Child Care Subsidy (CCS) applies uniquely to In Home Care (IHC) as payments are made per family, rather than per child. This page outlines how to record and report IHC sessions to ensure CCS can be paid.
On this page:
About IHC session reports
Services Australia uses session reports to calculate and process CCS payments.
Providers submit session reports in the Child Care Subsidy System for each child who attends a session of care.
Typically, providers report the fee charged against each child in session reports.
However, IHC services must only report the fee charged against one child in the family. This is because CCS is paid per family, rather than per child.
The below information is designed to help IHC services submit session reports correctly.
All other regular session report requirements apply to IHC services.
How to report a family session
Nominated child
You must choose one child in the family to be the ‘nominated child’ for each session of care.
The nominated child can be any child in the family that attends the session. The nominated child can be different for each session.
You must submit a session report for each child in a session. You must record the full session fee against the nominated child. You must then record a $0 fee against the remaining children.
The family’s CCS rate will be applied against the nominated child.
Session times
The family session of care must have the same start and end times for all children.
Actual attendance times may vary. This might happen when a child attending IHC after school arrives home after the session has already started due to the school bus running late.
Each child will have their activity test hours reduced by the total length of the session.
Absences
You can claim absences for any child in the family session, regardless of whether they are the nominated child or not.
CCS eligibility
All children recorded in an IHC session must be eligible for CCS. CCS eligibility is a requirement of IHC.
If a child is not eligible for CCS for part of a session, you must split up the sessions and record them as separate sessions. Each session must only include children that are eligible for CCS.
This typically occurs when a child attends school during the day while another, younger child remains at home. Children are not eligible for CCS while engaged in a schooling program.
Examples
The following examples outline common scenarios when submitting IHC session reports.
When a child attends school for part of a session
You provide care to a family between 7 am and 6 pm.
Child A goes to school between 9 am and 3:30 pm. Child B does not attend school.
In this example, you would need to report 3 separate family sessions.
Sessions 1 and 3 include both children. Either child could be the nominated child for these sessions.
Session 2 only includes child B as child A is not eligible for CCS while they are at school.
In session 3, the school bus ran late and child A arrived home at 3:47 pm. Child A’s activity test hours will still be reduced by 2.5 hours as the session started at 3:30 pm.
Session 1
|
Family unit |
Session hours |
Actual attendance |
Activity test hours reduced by |
Reported fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Child A (nominated child) |
7 am to 9 am |
7 am to 8:40 am |
2 hours |
Full fee |
|
Child B |
7 am to 9 am |
7 am to 9 am |
2 hours |
$0 |
Session 2
|
Family unit |
Session hours |
Actual attendance |
Activity test hours reduced by |
Reported fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Child B (nominated child) |
9 am to 3:30 pm |
9 am to 3:30 pm |
6.5 hours |
Full fee |
Session 3
|
Family unit |
Session hours |
Actual attendance |
Activity test hours reduced by |
Reported fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Child A (nominated child) |
3:30 pm to 6 pm |
3:47 pm to 6 pm |
2.5 hours |
Full fee |
|
Child B |
3:30 pm to 6 pm |
3:30 pm to 6 pm |
2.5 hours |
$0 |
When a child attends an activity for part of a session
You provide care to a family between 7 am and 5 pm Monday to Thursday.
A grandparent takes child B to swimming lessons every Thursday between 11:30 am and 1:30 pm.
In this example, you would need to report 3 separate family sessions for the Thursday.
Sessions 1 and 3 include both children. Either child could be the nominated child for these sessions.
Session 2 only includes child A as child B was attending swimming lessons during this time.
Session 1
|
Family unit |
Session hours |
Actual attendance |
Activity test hours reduced by |
Reported fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Child A (nominated child) |
7 am to 11:30 am |
7 am to 11:30 am |
4.5 hours |
Full fee |
|
Child B |
7 am to 11:30 am |
7 am to 11:25 am |
4.5 hours |
$0 |
Session 2
|
Family unit |
Session hours |
Actual attendance |
Activity test hours reduced by |
Reported fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Child A (nominated child) |
11:30 am to 1:30 pm |
11:30 am to 1:30 pm |
2 hours |
Full fee |
Session 3
|
Family unit |
Session hours |
Actual attendance |
Activity test hours reduced by |
Reported fee |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Child A |
1:30 pm to 5 pm |
1:30 pm to 5 pm |
3.5 hours |
$0 |
|
Child B (nominated child) |
1:30 pm to 5 pm |
1:37 pm to 5 pm |
3.5 hours |
Full fee |
More information
If you need more information, please contact inhomecare@education.gov.au.