2026–27 72 or 100 hours
Child Care Subsidy Activity Test
The activity test decides how many hours of subsidised care you can use each fortnight — and it is the rule most families get wrong, because it applies to you and your partner separately, not combined.
1 Enter the lower of your two activity hours2 See your subsidised hours
Step 2 · your result
Subsidised hours
72 hours
per fortnight, per child
- Hours you entered
- 0
- Hours that count
- 0
- That is about
- —
- Needed for 100 hours
- over 48
Hours rules from the Department of Social Services — Family Assistance Guide, checked 12 October 2026. General information only.
The table that decides it
| Hours of recognised participation per fortnight | Subsidised hours per fortnight, per child |
|---|---|
| 0 to 48 hours | 72 hours |
| More than 48 hours | 100 hours |
The trap: it is not a household total. If you work 60 hours a fortnight and your partner works 20, you get 72 hours — not 100. Both of you must independently exceed 48 hours.
What counts as recognised participation
The government’s list is wider than most people expect:
- Paid work — as an employee or self-employed, including paid parental leave, annual leave, long service leave and carer’s leave, recognised at the same hours you worked before the leave.
- Unpaid leave — recognised at your previous hours, for up to 6 months, if you intend to return. Unpaid parental leave is not time limited.
- An approved course of education or study, or an Australian course of study — contact hours and self-directed study, including term breaks (except the break after you finish).
- Training to improve work skills or employment prospects, including practicums and vocational placements.
- Voluntary work for a charitable, welfare or community organisation, or at a school, preschool or child care service.
- Unpaid work experience or an unpaid internship — as long as it is not work a paid employee would otherwise do and it gives you real learning.
- Unpaid work for a family business owned by an immediate family member.
- Actively looking for work — job hunting, résumés, applications, contacting employers, preparing for and attending interviews.
- Actively setting up a business — recognised for a maximum of 13 fortnights in every 12 months.
Two of those are capped when they are your only activity: voluntary work and actively looking for work each count only for the first 16 hours a fortnight. So 20 hours of volunteering alone leaves you on 72 hours. Combine it with study or paid work and the combined total counts.
Household situations that change the answer
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children get an increased hours result of 100 hours per fortnight for that child, without you reporting your hours.
- ACCS (child wellbeing), ACCS (temporary financial hardship) and ACCS (grandparent) recipients are exempt from reporting participation and get up to 100 hours.
- Receiving JobSeeker, Youth Allowance, Special Benefit or Parenting Payment with mutual obligations — you automatically get 72 hours, and your mutual obligation hours can be combined with other activity to pass 48 hours.
- Carer Allowance — same idea: 72 hours automatically, and caring hours can be combined with other activity.
- Casual or irregular paid work — you can estimate your highest hours in a single fortnight over 3 months.
Frequently asked questions
What is the activity test for child care subsidy?
It is the rule that decides how many hours of subsidised care you can use. Every CCS eligible family gets 72 hours per fortnight regardless of what you do. To lift that to 100 hours, you and your partner must each do more than 48 hours of recognised participation in a fortnight.
Do I need to report my hours?
Not to get the base 72 hours — that is automatic. You report hours when you want the increased 100 hour result. You self-declare to Centrelink, and evidence is generally not required at the time, though random spot checks do happen.
Does my partner’s activity count?
Both of you must each do more than 48 hours — it is not a combined household figure. If one of you does 60 hours and the other does 20, you stay on the base 72 hours. This is the single most common misunderstanding about the activity test.
What counts as recognised participation?
Paid work (including paid leave), unpaid leave where you intend to return, approved courses of study and training, voluntary work, unpaid work experience or an internship, unpaid work for a family business, actively looking for work, and actively setting up a business.
What if I only volunteer, or am only looking for work?
Only the first 16 hours of voluntary work, or of actively looking for work, is counted per fortnight when that is your only activity. So 20 hours of volunteering on its own gives you the base 72 hours, not 100. Combine it with another recognised activity and the combined total can take you over the line.
My hours change every fortnight. What do I do?
If you are in casual or irregular paid work, you can estimate the highest number of hours you expect to work in a single fortnight over a 3 month period, and that estimate sets your subsidised hours. You must tell Centrelink if the basis of the estimate changes — for example if you move to a steady 15 hours a fortnight.
Are there any exemptions?
Yes. A family caring for an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child gets an increased hours result of 100 hours per fortnight for that child. Recipients of ACCS (child wellbeing), ACCS (temporary financial hardship) and ACCS (grandparent) are exempt from reporting participation and get up to 100 hours.
When does a change in my hours take effect?
If you report the change before it happens, the new result applies from the start of the CCS fortnight after the change. If you report it after, it applies from the start of the CCS fortnight after you told Centrelink. An increase can only be backdated 28 days; a decrease can be applied back to when it actually happened, which can create a debt.
Next
- Child Care Subsidy calculator — what your percentage and gap fee come to
- Hourly rate caps — the ceiling your subsidy is worked out on
- Income thresholds — the bands that set your percentage