By BEST Childcare Consulting
From 5 January 2026, the Australian Government will introduce the 3 Day Guarantee, giving all CCS-eligible families access to a minimum of 72 hours of subsidised early childhood education and care (ECEC) per fortnight, regardless of their activity-test hours.
This is one of the most significant CCS reforms in years — and it will affect families, educators, operations, finances, CCS processing, session structures and occupancy.
This comprehensive BEST article explains everything childcare services need to know about the 3 Day Guarantee starting 5 January 2026. It covers:
- What the changes mean for families, educators and services
- What families must do before January 2026
- What services need to do now and in January
- How to prepare your childcare software for CCS changes
- Whether new CWAs are required (yes, for most families)
- How to use these reforms to increase occupancy
- Full QIP entries for QA6 and QA7, already written and ready to insert into your service’s QIP
What Is the 3 Day Guarantee?
From 5 January 2026: All CCS-eligible families will receive a minimum of 72 hours of subsidised ECEC per fortnight; These hours are guaranteed without meeting activity-test requirements.; This includes families who previously received 0 hours, 24 hours or 36 hours.
Who is eligible for 100 hours per fortnight?
Families will be eligible for 100 hours (five days) of subsidised care per child, per fortnight, if they:
- care for an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander child
- have more than 48 hours of recognised activity
- have an exemption or exceptional circumstances
- receive Additional CCS (child wellbeing, temporary financial hardship, or grandparent payments)
What the 3 Day Guarantee Means for Families
More subsidised care
Every eligible family now receives three days a week (or the equivalent across shorter sessions) of subsidised care.
No activity-test requirement for the first 72 hours
Families do not need to meet activity-test requirements to access the base 72 hours.
Families must still:
- meet CCS eligibility
- pay the gap fee (unless exempt)
- update their service with 2026 attendance needs
- check their income estimate is correct in myGov
Better access and stability for children
More consistent days =
- stronger relationships
- deeper learning experiences
- stronger routines
- better school-readiness outcomes
What Families Need to Do Before 5 January 2026
Do not need to update anything with Services Australia if they already receive CCS.Must still meet CCS eligibility criteria.
Must still pay the gap fee, even with higher subsidised hours.
Should decide how many days they want their child to attend from 2026.
Must advise their childcare service as early as possible so 2026 rooms and rosters can be planned.
What the 3 Day Guarantee Means for Educators
For educators, this reform supports deeper teaching and learning:
More consistent attendance, Children who attended 1 short day may now attend 2–3 days.
Stronger relationships, More time supports secure attachments and better transitions.
Better curriculum continuity, Project work, intentional teaching and documentation will be easier with stable patterns.
Reduced stress for educators, Children settle faster and follow routines more confidently when attending more days.
What It Means for Childcare Services
The 3 Day Guarantee is both a compliance preparation and a major business opportunity.
Families who previously could not afford multiple days will now increase attendance
This directly supports:
- occupancy
- revenue stability
- improved staff rostering
- continuity of care evidence for NQS
Increased enquiries and enrolment pressure
Families may wish to increase days. New families may now consider ECEC earlier.
Session models matter
72 hours across a fortnight can look like:
- three 12-hour days per week
- four 9-hour days across a fortnight
- shorter sessions spread across more days
Services must review their options and communicate clearly.
Governance and financial systems must be ready
Your CCSS software, fee policies, and family communication systems need to reflect:
- 72-hour minimum entitlement
- 100-hour eligibility
- gap-fee messaging
- non-attendance rules
- session-length impacts
What Services Must Do Before 5 January 2026
Inform families, ensure every family understands the reform and what it means.
Ask families to confirm their 2026 booking needs, this will shape rooms, rosters, staffing and finances.
Review session structures, consider whether your sessions support 72 hours spread over a fortnight.
Update your website, foyer displays & enrolment materials, messaging must be clear, simple and accurate.
Prepare your staff, educators should be confident explaining the benefits but refer CCS questions back to admin.
Update your QIP, document family engagement, governance, preparation and continuous improvement.
