What is the ‘preschool exemption’ to the activity test?
Families who do not meet and are not otherwise exempt from the Child Care Subsidy activity test will be entitled to 36 hours of subsidised care per fortnight to support their preschool-aged child to attend a preschool program at a Centre Based Day Care service.
When does the preschool exemption apply?
This exemption applies if a family meets the following criteria:
- they are eligible for Child Care Subsidy
- they are not otherwise exempt from the activity test
- it is the year before their child starts primary school, and
- their child attends a preschool program at a Centre Based Day Care service.
This exemption only applies to preschool-aged children. It does not apply to other children in the same family. For the purpose of the Child Care Subsidy preschool exemption, a preschool aged child is a child in the year before their first year of primary school. States and territories refer to the first year of primary school differently (see the Services Australia website for details).
Families should provide Centrelink with their child’s expected school start date through myGov or the Express Plus Centrelink mobile app. Centrelink will use this information to work out if the exemption applies.
For more information, please refer to the preschool exemption fact sheet.