Rebates and financial assistance
All early childhood services charge fees which vary depending on the service provided.
Search for a service and contact them to discuss their fees.
Please note: you will still need to pay fees on public holidays—talk to your provider if you have any concerns.
The Queensland Government and the Australian Government provide ways to reduce your out-of-pocket expenses for early childhood education and care.
Queensland Government benefits
Free kindy
Free kindy is for 15 hours a week, 40 weeks a year in the year before Prep.
Whether your child attends a community kindergarten or kindy in a long day care, kindy will be free.
Kindergarten is delivered in different ways at different services. For some services, 15 hours of free kindy might be delivered over 2 or 3 days, with additional care paid for separately. If a child attends kindy in a long day care setting, additional care may be covered in part by the Australian Government Child Care Subsidy.
Find out more about free kindy.
Australian Government benefits
Child Care Subsidy
From 2 July 2018, one new Child Care Subsidy replaced the two previous child care payments (benefit and rebate). To learn more about the subsidy, please visit Australian Government Child Care Package for families. The Child Care Subsidy will be paid directly to your approved child care providers to reduce the fees you pay.
Additional Child Care Subsidy
The Additional Child Care Subsidy is a top up payment in addition to the Child Care Subsidy and provides additional assistance to families and children facing barriers in accessing child care. The Additional Child Care Subsidy has four elements:
- Child Wellbeing
- Grandparents
- Temporary Financial Hardship
- Transition to Work