What Services Must Do in January 2026
Confirm CCS entitlements against real bookings
Monitor session attendance and subsidy usage
Follow up with families who exceed their 72 hours
Monitor occupancy shifts
Adjust rosters
Send clear statements and explanations
Document outcomes for QIP and reviews
What Childcare Services Need to Do to Prepare Their Childcare Software for the 3 Day Guarantee
Because each childcare management system (CMS/CCMS software) handles CCS entitlements differently, you cannot rely on the software to “magically update itself” without configuration. You must prepare your software well before 5 January 2026 to avoid billing errors, incorrect CCS payments, gap-fee disputes, or compliance risks. Here is what every childcare service needs to do—no matter which software you use.
1. Confirm that your software provider will support the 3 Day Guarantee
All major systems will release updates, but services must check:
- The date the update will be applied
- Whether the update is automatic or if you must approve, install or activate it
- Whether manual configuration is required (session lengths, fee categories, etc.)
- Whether new reports or dashboards will appear for monitoring 72-hour usage
- Whether CCS-estimate calculations will change
Ask your provider directly: “How is your software applying the new 72-hour minimum CCS entitlement?”
2. Review and update your session types (VERY IMPORTANT)
Because the 72 hours is a fortnightly entitlement, your software needs clear session definitions.
You must review:
- Session lengths (9h, 10h, 12h, short-day, school-hours etc.)
- Session names and fee structures
- Whether your session types allocate actual hours attended or full session hours to CCS
- Whether your service will create new January 2026 sessions
You may need to:
- Add new short sessions
- Remove outdated sessions
- Adjust session start/finish times
- Apply new fee rules
- Align your sessions with how parents use their 72 hours
If your session definitions are wrong, families may accidentally go over 72 hours and incur full fees, leading to disputes.
3. Audit ALL children’s current booking patterns
Before January, run a report in your software that shows:
- Each child’s current session pattern
- Total fortnightly hours of care
- CCS activity-test tier
- Which families currently receive 0, 24 or 36 hours
- Which families will likely want to increase days in 2026
Use this report to:
- Identify families needing follow-up
- Predict occupancy increases
- Pre-fill 2026 booking offers
4. Confirm how the software will show the new CCS entitlements
Ask your software provider:
- Will family entitlements automatically update on 5 January?
- Will the new 72-hour and 100-hour entitlements display in:
- the child profile
- enrolment summary
- CCS entitlement dashboard
- statements?
- Will the system stop families from exceeding 72 hours? (Most systems won’t and will still allow over-use, so you must monitor manually.)
- Will there be a new “Hours Used vs Hours Remaining” tracker?
If not, your admin team will need to manually track any families who may exceed their entitlements.
5. Update your 2026 fee schedule and ensure it is linked to session types
Most systems require:
- Updating fees for each session type
- Ensuring the correct fees are assigned to rooms/services
- Checking pro-rata calculations
- Confirming gap-fee rounding rules
This must be done BEFORE sending out January statements.
(Every year many services accidentally bill old fees in Week 1 — this year the risk is higher due to CCS changes.)
6. Prepare your January 2026 bookings in the system
Bookings for the first fortnight in 2026 should be set up in early December 2025.
You need to:
- Create 2026 enrolment patterns
- Confirm all newly requested days
- End outdated bookings from 2025
- Check for clashes or duplicate patterns
- Ensure room capacities are correct
- Ensure rollovers have applied correctly
This is also the time to finalise Start Date: 5 January 2026 for children transitioning to new patterns.
7. Update your absence, casual booking and swap policies inside the system
Because families have more subsidised hours, many software systems will now:
- Recalculate CCS when absences occur
- Apply different rules for casual bookings
- Require manual checks for children exceeding their hours
Make sure your settings for:
- Allowable absences
- Casual bookings
- Temporary extra days
- Fee overrides
- Holiday discounts
…are all accurate and visible to staff.
8. Update staff permissions and internal workflows
The CCS changes mean more families will ask more questions.
Check:
- Who can edit bookings
- Who can change fees
- Who can apply overrides
- Who can see CCS entitlements
- Who is authorised to communicate with families
Ensure only trained admin staff handle CCS-related tasks to avoid errors.
9. Train admin staff with real scenarios
Choose 3–5 real child profiles and practise:
- Increasing days
- Changing sessions
- Adding extra casual days
- Checking fortnightly hours
- Spotting when a family is about to exceed their 72 hours
- Generating a CCS estimate
Most software providers will release training webinars—book into them.
