Does CCS cover before-school and after-school care?

Yes — Outside School Hours Care (OOSH) is fully covered by CCS using the same subsidy rate as your other care. The hourly cap is lower for OOSH ($12.51/hr for FY26) than for LDC ($14.29/hr), but typical OOSH session fees of $25-40 for 2-3 hours usually fall right at or under the cap.

What about vacation care during school holidays?

Same CCS framework — vacation care providers are CCS-approved, and the subsidy applies per session. Vacation care is typically full-day (8-10 hours) at $90-130 per day, which works out around $11-13/hr. Most vacation care is at or just under the OOSH cap.

Does my CCS rate change for OOSH vs LDC?

No — the income-test subsidy percentage is the same (based on your family income, not on care type). What changes is the hourly cap. So if you're on 75% CCS, you get 75% applied to LDC (capped at $14.29/hr) AND 75% applied to OOSH (capped at $12.51/hr).

Does the activity test work differently for OOSH?

No — same 100-hour entitlement (or 72-hour 3-Day Guarantee) per fortnight regardless of care type. The hours are CUMULATIVE across all your care arrangements — if your child has 30 hours/fn of LDC and 20 hours/fn of OOSH, that's 50 hours used out of your activity-test limit.

Do I need to apply separately for OOSH CCS?

No — once you're CCS-eligible, it applies to all CCS-approved care types automatically. The OOSH provider is registered with the CCS system; they invoice you the net amount, and Centrelink pays the subsidy directly to the provider.

My vacation care costs $130/day — is that all subsidised?

Depends on your subsidy rate AND how the daily fee converts to hourly. For a 10-hour vacation care day at $130, that's $13/hr — just over the OOSH cap ($12.51). At 75% CCS, the cap subsidises 75% × $12.51 × 10 = $93.83. You pay $130 - $93.83 = $36.17. The 49¢/hr gap above the cap is unsubsidised.

CCS for OOSH and vacation care — school holidays subsidy

Outside School Hours Care (OOSH) and vacation care get CCS just like centre-based care — but with different hourly caps, different activity-test interactions, and some practical traps when fees spike for full-day vacation programs. Here's the picture.

Outside School Hours Care (OOSH) and vacation care use the same CCS framework as Long Day Care — same subsidy rate, same activity test, same family income test. What differs is the hourly cap (lower for OOSH) and the practical pattern of usage (shorter sessions during term, longer during vacation periods).

This guide walks through the OOSH and vacation care picture and the planning angles.

OOSH vs LDC — what's the same and what's different

Same

Your CCS subsidy rate (the % from the income test)
The activity test 100-hour / 72-hour bands
The 42-day absence allowance
The reconciliation process at EOFY
The application process (no separate OOSH application)

Different

Hourly cap: OOSH $12.51/hr vs LDC $14.29/hr (FY26 figures)
Session length: OOSH typically 2-3 hours; LDC typically 10 hours
Daily fee structure: OOSH typically $25-40/session; LDC $130-220/day
Multi-child Higher CCS Second Child rate: only applies to children 5 or under, so school-age OOSH users (5-13) don't get the higher rate

The OOSH session pattern

Typical OOSH session breakdown:

Session	Hours	Typical fee	Hourly	Cap status
Before school	1.5 hrs (7am-8:30am)	$18-25	$12-17/hr	Often at or above cap
After school	2.5-3 hrs (3pm-6pm)	$25-35	$10-12/hr	Usually under cap
Both BS + AS	4-4.5 hrs	$40-55	$9-12/hr	Usually under cap

Before-school care often pushes above the cap because the per-session fee includes setup/wind-down time the centre can't easily compress. After-school is more comfortably under.

