The 3-Day Guarantee: How the Activity Test is changing and what it means for childcare providers

Child Care Subsidy (CCS) has historically been calculated based on two things - The Activity Test & the Income Test.

But as part of the government's initiative to make early childhood education and care (ECEC) accessible to more families, there are some changes to the activity test that you should be aware of.

What's Changing

The activity test assesses how many hours a parent or caregiver spends doing 'Recognised Activity'. This then determines how many hours of subsidised care they'll receive for each child.

What is 'Recognised Activity'?

Recognised activity covers time spent in work, study or volunteering. For a full guide on recognised activity, head here.

From 5 January 2026, the activity test will be replaced with a new, simpler system:

• All CCS eligible families will get at least 72hrs per fortnight of subsidised care for each child, regardless of activity level.

• Families with over 48hrs of recognised activity per fortnight will receive 100hrs of subsidised care for each child.

• Families caring for First Nations children will get 100hrs of subsidised care per fortnight for each child.

What This Means for Families

The changes have increased the amount of subsidised hours families for those with low levels of recognised activity. As a result, this will reduce costs and remove barriers to accessing early learning for lots of families.

The amount of subsidy per hour of care is still subject to hourly caps, income, and number/age of children.

What This Means for Providers

With increased access to early learning, providers can expect an increase in enquiries and enrolments.

To cope with the influx, you need to make sure that the systems you have in place can cope with the increased demand.

Whilst there are lots of things you can do internally to ensure you cope with expected demand, one of the most efficient ways is to ensure that your software is helping you as much as it can.

So a question you can ask yourself is: "Is My Software Going to Hold Me Back?"

You need a solution that helps with:

✅ Managing higher enquiry volumes and removing manual data entry

✅ Enrolling families quickly and accurately

✅ Nurturing families on wait lists

✅ Improving processes around staff rostering and occupancy

✅ Showcasing centre excellence and compliance

✅ Multi-site reporting and management

If your current system doesn't do all of these things, you may need to think of a new solution.

But plugging one hole with a new piece of software isn't going to cut it.

Before you know it, you'll be jumping between multiple platforms just to do basic tasks, taking more time and lacking visibility to do it efficiently.

So you need an All-In-One Childcare Management System (CCMS) that can grow with you.

See how Australia's #1 All-In-One CCMS can help, and Book Your FREE Demo Today