Child Care Subsidy — 100 hours per fortnight (Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander child)

What Is This Payment?

The ATSI 100-hour rule is the activity-test exemption built into CCS specifically for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. The rule database tags it as a Group B benefit with eligibility_enabler as its result role, sitting in the Child Care Subsidy parent cluster alongside the participation 100-hour rule and the exemption-based 100-hour rule. Unlike both of those, the ATSI rule applies automatically and unconditionally — neither participation hours nor a documented hardship is required.

The administering body is Services Australia. The rule has been in force since 10 July 2023, several years earlier than the 5 January 2026 effective date of the 3 Day Guarantee floor and the participation 100-hour rule. The earlier effective_date reflects the policy intent of providing equitable early-learning access to ATSI families well before the broader CCS reform that introduced the 3 Day Guarantee. ATSI status is self-declared on the CCS claim with no documentary evidence needed.

The design intent is to recognise the early-childhood development importance of consistent care attendance for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. The activity test is removed entirely for these children because the policy treats early-learning attendance as a value in its own right, independent of whether the parents are working or studying. The entitlement scope is per child and ongoing while the child remains under 13. Because identification is self-declared, no annual renewal of evidence is required; the cap stays at 100 hours per fortnight as long as ATSI status is on file.

How Much Can You Get?

The amount block is defined as type: eligibility_only with period none. The rule produces no direct cash; the dollar value is realised through the underlying percentage rule (90%, taper, or zero) multiplied by the lesser of the actual hourly fee and the hourly rate cap, then by subsidised hours up to the 100-hour ceiling.

To convert the cap into dollars, the headline figures from the percentage rules combine with the 100-hour ceiling per ATSI child:

• Centre-based day care: $14.63 per hour cap at the 90% rate gives 0.9 × $14.63 × 100 = $1,316.70 per fortnight per ATSI child.
• Family day care: $13.05 per hour cap at the 90% rate gives 0.9 × $13.05 × 100 = $1,174.50 per fortnight.
• Outside school hours care: $12.81 per hour cap at the 90% rate gives 0.9 × $12.81 × 100 = $1,152.90 per fortnight.

Audit recipe: confirm ATSI status is recorded on the CCS claim (so this rule applies), confirm the child is under 13 in approved care, look up the percentage tier from family income, and multiply percentage × min(actual fee, hourly rate cap) × min(actual hours, 100). For example, an ATSI child of family income $90,000 attending centre-based care for 90 hours per fortnight at $14.63 per hour pays subsidy = (90,000 − 85,279) / 5,000 = 0.94 floors to 0 steps, so percentage stays at 90%; 0.9 × $14.63 × 90 = $1,184.83 per fortnight.

The marginal value of this rule over the 3 Day Guarantee floor is up to 28 extra subsidised hours per fortnight per ATSI child, which at centre-based 90% is about $368.68 per fortnight, or roughly $9,585 per year. For families on the taper the absolute saving scales down with the percentage but the additional 28 hours of cap remain meaningful at every percentage tier above zero. The cap is per child; a household with one ATSI and one non-ATSI child will see the two siblings on different caps in any fortnight where parental participation is below 48 hours.

The rule has no multiplier, no reduces_if, and no date_windows. The effective_date of 10 July 2023 sets the start of the rule's force; the expiry_date is null in YAML, so the rule remains in force through the 2025-26 financial year and beyond. Notably, the rule's amount note specifies that the 100-hour cap applies "regardless of the family's activity participation level" — the explicit removal of the activity test is the structural feature that distinguishes this rule from the participation 100-hour path.

Eligibility Conditions

The eligibility block is an all set, so every item must pass.

1. Approved child care: approved_child_care = true. Only CCS-approved providers attract federal subsidy. Informal arrangements such as care from extended family, while culturally meaningful, do not satisfy this gate for the federal subsidy mechanism.
2. Child age: child_age < 13. The CCS scheme covers children under 13. The ATSI rule does not extend coverage beyond the standard CCS age boundary.
3. ATSI identification: child_is_atsi = true. The child must be identified as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander on the CCS claim. Identification is self-declared by the family at claim time.

Required fields are the approved child care flag, child age, and the ATSI identification flag. The exclude block is empty. The conflicts list points only at the 3 Day Guarantee 72-hour floor; the rule does not appear on the conflicts list of the participation or exemption 100-hour rules because all three sit at the same 100-hour cap and any of them satisfying the gates produces the same hours ceiling.

The affects block links this rule to the 90% standard rate rule with a requires_context effect. The same logic extends to the taper and zero percentage rules; the 100-hour cap multiplies into whatever percentage applies for that family's income.

Two practical considerations matter. First, ATSI status is per child, not per family. A non-ATSI parent of an ATSI child still triggers this rule for that specific child because the child's identification is the gating field. Mixed-heritage families should ensure each child is correctly identified on the CCS claim because identification of one child does not automatically apply to a sibling. Second, ATSI identification can be added or amended at any time through myGov; the rule applies forward from the date the identification is recorded. There is no penalty or scrutiny for adding the identification mid-year — Centrelink treats this as administrative correction.

How To Apply

Application metadata defines a single channel: online. The ATSI 100-hour cap applies automatically once a CCS claim is approved with the child identified as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander. There is no separate form, no separate Customer Reference Number, and no opt-in step.

The evidence_required list is empty in this rule, reflecting the policy choice to accept self-declared ATSI identification without documentary requirements. The application notes specifically state that no extra evidence is needed, consistent with general Centrelink practice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander identification.