10. Prepare a “Family CCS Summary” in your software
By late December, send families a summary via your system:
- Their new entitlement (72 or 100 hours)
- Their 2026 booking pattern
- Their estimated gap fee
- Reminders to update their income estimate
- Confirmation of start date (5 January)
This keeps your January Week 1 calm and organised.
11. Ensure your system can generate accurate CCS statements for January
You MUST check that:
- CCS is calculating correctly
- Statements show the correct subsidy
- Gap fees align with updated enrolments
- Software has applied the 3 Day Guarantee formula
Do a test statement in December to avoid surprise billing errors.
12. Prepare your CCSS compliance
Your CCMS software is your compliance engine.
Make sure:
- CWA enrolments roll over correctly
- Attendance is entered daily
- Software aligns with CCS fortnightly reporting cycles
- Your admin team knows how to manually check CCS entitlements
- You have a process to flag families approaching their 72-hour limit
- You know how your software reports “over 100 hours” cases
Do Services Need to Redo CWAs? (YES — for most families)
The 3 Day Guarantee itself does not require a new CWA, BUT because most families will be changing their days or session types, new CWAs are required.
A new CWA is required if:
- session length changes
- days of attendance change
- fees change
- booking patterns change
- a new enrolment pattern starts in 2026
A new CWA is NOT required if:
- the family keeps EXACTLY the same days
- the service keeps EXACTLY the same session types
- fees remain identical
- there is zero change to the booking
For January 2026, most services WILL need to:
- End 2025 CWAs
- Create new CWAs starting 5 January 2026
- Send CWAs to families for signing
- Check acceptance before the first day of attendance
- Pause CCS submissions for unsigned CWAs
Critical admin message:
“If a family changes their days or session types for 2026, they MUST sign a new CWA.
If nothing changes, the current CWA can continue.”
How to Use the 3 Day Guarantee to Increase Occupancy
1. Target families currently on 1–2 days
These families are the MOST likely to increase bookings.Create a warm message: “From January 2026 your child will receive 72 subsidised hours per fortnight. Would you like to increase days to support their learning and routine?”
2. Run a “3 Days to Thrive” marketing campaign
Use:
- foyer posters
- social media
- email newsletters
- enrolment tours
Focus messaging on children’s learning, friendships and well-being.
3. Guide families to secure 2026 days early
Scarcity drives demand. Offer:
- preferred days selection
- “secure your 2026 days now” messaging
- follow-up reminders
4. Engage First Nations families
Families caring for First Nations children may receive 100 hours per fortnight. If culturally appropriate, share this information in a strengths-based, respectful way.
5. Train educators to communicate the benefits
Educators should feel confident to say: “Three days a week really supports your child’s learning and friendships. Let us know if you’re considering increasing days for 2026.”
6. Showcase your knowledge and leadership
Families trust well-informed services. When a service provides:
- clear policy explanations
- accurate CCS guidance
- structured communication
…it strengthens family confidence and boosts enrolment decisions.
QIP Entries
QIP Entry – Quality Area 6: Collaborative Partnerships with Families & Communities
Identified Area for Improvement:
Supporting families to understand and access the 3 Day Guarantee (72-hour minimum CCS entitlement) commencing January 2026, and ensuring families feel informed, supported and able to plan their 2026 enrolment needs.
Strategies Implemented:
- We communicated the 3 Day Guarantee to all families through email, foyer posters, Storypark/OWNA announcements and individual conversations.
- We invited families to review and update their 2026 enrolment requirements early, allowing transparent collaboration and shared decision-making.
- We provided clear information about CCS entitlements, gap fees, and how the 72-hour minimum impacts booking patterns.
- Educators used consistent scripts to explain the educational benefits of consistent attendance.
- Leadership offered family support sessions for CCS questions and helped families understand session options.
Evidence of Impact (Exceeding Themes):
Embedded Practice: Family engagement was ongoing and responsive. Families used the information to make informed decisions that improved continuity of care.
Critical Reflection: Leadership reviewed family feedback and adjusted communication methods to ensure clarity and accessibility.
