OSHC and CCS: Subsidy for Outside School Hours Care
When your child starts school, your childcare arrangements change — but CCS doesn't stop. Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) is fully CCS-eligible, and for many families it becomes the primary childcare cost once day care ends. The mechanics work the same way as long day care, but there are enough differences in fee structures, session lengths, and fortnightly hours usage to catch families off-guard if they haven't modelled it.
What OSHC covers
OSHC is approved childcare that operates around school hours. There are three types:
Before school care (BSC) Morning sessions, typically from 6:30am to school start time. Session length is usually 1.5 to 2.5 hours depending on the centre and school start time. Fees range widely — roughly $15 to $30 per session at most providers.
After school care (ASC) Afternoon sessions from school finish time until the centre closes, typically 6pm. Session length is usually 2.5 to 3.5 hours. Fees are generally $25 to $45 per session.
Vacation care Full-day programs during school holidays. Session lengths are typically 8 to 10 hours, similar to long day care. This is where OSHC has the most significant financial impact — five days of vacation care per week during school holidays can consume a substantial portion of a family's fortnightly hours entitlement quickly.
How CCS applies to OSHC
CCS applies to OSHC exactly as it does to other approved childcare services:
- Your CCS percentage is based on your combined family ATI — the same percentage you receive for any other approved care
- Your hours entitlement (72 or 100 hours per fortnight) is shared across all approved services your child uses
- The school-age hourly cap applies ($12.81/hr for 2025–26)
- Sessions above the cap are not subsidised
The only thing that changes from long day care is the applicable hourly cap and the session structure.
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The school-age hourly cap
The CCS hourly cap for school-age children is $12.81 per hour in 2025–26. This applies to all OSHC — before school care, after school care, and vacation care.
This is lower than the cap for under-school-age children in centre-based day care ($14.63/hr). If your child was previously in long day care, switching to OSHC does not change your CCS percentage, but it does change the cap against which it is calculated.
Worked example:
If your OSHC provider charges $30 for a 2-hour after school session, the hourly rate is $15/hr — above the $12.81 cap. CCS applies to $12.81 × 2hrs = $25.62. The remaining $4.38 is an above-cap amount you pay in full.
On 80% CCS:
- Subsidy: 80% × $25.62 = $20.50
- Above-cap amount: $4.38
- Total gap: $9.50 (not 20% × $30 = $6)
For families who assume CCS covers a flat percentage of their actual fees, the above-cap amount is a consistent source of surprise. See Childcare Fees Above the Hourly Cap.
How OSHC uses your fortnightly hours entitlement
Your approved CCS hours (72 or 100 per fortnight) are shared across all approved childcare your child attends. OSHC sessions, including their full charged session length, count toward this limit.
Before and after school care sessions are short — typically 2 to 3.5 hours each. A family using both every school day uses roughly:
- BSC: 2hrs × 10 sessions = 20 hours/fortnight
- ASC: 3hrs × 10 sessions = 30 hours/fortnight
- Total: 50 hours/fortnight
This leaves comfortable buffer within a 72-hour entitlement, and is well within 100 hours.
Vacation care is different. A 9-hour vacation care session × 10 days per fortnight = 90 hours — which exceeds the 72-hour minimum entitlement. Families on 72 hours who use full-time vacation care will have approximately 18 hours per fortnight charged at full fees.
The school holiday planning question: Families often plan school holiday care without checking whether it exhausts their entitlement. The practical approach:
- If you are on 100 hours: full-time vacation care (50 hours/week) fits within entitlement
- If you are on 72 hours: full-time vacation care exceeds entitlement by roughly 28 hours per fortnight — those hours are full fee
- Consider reducing days during school holidays, or booking shorter sessions if available
Transitioning from day care to OSHC: what changes
When your child starts school and you move from long day care to OSHC, several things change:
Hours used per day drop significantly. A 10-hour day care session becomes a 2.5-hour after school care session. Your fortnightly hours usage falls dramatically, leaving most of your entitlement unused during term time.
Fees drop significantly. Daily OSHC costs are a fraction of day care costs. For many families, the childcare bill halves or more when school starts.
