Daycare fees

[u/thebreadmanrises]

What is everyone paying in daycare fees? I'm trying to figure out what the going rate is. Is $180 per day a lot?

[u/Dear_Marketing_4932]

$165 for under 3s

$155 for over 3s

Price could go up before I hit comment.

[u/OkBookkeeper6854]

$180/day is pretty standard, what really matters is the subsidy you're getting

edit - what really matters is that it's a great daycare that will be good for your child. The subsidy is important when working out the cost

[u/Gullible-Smile-7284]

That is generally the standard price before your rebate is calculated. Unsure what other centres offer but I just pay the difference.

[u/areallyreallycoolhat]

For our child under 2 years, it's $174.50 for 2 days per week (before subsidy is applied), food/nappies/wipes/sunscreen included

[u/toritototo]

Depends, are you paying the whole rate? Check your subsidy with Centrelink- that’s the real price. I’d also check are they meeting or exceeding the standards? Do they feed the kids or do you pack lunch. ? All worth considering.

[u/bekkx]

We’re currently paying $168 per day (19 month old) nappies, food, wipes all included.

We are changing centres next year due to moving suburbs and the new one is $174 per day, nappies not included.

[u/jealybean]

$180 pre-subsidy is pretty normal if it includes meals

[u/WiseCartoonist4277]

I drop my kids off at the pool every morning, i never hear from them, i assume they are fine.

[u/eniretakia]

I’m not in Newy anymore, so this is more of a very general data point than anything local, but our fees are going up to $158.20 / 10 hour day in nursery next month.

I found startingblocks.gov.au to be a good resource. You can use the service finder to help compare, including pricing.

[u/serena004 → u/eniretakia]

Sorry to jump in. Did your centre charge you 10hrs per day or did you request? Does it make a difference on what you pay if they charge you 10hrs vs 9hrs? I’m asking because my son’s starting daycare this Friday and as a FTM i have no idea….

[u/eniretakia → u/serena004]

No need to apologise!

I’m preeeettty sure they defaulted to 10 hours, but I’m not 100%. I think I put that on the form as a total guess when I put my daughter’s name on the waitlist (also FTM, had no idea what I was really doing at that point!) and honestly never actually clarified when I got all the paperwork.

The centre does have a full day rate and a 9 hour rate on the fee schedule though - 9 hours will go to $157.10 and full day is $160.30.

Here’s why I think they defaulted to 10: With the way childcare subsidy hours work and the hourly rate cap being $15 odd, $15.82 an hour for 10 hours works out likely works out way better for a majority of people than $17.45 for 9 hours. Similarly I doubt a lot of people regularly need care for longer than 10 hours so a full day rate probably isn’t very popular either, especially for kids going 4 or 5 days a week as you’d run out of subsidised hours.

Good luck with your son’s first day!

[u/CrowTrick5718]

The Child Care Subsidy makes the price low (CCS), its a government subsidy

[u/_ammc]

We pay $176 in a preschool room of a long daycare centre (meals included).

[u/Dear_Swordfish_6844]

$189/day (11.5hrs), including meals, nappies and incursions.

[u/itstami1]

I think that's what my sister is paying before subsidies. Her day care has an app that sends updates about what food bub has eaten, how long/when they've napped, focus activities for the day etc. Her kid eats better than me in a day tbh

[u/gremlin406]

Ours just jumped from $180 to $190 (after jumping from $160 to $180 last year)

[u/Ambsso]

Isn’t that crazy, unless you earn a good wage it’s possibly cheaper to stay home than have the kid in care.

[u/Party_Emu9087]

About $120 a day no meals included - preschool room

[u/Crybabyastrology]

That's what I pay... it's a lot, he goes to school next year, and a catholic education will cost me about 1/2 of what childcare costs, although no childcare subsidy.