Meaningful Engagement: Families expressed appreciation for proactive communication and felt confident adjusting their 2026 bookings. Several families increased their child’s attendance days, demonstrating strong partnership and trust.
QIP Entry – Quality Area 7: Governance & Leadership
Identified Area for Improvement:
Preparing the service’s governance, software systems, staffing, financial planning and compliance processes for the 3 Day Guarantee commencing 5 January 2026.
Strategies Implemented:
- Conducted a full review of our childcare management software to ensure correct application of 72-hour and 100-hour CCS entitlements.
- Updated or created new CWAs for families with changed 2026 bookings.
- Reviewed and updated session types, fee structures and booking patterns.
- Provided training for admin staff on CCS, session changes, financial modelling and family communication.
- Updated policies, procedures and communication templates to align with the reform.
- Documented all changes, decisions and staff reflections in leadership meeting minutes.
Evidence of Impact (Exceeding Themes):
Embedded Practice: Governance processes were strengthened through structured planning and proactive action. Software, enrolments, and compliance systems are now ready for 2026.
Critical Reflection: Leadership analysed current session offerings, occupancy data and CCS modelling to create informed strategies that support sustainability.
Meaningful Engagement: Transparent communication with families and staff created confidence, stability and shared understanding. This has supported increased occupancy and seamless transition into 2026.
Useful Links
Official Government Information – 3 Day Guarantee
Australian Government – Overview of the 3 Day Guarantee
https://www.education.gov.au/child-care-package/news/three-day-childcare-guarantee
Department of Education – CCS changes from January 2026
https://www.education.gov.au/child-care-subsidy-ccs
Starting Blocks – 3 Day Guarantee: Information for Families
https://www.startingblocks.gov.au
Child Care Subsidy (CCS) – General Information
Services Australia – Child Care Subsidy
https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/child-care-subsidy
Services Australia – How CCS is paid
https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/how-child-care-subsidy-is-paid
Services Australia – CCS Activity Test
https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/child-care-subsidy-activity-test
Department of Education – How CCS works
https://www.education.gov.au/child-care-subsidy-ccs/how-child-care-subsidy-works
Additional Child Care Subsidy (ACCS)
Services Australia – ACCS (Child Wellbeing)
https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/additional-child-care-subsidy-child-wellbeing
Services Australia – ACCS (Temporary Financial Hardship)
https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/additional-child-care-subsidy-temporary-financial-hardship
Services Australia – ACCS (Grandparents)
https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/additional-child-care-subsidy-grandparent
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Childcare Supports
Department of Education – Indigenous Early Childhood Programs
https://www.education.gov.au/indigenous-early-years
Department of Education – CCS for First Nations Children (Information)
https://www.education.gov.au/child-care-subsidy-ccs/resources/fact-sheet-child-care-first-nations-families
Childcare Governance & Compliance
ACECQA – National Quality Framework
https://www.acecqa.gov.au/nqf
National Regulations (2012)
https://www.acecqa.gov.au/nqf/national-regulations
National Law (2010/WA 2012)
https://www.acecqa.gov.au/nqf/national-law
ACECQA – Enrolment & CWA Requirements (Family Law/CCS Information)
https://www.acecqa.gov.au/resources/rules-and-legislation/child-care-subsidy-requirements
Family-Facing Resources
Starting Blocks – Government-Supported Resource for Families
https://www.startingblocks.gov.au
Raising Children Network – Childcare Explained
https://raisingchildren.net.au/grown-ups/services-support/childcare-childrens-services/child-care
Business & Administrative Support (for Services)
Australian Government – Child Care Provider Handbook
https://www.education.gov.au/child-care-provider-handbook
Department of Education – CCS and Enrolment Requirements for Providers
https://www.education.gov.au/child-care-provider-handbook/engaging-families
CCSS Technical Support (Software/Systems)
https://www.education.gov.au/child-care-subsidy-system-ccss
BEST Childcare Consulting
The 3 Day Guarantee is more than a funding tweak – it’s a chance to:
- Give children more time in stable, high-quality learning environments
- Ease cost pressures on families
- Strengthen your service’s occupancy, financial sustainability and Exceeding narrative
Use this reform proactively: educate families, support educators with clear messaging, and align your session structures and marketing with the new 72-hour entitlement.
Contact us TODAY.
