Preschool Fee Relief in Long Day Care

Published on 15 November 2023

This fee relief is available to families through long day care services in the 2024 Start Strong for Long Day Care program.

The fee relief will be passed on to you by your long day care service as a weekly reduction to your session fee or gap fee. The reduction will be shown to you in a regular invoice or statement from the service.

The fee relief is in addition to and will not impact on your Child Care Subsidy payments provided by the Australian Government. Fee relief is not means tested and there are no residency or visa requirements.

You will still need to pay any gap fees remaining after the Child Care Subsidy and fee relief have been applied.

What happens if my child starts later in the year?

If your child starts later in the year, your weekly fee reduction does not change. This is because services must spread the fee relief across the number of weeks they are open and apply the fee relief as a reduction to weekly fees for each child.

For example: if a service is open 50 weeks a year, they will pass on a reduction of:

• up to $42.20 each week for children who are at least 4 years old on, or before, 31 July 2024
• up to $10 each week for children who are 3 years old and not yet 4 years old on, or before 31 July in 2024.

If your child enrols in a long day care service in June, then you will receive fee relief of up to $42.20 or up to $10 from the week your child’s enrolment starts at that long day care service.

What happens if my child is sick and does not attend the service for the day?

If your child is sick and does not attend on one of their enrolled days, your weekly fee relief amount does not change.

You will still receive a reduced fee from your service. The fee relief is linked to enrolment not attendance.

What information will I need to provide to access the fee relief?

To access the fee relief, you will need to complete a Declaration and consent form, your service will help you do this.

You will need to consent to your service sharing some of your child’s information with the NSW Department of Education and the Australian Government.

Your service will provide you with a Declaration and consent form which explains what details are required and how the information will be used.

Can I get fee relief from more than one service?

No, you can only access fee relief from one service, at any one time but you can choose which service you receive fee relief from.

This means if your child attends a preschool program at another long day care service or community preschool, you will need to nominate which service you will receive your fee relief from.

You will need to complete a Declaration and consent form and your nominated service will help you do this.