Help With Your Fees

The amount of fees paid by parents will vary according to each family's individual circumstances. Families may be eligible for one or more of the following types of financial assistance with the payment of fees.

Child Care Benefit (CCB)

Child Care Benefit (CCB) is administered by the Family Assistance Office. CCB helps families with their child care costs. Your income will be taken into account to work out the level of assistance provided (your CCB percentage). Higher income families receive no CCB, but may be still eligible for the Child Care Rebate. Exact income thresholds are dependent on the number of children in care and are adjusted each year.

To be eligible for any benefit you will have to register with the Family Assistance Office. When applying you will need to provide your centre's Provider Reference Number, available from the centre. Families can have their childcare benefit deducted directly from their account, or opt to apply for a lump sum payment at the end of the financial year.

Child Care Rebate

The Child Care Rebate helps families with the cost of child care and is also administered by the Family Assistance Office. The Child Care Rebate covers 50 per cent of out-of-pocket child care expenses for approved child care, with a rebate of up to $7,778 (indexed annually) per child per year, for eligible families. If you are eligible for Child Care Benefit, even if you are over the income limit to receive a payment, you may still be eligible for the Child Care Rebate. The rebate is paid quarterly.

These Commonwealth government benefits are generally available to Australian residents and international students on certain government scholarships.

Staff Families

Employees of the University are able to pay their child care fees at our Children’s Centres through pre or post tax salary deductions.

Please seek financial advice before deciding to use pre tax deductions (salary sacrifice) as this may affect your eligibility for government payments including Child Care Benefit and the Child Care Rebate. Further information is available from the Human Resources division.

Families who wish to use post tax salary deductions to pay their account should contact our Administration staff on 8344 9621 for further information.

Please contact Children’s Services Administration for all salary deduction calculations and submission of forms.

Student Families

Student families may be eligible for the government benefits listed above. International student families are only eligible for government benefits if they are on particular government scholarships. International Student Services can provide more information.

All student families – domestic and international – can apply for the Student Rebate to assist with costs of attending any child care centre. The University’s children’s centres have discounted rates for students.

The Student Rebate is linked to the percentage of Child Care Benefit that families receive. To be eligible for the rebate you must be enrolled for the year the rebate is requested at the University of Melbourne.

As there is a fixed amount allocated for the Student Rebate Scheme by the University, the rates are set depending on the number of applicants. To determine the rates for the first six months we request you to submit your application form as soon as possible. From July different rates may apply if a large number of applications has been submitted after March.

Overseas full fee paying students who are not eligible for a Child Care Benefit through the Commonwealth may be eligible for a student rebate. Please contact the Children's Services Administrative Officer on 8344 9621 for further information and assistance.

You can also apply for the student rebate if your child attends a child care centre other than the university centres.

If you are eligible, please complete an Application Form and return it with the required attachments to Children’s Services Administration Office, 228 Queensberry Street, Carlton 3053

• Guide to Student Rebate Application Form | PDF | 17KB
• Student Rebate Application Form | PDF | 18KB
• Student Supplier/Bank Account Details Form | PDF | 42KB

Occasional Care Rebate

For information on Occasional Care Rebate please download the following document:

• Occasional Care Rebate | PDF | 82KB

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