Two practical tips. First, the identification field is filled on the original CCS claim through myGov, but it can be added retrospectively if missed. Adding it later applies the rule from the date of update, not retrospectively to earlier fortnights. Families who missed the identification at initial claim time should update their record promptly so the higher cap takes effect from the next fortnight. Second, the ATSI rule overrides the 3 Day Guarantee floor for any specific child but does not change the parents' overall activity reporting. Parents may still be asked for participation hours through myGov for other children in the household, even though those hours have no impact on the ATSI child's cap.

Lodge your CCS claim through myGov

Rule-Based Scenarios

Scenario 1: stay-at-home parent with an ATSI toddler

Aroha is at home with a newborn while her 3-year-old (identified as ATSI on the CCS claim) attends centre-based day care 90 hours per fortnight at $14.63 per hour. Recognised participation is 0 hours so the 3 Day Guarantee floor would apply at 72 hours; the ATSI rule overrides that floor and the cap is 100 hours. Family income $58,000 puts the household at the 90% tier. Subsidy = 0.9 × $14.63 × 90 = $1,184.83 per fortnight at the 90% rate. Without the ATSI rule the subsidy would have stopped at the 72-hour cap, losing 18 fortnightly hours worth $237 of subsidy.

Scenario 2: working parent with non-ATSI sibling, two different caps

Hemi works 30 hours per fortnight; partner Aisha is studying 25 hours per fortnight. Lower participation is 25 hours, below 48, so the 72-hour floor applies for non-ATSI children. Their 4-year-old daughter (identified as ATSI) and 6-year-old stepson (not identified as ATSI) both attend centre-based care 80 hours per fortnight each. The daughter's cap is 100 hours under this rule; the stepson's cap is 72 hours under the 3 Day Guarantee floor. At 90% the daughter's subsidy = 0.9 × $14.63 × 80 = $1,053.36 per fortnight (within the 100-hour cap); the stepson's subsidy = 0.9 × $14.63 × 72 = $947.66 per fortnight (capped at 72 even though attendance is 80).

Scenario 3: high-earner ATSI family on taper

Kai and Naomi (the daughter is identified as ATSI; Kai is also identified as ATSI on the family record) earn a combined $230,000 and use centre-based care for their 5-year-old at 90 hours per fortnight, $14.63 per hour. (230,000 − 85,279) / 5,000 = 28.94 floors to 28 steps, taper percentage = 90 − 28 = 62%. The ATSI rule lifts the cap to 100 hours, but actual attendance is only 90, so attendance not the cap is the binding limit. Subsidy = 0.62 × $14.63 × 90 = $816.32 per fortnight. The household percentage is the same as for any other family at this income level; only the cap differs.

Scenario 4: identification added mid-year, cap lifts forward

Olivia and Jordan miss the ATSI identification at the original CCS claim for their 2-year-old. They update the record through myGov in March; from the next fortnight, this rule applies and the cap rises from 72 hours to 100. The 14 fortnights between claim approval and the March update remain on the 72-hour floor; the system does not retroactively pay extra subsidy for those past fortnights even though the underlying ATSI identification was always true.

Common Mistakes

• Assuming documentary evidence is required: the rule explicitly removes the documentary evidence requirement. ATSI identification is self-declared at claim time. Some families delay applying because they expect to need community confirmation or genealogical records, which leaves money on the table during the delay period.
• Ticking the ATSI box for the parent rather than the child: the rule's gate is child_is_atsi = true, not the parent's identification. A non-ATSI child of ATSI parents does not qualify under this rule. Families with mixed-heritage parents need to be clear about which children are identified.
• Forgetting that the cap is per child: a household with one ATSI child and one non-ATSI child has two different caps in any fortnight when parental participation falls below 48 hours. Some families assume identifying one child applies the higher cap to all children, which it does not.
• Expecting the rule to fix a zero tier: the cap matters only when the percentage is non-zero. ATSI children of high-income families above $535,279 still receive zero CCS because the percentage is zero, regardless of the 100-hour cap. The hours rule and the percentage rule are independent layers.
• Treating the rule as a state-level concession: the ATSI 100-hour cap is a federal Services Australia rule administered through CCS. State agencies do not assess it, and state ATSI scholarships or community support payments do not interact with the cap. Confusion sometimes arises with Aboriginal community-controlled childcare funding, which is a separate non-CCS pathway.
• Treating identification as permanent at claim time only: identification can be amended through myGov at any time and applies forward from the date it is recorded. A family that needs to add or remove the ATSI flag for accuracy should do so promptly; the cap follows the recorded status from the next fortnight onward.

Related Rules And Interactions

The conflicts list and affects list in YAML define interaction behavior:

• Child Care Subsidy — 3 Day Guarantee (72 hrs/fn) — direct conflict; this ATSI rule overrides the 72-hour floor when it applies.
• Child Care Subsidy — 100 hrs/fn (recognised participation) — companion rule; both reach the 100-hour cap but via different gates (participation vs ATSI identification).
• Child Care Subsidy — 100 hrs/fn (valid exemption) — companion rule; ATSI identification does not require an exemption, but a household can have both a non-ATSI child on the exemption path and an ATSI child on this path simultaneously.
• Child Care Subsidy — 90% rate — affects link with requires_context; the percentage rule that pairs with this 100-hour cap to produce the actual fortnightly subsidy at low family incomes.
• Child Care Subsidy — taper rate — middle-income percentage rule that combines with this 100-hour cap when family income is between $85,279 and $535,279.
• Child Care Subsidy — higher rate for second child — works alongside this 100-hour cap to lift the percentage on second and younger children under 5 by up to 30 points (capped at 95%) regardless of ATSI status.

These are direct relationship declarations from the rule and should be treated as deterministic for this policy version. The ATSI rule is the only hours-cap rule with a 2023-07-10 effective date; the others all start 5 January 2026, which means before that date the ATSI 100-hour cap was already in force while the broader 3 Day Guarantee was not yet introduced.

Frequently Asked Questions