Childcare Funding 2026

At BubbaDesk, we often hear the question: “Why doesn’t a model like yours receive the same government support as traditional daycare?” The answer lies in how childcare funding works in Australia today. In this post, we’re breaking down the funding landscape for long day care centres in 2026, why hybrid care models like BubbaDesk aren’t currently included, and what needs to change.

What is the Child Care Subsidy (CCS)?

The Child Care Subsidy (CCS) is the Australian Government’s primary program to reduce the cost of early childhood education and care for families. It’s available for children attending approved childcare services, such as long day care, family day care, in-home care, and outside school hours care.

For eligible families, the CCS is paid directly to the childcare provider, reducing the amount you pay out-of-pocket (the “gap fee”). The amount each family receives depends on:

• Your family income

• The age of your child

• The type of service you’re using

• Whether the provider charges more than the government’s hourly cap

 

What’s New in 2026? The 3 Day Guarantee

From January 5, 2026, the Australian Government introduced the 3 Day Guarantee – an initiative designed to assist families seeking to return to the workforce.

Under this policy, all eligible families now receive at least 72 hours (or 3 days) of subsidised early childhood education per fortnight, regardless of activity levels (like work, study or volunteering).

While this is a step forward in broadening access to Child Care Subsidy (CCS), it’s important to recognise what it does not solve:

• ❌ It does not address the shortage of high-quality childcare places. In fact, it may increase demand without supporting supply.

• ❌ It does not reduce the cost of care for families who were already eligible and using care.

• ❌ It does not guarantee a place at your preferred centre, or any centre at all.

• ❌ It does not increase access to flexible or parent-inclusive models like BubbaDesk.

Yes, the policy extends CCS eligibility to families who previously missed out due to the activity test, and that’s a positive shift. But calling it a “guarantee” is misleading, it does not guarantee availability, proximity, or alignment with a family’s care values. It’s a headline-grabbing reform that still leaves critical gaps unaddressed.

 

Why BubbaDesk Doesn’t Qualify for CCS, and Why That Needs to Change

BubbaDesk currently does not fall within the federal definition of an approved childcare service. Why? Because under existing legislation, CCS-eligible services assume:

• Children are cared for in the absence of their parent

• Care occurs in a full-day, long-form setting

• Services follow specific structural and curriculum requirements (including outdoor space)

BubbaDesk’s model is different, and intentionally so.

We operate under a close-proximity, parent-present care model, where:

• Parents remain onsite and readily available at all times

• Children are cared for in small, single-room settings

We want to be clear: we fully support the benefits of outdoor play for children. If we could access purpose-built spaces that combine small group care, outdoor space, and coworking – we absolutely would. But in today’s landscape, these types of integrated facilities simply don’t exist in scalable supply.

To qualify for CCS today, we would need to retrofit our spaces to meet outdated assumptions, including outdoor space requirements that only make economic sense in 80–120 place centres. This approach doesn’t support models that prioritise intimacy, emotional regulation, or a nurturing, calm sensory environment for very young children.

Instead, we’ve chosen to design care environments that balance:

• A calm, low-stimulation space for infants and toddlers

• Continuous adult presence and co-regulation

• Proximity to parents, which builds attachment security and reduces separation stress

• A productive coworking space for parents just steps away

This care model is not recognised under current CCS legislation, despite exceeding many safety outcomes due to continuous parental presence, mandatory check-ins, and a lower-risk environment.

In fact, our core safety feature – having parents onsite – is currently what excludes us from funding. That’s a major policy blind spot. The system penalises care models that enable attachment, flexibility, and co-regulation during the most critical developmental period of a child’s life.

What We Believe In, and Why We Stay Small

At BubbaDesk, we believe small is powerful. We intentionally operate:

• In one-room environments

• With low child-to-educator ratios (and no under-the-roof ratio rules)

• In a way that allows us to nurture both the child and the parent

We’re not interested in becoming a 120-place centre. Our goal isn’t scale for scale’s sake. It’s to create a calm, nurturing space that honours the needs of very young children, who benefit from softer environments, fewer transitions, stronger adult attachments, and minimal overstimulation.

Our spaces are designed to support:

• A productive and peaceful coworking environment for parents

• A warm, secure, and sensory-considerate care space for babies and toddlers

• Easy transitions between parent and child throughout the day, which builds attachment and reduces separation anxiety

Retrofitting our model to qualify for CCS would require us to abandon that vision – building large, outdoor-focused infrastructure not aligned to our mission, and only viable at a scale that would compromise the intimacy and responsiveness families love about BubbaDesk.

 

What Needs to Happen

We believe it’s time for the Commonwealth to recognise Close-Proximity, Parent-Present Care as a distinct, regulated category – one that supports innovation in early childhood care, keeps children safe, and empowers parents to work without unnecessary separation.

A new category would:

• Align with the National Quality Standard (NQS)

• Support parent-led learning and real-time co-regulation

• Reflect the lower-risk profile of parent-present settings

• Allow services like BubbaDesk to access fair and proportionate funding without compromising their model

 

What You Can Do

If you believe in what BubbaDesk is building – and want to see more flexible, parent-empowering care options funded and recognised – we invite you to take action:

👉 Complete Australia’s Biggest Survey of Parents by Childcare Choice. Help shape a future where innovative models like BubbaDesk are valued as part of Australia’s early learning landscape.

👉 Sign the petition: Our Kids, Our Choice — Expand the Childcare Subsidy. Add your voice to the call for inclusive childcare funding.

We believe in creating a system that works for families and educators alike, and we’re proud to be part of that change.

Have questions? We’d love to hear from you.