Childcare in Australia

So from my knowledge: The child has to be a maximum of turning 6 that year to go to school, you can send them when they're 4 turning 5, and 5 turning 6. Childcare is not paid for, however there is Medicare which provides a rebate/subsidy so you don't pay the full amount You also can't send your children to childcare at all unless they're fully vaccinated or on a recognised catch up schedule x

My twins who are three have attended childcare in some capacity since they were 1. When they were 1-2 they attended 3 days as I worked part time (also 3 days). When they turned 3 I had moved into a promotion position that required i was full time so they attend 5 days a week. At present (election coming up so different promises being thrown around) you are entitled to a max 100 hours of subsidied care that is means and activity tested. And there is a higher Subsidy for a second child, so I get one % for my first twin and then a higher percentage for my twin 2. So depending on your income you will have centrelink pay some of the fees to the centre and the remaining bill passed on to you. It is very expensive and depending on your area can be extensive waitlists to get into a centre of your choice. As soon as you know where you will be living I would try to get on some waiting lists.

We have childcare subsidy for daycare I believe this goes up to age 3/4. Here’s the link below. There’s various calculators you can use to work this out if you Google it too. I think there’s also a Kindy entitlement but I’m not entirely sure as we haven’t reached that stage yet! The payment is called Childcare Subsidy (CCS) if you search this then all the info you need will come up. https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/how-much-child-care-subsidy-you-can-get?context=41186

You only get childcare subsidy if you are an Australian citizen, permanent resident or on a special category visa. Look up the residency requirements.

Depends on what state you’re moving to as well. They can start at 5yrs old if they’re turning 6 that year. Sometimes they can start at 4 and turning 5 but that’s not the norm. VIC they have paid for 3/4yr old kinder that is paid for Childcare before that usually have long waiting lists so if you find one that you’re interested in, get onto it ASAP

Thankyou everyone! Looks like we wouldn’t be eligible for any subsidy. Im a GP, We would be coming on a subclass 482 skills shortage visa. Which isn’t ideal really with 2 young children 😩 it’s going to be a big cost! 😢

Depending on what state you’re going to be in, your older one may be eligible for 15 free hours of kindy

Depends on how much you earn as to what you pay. Waitlists are hectic especially for the good ones. We waited over a year for our boy to get in. If you know what area you may be moving to wouldn’t hurt to put your name on the wait list now

If you earn a certain amount you wouldn't be eligible, not sure on the visa so I can't really comment on if that would be eligible but your 4 year old could go to a preschool program and they do offer some government funded places. When he turns 5 he'd be eligible tp go to school depending on the time of year, so if he turns 5 end of year he could go next year, but if he turns 5 after April next year then he wouldn't be eligible until the following year.

@Kat he’s 5 in august 2027 so would he be able to go to school to start in jan 27 or would he have to wait until 2028?

He won't be able to start school until the year after

On the temp visa full daycare fees are around $150 per day for the 2 year old Depending on birthday the 4 year old is eligible for 15 hours free kinder but if your working full time you’ll be responsible for the rest of the fees for the other 3 days . I came 2.5 years ago on temp visa and paid full fees for 2 days of daycare per week, until we got permanent residency

@Anni where was this? X