First Nations children accessing CCS touches record whilst ACCS recipients trend lower says latest DoE data

The growth in the number of First Nations children receiving Child Care Subsidy (CCS) and attending a long day care (LDC) service rose by 5.2 per cent to a new record in the three months ending March 2024 new data from the Department of Education’s Child Care in Australia reports shows. 

A total of 43,300 children received CCS in the period, up from 41,170 children over the same period last year, and more than double than the levels first recorded in 2017, when the series commenced. 

The positive overall trajectory is consistent with broader trends of improved participation in early childhood education and care (ECEC) for First Nations children with the recently released Closing the Gap report confirming good progress to achieving Outcome 3 – Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are engaged in high quality, culturally appropriate early childhood education in their early years.

That being said, it is notable that the Department of Education’s CCS data shows a continued contraction in the number of children accessing and receiving Additional Child Care Subsidy (ACCS).

38,110 children received ACCS in the March quarter, down 5.8 per cent from the same period last year and down 14.7 per cent from the peak levels reached in the year after the COVID-19 pandemic started. 

Looking at the four different categories that make up ACCS spend, child well being related ACCS still dominates the overall disbursements and accounts for around 80 per cent of all ACCS allocated.

This category has not seen a meaningful pull back but the same can’t be said for the other albeit smaller categories namely grandparents, temporary financial hardship and transition to work, all of which have trended lower over the last several years. 

Notably, transition to work now accounts for 13 per cent of ACCS disbursed, compared to 21 per cent three years earlier and temporary financial hardship for around 4 per cent compared to nearly 8 per cent over the same time period perhaps reflecting the role a stronger economy plays in determining payments in these areas. 

To read the Department of Education’s Child Care in Australia reports click the link.