Start Strong Funding in NSW
Start Strong funding in NSW is a state government program that takes money off preschool-age children's fees, on top of the Child Care Subsidy. For 2026, a long day care child who has turned four by 31 July can attract as much as $1,783 over the year, and a three year old up to $423, taken off fees in even amounts. Here is who qualifies, what it is worth and how to make sure you receive it.
This guide is for NSW families with a child aged three, four or five in long day care or about to start. It explains the program, who is eligible, the 2026 amounts, how it stacks on top of the Child Care Subsidy, how it shows on your statement and what to ask us. The figures come straight from the NSW Department of Education.
For our daily fee, inclusions and subsidy examples, see childcare fees at Lead.
What Start Strong is
Start Strong is a NSW Government program that funds eligible long day care services and community preschools to make preschool education more affordable for children aged three and over. For families, the part that matters is fee relief: money the government pays to your service, which the service passes on as a reduction in your fees.
It exists because the years before school are when a quality preschool program makes the biggest difference, and cost can stop families taking part.
Start Strong is separate from the federal Child Care Subsidy. In long day care you can receive both, with CCS applied first and Start Strong reducing the gap that is left.
The amounts differ by type of service. Community and mobile preschools, which do not attract CCS, receive larger amounts per child.
When people talk about free preschool in NSW, they usually mean community or public preschools, where Start Strong can cover most or all of the fees. Long day care gets a smaller amount because CCS already covers much of the cost.
Official details are on the NSW Department of Education Start Strong page.
Start Strong in brief
- Run by
- NSW Department of Education
- For
- Children aged 3 and over
- Paid to
- Your service, off your fees
- With CCS?
- Yes, on top of it
A NSW extraWho is eligible in long day care
In long day care, Start Strong fee relief is for children enrolled at a participating service who are at least three years old on or before 31 July of the year. Children who are four or older by 31 July receive the higher age amount. Your family also needs to complete a fee relief declaration and consent form and nominate the service that will receive it.
There is no income test and no work requirement. A family on a high income, receiving little or no Child Care Subsidy, still receives the same Start Strong amount for their child.
Age is set once for the year using 31 July. A child who turns four in August is treated as three for that year's amount.
You can only receive fee relief from one service at a time, so if your child attends two services, you choose which one gets it.
The higher maximum rate is reserved for four groups: First Nations children, and children at long day care services located in disadvantaged areas, in regional or remote NSW, or operated by an Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation.
For most St Ives families, that means the standard long day care rate applies, unless the child is Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander.
Family income does not affect Start Strong in long day care, unlike the Child Care Subsidy.
Eligibility checklist
- Aged 3 or over by 31 July
- At a participating service
- Declaration form completed
- One nominated service
31 July sets the ageHow much fee relief it provides
The 2026 long day care amounts are capped at $1,783 for a four year old and $423 for a three year old, with ages fixed at 31 July. The maximum rate is $2,563 and $769. The service divides the annual amount by the weeks it operates, so at a centre open 52 weeks, the standard four-year-old amount works out to about $34.29 off each week's fees.
| Child | Standard rate, per year | Per week over 52 weeks | Maximum rate, per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 or older by 31 July | $1,783 | about $34.29 | $2,563 |
| 3 by 31 July | $423 | about $8.13 | $769 |
The amounts are published for each calendar year, with ages fixed at 31 July of that year, so check the new figures each January rather than each July as you would for the Child Care Subsidy.
For comparison, community and mobile preschools receive up to $3,565 a year per child, or $4,456 at the maximum rate, because families there cannot claim the Child Care Subsidy.
The amounts are "up to" figures. Fee relief can only reduce what you owe, so it will never be more than your gap after the subsidy.
Over the two preschool years, a child who starts with us at three and stays until school could receive up to about $2,200 in total at the standard rate.
See how the numbers fit your own situation with our childcare cost estimator, then subtract the weekly Start Strong amount.
