, or if the customer is temporarily caring for the child and a regular care exception for CCB exists.

If an applicant/recipient has a child who is in receipt of Disability Support Pension (DSP), the child may be deemed a regular care child of the individual for the purposes of CCB if the child is living with them and under the age of 21.

If the child is not an FTB child as they are aged 16 years or older and have ceased study, they are no longer eligible for CCB.

CCB is payable if:

• the customer is liable to pay child care fees for child care provided in Australia (whether or not the child care fees have been paid)
• CCB residence requirements are met (or an exception applies)
• CCB immunisation requirements are met for a child aged under 20 years

For CCB lump sum claims, residence and immunisation requirements need only be met at the time the claim is determined.

CCB is limited to 24 hours per child per week for approved care unless the customer (and their partner) satisfies the work/training/study test or exception applies.

Customers eligible for CCB for approved care may also be eligible for Child Care Rebate (CCR).

CCB for approved care can be reduced to zero rate by the income test.

It is important to identify if the customer is a grandparent with primary care of their grandchild as they may be eligible for Grandparent Child Care Benefit (GCCB) and/or a waiver of the work/training/study test may be applied.

For families to get the full effect of the multiple child percentage, only one member of a couple should claim CCB. One member of a couple (either the customer or their current partner) can claim CCB for any children that each attends approved child care in the same week.

Shared care situations can mean that both parents may be liable for different sessions of the child care (this could be in the same week or different weeks). In these situations, both parents need to make a claim/register for CCB (and have a formal enrolment with the service). The liable parent is the parent who has responsibility for the child for the session of care and pays the fees for the session of care.

A number of compliance measures regarding entitlement for CCB for Family Day Care (FDC) were implemented by the Department of Education in October 2015. Further measures were implemented in October 2016 and March 2017 to strengthen the integrity of the child care payments Compliance Framework. These regulation changes are being enforced by the Department of Education as they relate to the operational and attendance reporting aspects of services (including FDC services/educators).

From 12 October 2015, CCB for approved care is no longer payable for children attending a Family Day Care (FDC) service on the same day that their parent/guardian is working as a FDC child care provider (also known as a FDC educator). There are exceptions in some circumstances.

Three changes came into effect from 10 October 2016. These included:

• restrictions on situations when child care fee assistance is payable
• Services being required to advise of significant personal situations occurring for staff, and
• stronger suitability criteria for services and individuals

From 13 March 2017, three further changes were implemented. These related to:

• age restrictions being applied for children attending FDC
• updates to the definition of a ‘session of care’ for Grandparent Child Care Benefit (GCCB), and Special Child Care Benefit (SCCB) and
• additional changes to the October 2015 child swapping measure

See the Resources page for links to further information.

If it is suspected that a customer's Child Care payment entitlements may be impacted in relation to the above FDC compliance changes, their Child Care Benefit is not to be cancelled. In these cases, it is potentially the service (in particular the FDC service or educator) who is acting fraudulently and not adhering to the changes. If the Service Officer suspects fraudulent activity, see Report Suspected Fraud and Corruption.

CCB is payable for registered care if:

• The customer has paid for the care provided in Australia and provides receipts.
• The customer (and their partner) satisfied the work/training/study test or exception applies at some time during each week child care was provided
• CCB residence requirements are met at the time the claim is determined (or exception applies).
• CCB immunisation requirements are met at the time the claim is determined for children or young individuals aged under 20 years
• The child is not a Family Tax Benefit (FTB) child of the registered carer or registered carer's partner
• The care being claimed is not for hours the child is attending primary school (or other compulsory education) in their relevant state or territory

Foster carers who are deemed liable to pay child care fees by the child care service, can claim CCB and subsequently Child Care Rebate (CCR) for any children that attend approved care (that is, the foster carer pays the child care fees and the receipts are in the name of the foster carer). The relevant state authority may pay the remaining gap in the fees. Any reimbursement of fees from the relevant state authority does not change the foster carer's liability in these types of cases.

Where the relevant state authority pays all the child care fees for the child care provided, there is no liability for the child care fees for the foster carer. No attendance for the child will be submitted to the Services Australia in these cases.

Where foster carers use registered care, they must provide receipts that show they have paid the fees, the same as other customers who claim registered care.

For a customer to be eligible for CCB, they must be liable for child care fees.

If a customer salary sacrifices the cost of child care fees in such a way, that their employer has the legal liability to pay the fees (not the customer), the customer is not eligible for CCB and consequently Child Care Rebate (CCR) for the child care costs paid under the agreement.

Payment of child care fees by the customer’s employer is exempt from Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT) if the employer is legally liable for the fees. If the customer is not sure who is legally obliged to pay the fees, the customer will need to clarify this with their employer. It is not possible for a child care service or Services Australia to determine who has legal liability for the child care fees. The customer must obtain this information from their employer. As the issue of who is liable to pay the child care fees also has a bearing on FBT, the employer should be aware of the situation and be able to advise the customer accordingly.

If a portion of the child care fees are paid by the customer, they are only liable for the portion of the fees that they pay. Only attendance related to the customer’s liability is provided to Services Australia.

A customer may be eligible for CCB if a residency exception applies. The following cases must be referred to the Level 2 Policy Helpdesk for determination of eligibility:

• Customers who have a child in receipt of Special Benefit (SpB)
• Customers who do not meet residence requirements as they or their partner are a temporary visa holder suffering temporary hardship, or
• Customers who have special circumstances existing
• Customers who are a foreign sponsored student

A customer who abducts a child and is in breach of the law is not eligible for CCB for the child.