Hours of subsidised care: the 3 Day Guarantee
From 5 January 2026 the old CCS activity test was replaced. Every family eligible for CCS now gets at least 72 hours of subsidised child care per fortnight for each child: about three days a week. This is called the 3 Day Guarantee. It applies regardless of how much work, study, or other activity you do. The guarantee is about subsidised hours, not about a place: enrolment still depends on your service having availability.
When you can get 100 hours
You can get 100 hours of subsidised care per fortnight for each child if any of these apply: you and your partner, if you have one, each do more than 48 hours of recognised participation a fortnight; you care for an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander child; you have a valid exemption or exceptional circumstances; or you receive Additional Child Care Subsidy for child wellbeing, temporary financial hardship, or as a grandparent. If you have a partner, Services Australia looks at both of your participation levels and uses the lower one to work out the hours.
What counts as recognised participation?
Recognised participation includes paid work, self-employment, study and training, and other approved activities. If volunteering or looking for work is your only recognised participation type, only the first 16 hours count towards your participation level. If you do more than one type, the hours add up. You only need to report participation if you want more than the guaranteed 72 hours; the guarantee itself needs no activity evidence.
What the old tables got wrong
Before January 2026 the system used tiers: families with little or no activity received 0, 24, or 36 hours, and only families with substantial activity reached 72 or 100 hours. Those tables are now obsolete. In its first full financial year the guarantee was expected to entitle more than 100,000 families to more subsidised hours, with about 66,700 families better off by an average of $1,370 a year. If an article you read still shows the old tiers, treat its hours advice as out of date, even if its rates look current.
Hours are per child, not per family
The 72 or 100 hours apply to each child separately. Two children do not share one pool of hours. But hours you book above your subsidised hours for a child are charged at the full fee for that child, so a family with two children in care five days a week will usually exceed the guarantee for both and pay full fees for the extra days.
Sources: Services Australia, recognised participation and activity test guidance; Department of Education, 3 Day Guarantee guidance; StartingBlocks, 3 Day Guarantee guidance.