How it combines with CCS
In long day care, the Child Care Subsidy is applied first, then Start Strong reduces the gap that remains. For a family earning $150,000 with a four year old at Lead three days a week, the CCS gap of about $120.51 a week falls to about $86.22 once the standard weekly Start Strong amount of $34.29 comes off.
For the same family with a three year old, the reduction is about $8.13 a week, bringing the gap to about $112.38.
For a family on the maximum 90% CCS rate, the three-day gap of $58.86 a week would drop to about $24.57 with a four year old.
Because Start Strong is a flat amount rather than a percentage, it makes the biggest proportional difference for families whose remaining gap is already small.
It does not change your CCS percentage, your subsidised hours or your balancing at tax time.
Our guide to how the Child Care Subsidy works explains the first layer, and our online estimator gives you the CCS gap to start from.
Four year old, 3 days a week
- $150,000, after CCS
- $120.51
- Less Start Strong
- $34.29
- You pay
- about $86.22
Weekly, before CCS withholding.
Two layers of helpHow it appears on your bill
Start Strong appears on your statement as a separate reduction, after the fee and the Child Care Subsidy. Services must tell families when fee relief has been applied, usually on their regular invoice or statement, so you can see the fee, the CCS amount, the Start Strong reduction and the final amount you pay.
The reduction is spread evenly across the weeks the service operates, so it shows as a similar amount on every statement rather than one lump sum.
Ask us early in the year if you are unsure whether your child's reduction has started. Catching a missing form in February is far easier than sorting it out in November.
If you change services partway through the year, you complete a new declaration for the new service, and the relief moves with you.
If you do not see it on your statement, check that your declaration form has been handed in and ask us to confirm it has been applied.
You still pay any remaining fees after the relief is applied.
Keep your statements together with your CCS records. Start Strong is not balanced at tax time, but having both on file makes it easy to check you received the right amounts over the year.
Reading the lines
- 1. Fee
- Your booked sessions
- 2. CCS
- Federal subsidy
- 3. Start Strong
- NSW reduction
- 4. You pay
- What is left
Shown each statementStart Strong at Lead
If your child is three or older, ask our team about Start Strong when you enrol. We can confirm how fee relief applies at Lead, give you the fee relief declaration and consent form, and show you how the reduction appears on your statement. The form stays with us; you do not send it to the department.
Children in our Pre-Kindy room, for three year olds, and our Preschool room, for four to five year olds, are the age groups the program covers.
Both rooms follow the Early Years Learning Framework, and the Preschool year adds our School Readiness Program, so the fee relief supports a genuine preschool education.
Our preschool program runs inside long day care hours all year, so families get a teacher-led preschool year with full working-day care.
If your child also attends another service, such as a community preschool on other days, decide which service should receive the relief, as only one can.
Read about our preschool in St Ives for 4 to 5 year olds, or call (02) 7238 8668. Everything else is on our home page.
Ask us about
- How Start Strong applies here
- The declaration and consent form
- Your weekly reduction
- Where it shows on your statement
Just askStart Strong, answered
Is preschool free in NSW?+
Preschool can be free or close to free at community and public preschools, where Start Strong pays up to $3,565 a year per child. In long day care it is not free, but the Child Care Subsidy plus Start Strong fee relief, up to $1,783 for four year olds, cover much of the cost.
Does my 3 year old qualify?+
Yes, if your child is three on or before 31 July and attends a participating long day care service, they can receive up to $423 in fee relief in 2026, or $769 at the maximum rate. From the year they are four by 31 July, the amount rises to $1,783.
Do I need to apply?+
You do not apply to the government, but you must complete a fee relief declaration and consent form and give it to the service you choose to receive the relief. The service keeps it and passes the reduction on through your fees. You can get the form from your service or the department's website.
Preschool with every dollar of help counted
Tour our Pre-Kindy and Preschool rooms and ask how CCS and Start Strong apply to you.