Vacation care — the daily-rate model

During school holidays, OOSH providers typically offer full-day vacation care. The structure shifts from "per session" to "per day":

Daily fee: $90-130 (metro), $70-110 (regional)
Hours: typically 8-10 hours/day (8am-6pm or similar)
Effective hourly: $9-15/hr

Many vacation care services are at or just over the OOSH cap of $12.51/hr. The math:

$110/day, 10 hours = $11/hr: under cap, full subsidy benefit $130/day, 10 hours = $13/hr: 49¢ over cap, small unsubsidised gap $150/day, 10 hours = $15/hr: $2.49 over cap, more meaningful gap

Recognised participation and OOSH

Recognised-participation hours (the rules formerly known as the activity test, renamed 5 Jan 2026) are cumulative. If your child is in:

LDC 4 days/fn = 40 hours/fn (10 hrs/day × 4)
OOSH 5 days/wk = 27.5 hours/fn (2.5 hrs/session × 11)
Total: 67.5 hours/fn — under the 100-hour entitlement

But if you go to vacation care 5 days a week × 10 hours = 50 hours/fn during holidays, plus the LDC continues at 40 hours/fn (where eligible), you're at 90 hours/fn — close to the cap.

This catches families during holiday weeks when daycare-aged kids continue at LDC AND school-aged kids do vacation care. The combined hours can push close to the 100-hour cap if both parents are working full-time.

Higher CCS Second Child — doesn't apply to school-age OOSH

The Higher CCS Second Child rate is for children 5 or under. School-aged children using OOSH (5-13) don't trigger or receive the higher rate.

For multi-child families:

Two kids under 5 in LDC → standard rate for eldest, higher rate for younger
One kid under 5 in LDC + one kid 6 in OOSH → eldest LDC kid is the "standard rate" child; the 6-yr-old in OOSH gets standard rate (no higher rate eligibility); if the under-5 LDC kid was the only one in the higher-rate cohort, no higher rate applies anyway

This frequently surprises families with mixed-age care: "But I have multiple kids in care, where's my Higher CCS?" Answer: the school-age sibling doesn't count toward the multi-under-5 cohort.

Common operational scenarios

Scenario 1: child starts school, transitions from LDC to OOSH

The hourly cap drops from $14.29 to $12.51. If your LDC fee was $14/hr (under cap), the cap shift may bind on OOSH if before-school care is higher. Annual subsidy generally goes down (fewer hours/wk in OOSH vs LDC), which is expected.

Scenario 2: holiday week budgeting

Vacation care fees are often higher per hour than term-time after-school care. Budget for the per-week cost spike during school holidays. A typical 5-day vacation week at $130/day = $650; at 80% subsidy with cap binding modestly = ~$120 out-of-pocket. A typical term week of OOSH at $40/day = $200; at 80% subsidy = ~$40 out-of-pocket. Holiday weeks cost ~3× term weeks for the same family.

Scenario 3: multi-child OOSH

Multiple school-age kids in OOSH each have their own CCS rate (standard, not higher). Per-child fees accumulate. A family with 3 kids in vacation care at $120/day = $360/day = $1,800/week. At 75% CCS (cap binding) = ~$370 out-of-pocket per week. Substantial.

Scenario 4: split LDC + OOSH

Younger child at LDC + older child at OOSH. Different hourly caps apply per child. The CCS calculator handles this transparently — pre-school-age kid gets LDC cap, school-age kid gets OOSH cap, same subsidy rate.

The Higher CCS gap when one child starts school

A common transition pain: you had two kids both under 5 in LDC and were getting Higher CCS Second Child on the younger. The oldest turns 5 and starts school → goes to OOSH. The younger is still under 5 in LDC but is now the ONLY kid in the under-5 cohort. Higher CCS Second Child stops because it requires 2+ kids under 5.

This is automatic and usually unwelcome. The family's CCS drops because the multi-under-5 condition no longer holds.

Planning angle: if you're considering a third child during this gap, the multi-under-5 cohort would re-form once the new baby arrives + the second is still under 5.

How NestWise helps

The free CCS calculator doesn't currently let you specify OOSH vs LDC — it assumes centre-based LDC. For OOSH-specific modelling, the full CCS view handles per-child care type, hourly fees, and the cap by type.

The Holiday Care Calculator (paid) was specifically built for vacation care planning — model school-holiday weeks with vacation care fees + the cap interaction.

Try the free CCS calculator →