But vacation care is the catch. School holidays (approximately 12 weeks per year) require full-day care for working parents. Vacation care fees and hours usage are much closer to day care levels. Annual childcare costs are often lower than day care, but the vacation care weeks are expensive relative to term weeks.
You need a new enrolment. Your child's long day care enrolment does not transfer to OSHC. The new OSHC provider needs to submit a new enrolment, and you need to confirm it in myGov before CCS applies. See What Is a CRN?.
Your CCS details carry over. Your income estimate, CCS percentage, and hours entitlement all remain unchanged. Only the enrolment changes.
Using day care and OSHC simultaneously
If you have children of different ages — one in long day care, one at school in OSHC — both services receive CCS. Each service is assessed separately based on your CCS percentage and the applicable cap for that service type.
Your hours entitlement applies per child. Each child has their own 72 or 100-hour fortnightly entitlement. Using OSHC for your school-age child does not reduce the hours available for your younger child in day care.
This is a common point of confusion — entitlement is per child, not per family.
Finding an OSHC provider
OSHC is usually run either by the school itself or by a third-party provider contracted to operate on school grounds. In most cases, your child's school will have one OSHC provider — you generally cannot choose between competing providers at the same school.
To confirm your school's OSHC provider:
- Contact the school directly
- Search on the Starting Blocks service finder using your school's postcode
CCS eligibility requires the OSHC service to be an approved provider. All school-based OSHC services operating in Australia are required to be approved to operate — but it is worth confirming, particularly for newly established services.
Key takeaways
- OSHC includes before school care, after school care, and vacation care — all are CCS-eligible
- The school-age hourly cap is $12.81/hr — lower than the under-school-age CBDC cap
- Your hours entitlement is per child, not per family — OSHC for one child does not reduce entitlement for another
- Vacation care uses hours much faster than term-time OSHC — check whether holiday programs exhaust your 72-hour limit
- You need a new enrolment confirmed in myGov when starting OSHC — CCS does not transfer automatically from day care
- Before and after school care in term time typically uses 40–55 hours per fortnight, leaving buffer within most entitlements
Frequently Asked Questions
My child attends before and after school care every day during term. How many hours does that use per fortnight?
Add up the charged session length for each session across the fortnight. For example: BSC 2hrs × 10 days = 20hrs, ASC 3hrs × 10 days = 30hrs, total = 50hrs per fortnight. This fits within both 72 and 100-hour entitlements during term time.
We need full-time vacation care for 4 weeks of school holidays. Will CCS cover it all?
It depends on your entitlement. A 9-hour vacation care session × 10 days per fortnight = 90 hours. If you are entitled to 100 hours, all sessions are subsidised. If you are entitled to 72 hours, approximately 18 hours per fortnight are charged at full fees. Check your approved hours in myGov before school holidays.
The OSHC provider at my child's school charges $45 for after school care. How does the cap affect this?
Divide the fee by the session length in hours. If a $45 session runs for 3 hours, the hourly rate is $15 — above the $12.81 cap by $2.19/hr. CCS applies to $12.81 × 3hrs = $38.43. You pay the $6.57 above-cap amount in full, plus your gap on the $38.43. On 80% CCS, your total gap is $6.57 + (20% × $38.43) = $6.57 + $7.69 = $14.26, not 20% × $45 = $9.
My child is starting school next year. Do I need to do anything with Centrelink before enrolling in OSHC?
No advance Centrelink action is needed. When you enrol in OSHC, the provider submits the enrolment to Services Australia. You then confirm it in myGov. Your existing CCS details carry over. You should update your income estimate if it has changed, and update your activity hours if your work arrangements have changed.
Is vacation care at a venue other than my child's school (e.g. a holiday program at a community centre) also CCS-eligible?
It depends on whether the service is an approved childcare provider. Many holiday programs run by community organisations, sports clubs, or activity centres are not approved for CCS purposes. Check whether the provider has a CCS approval number before assuming the subsidy applies.
This is general guidance only. For personalised advice, contact Services Australia at 136 150 or visit servicesaustralia.gov.au/child-care-subsidy.