How much does daycare actually cost in West Ryde?

Advertised daily fees are easy to find. What you really pay each week is harder to work out. Here's what we charge, what's included, and what families typically pay per week after Child Care Subsidy in 2026.

Our daily fees

We have three rates, set by age:

• $180 per day for the Joeys Room (0–2 years)
• $170 per day for the Jungle Room (2–3 years)
• $165 per day for the Star and Rainbow rooms (3–6 years)

The fee is per attended day, regardless of pickup time. A parent collecting a child at 3pm pays the same as one collecting at 6pm. Most families book either three days, four days, or five days a week, with the same days each week.

What's actually included

This bit matters when you're comparing centres. Our fee includes everything except a change of clothes and a labelled water bottle:

• All daily meals, prepared on site by our cook (breakfast, morning tea, hot cooked lunch, afternoon tea, late snack)
• The education program
• Cancer Council Kids 50+ sunscreen, applied throughout the day
• For Joeys and Jungle (children under 3), all nappies, wipes and formula
• Two free orientation visits before your child's start date

If you're comparing us to a centre that asks parents to bring meals or nappies, the real cost difference is bigger than it looks. A week of nappies for a baby is roughly $20–$30. A week of packed lunches and snacks is $50 or more. Add these costs up before comparing centres.

Child Care Subsidy in plain terms

Child Care Subsidy (CCS) is a payment from Services Australia that pays a percentage of your daily fee directly to the centre. You only pay the rest. This is called the "gap fee".

Three things determine your subsidy:

1. Combined family income. The lower your household income, the higher the percentage.
2. The 3 Day Guarantee. Since 5 January 2026 there is no activity test. Every CCS-eligible family gets at least 72 subsidised hours per fortnight (about 3 days a week) regardless of work hours, and families with 48+ hours of activity per fortnight get 100 hours.
3. Type of care. CCS-approved long day care like ours is eligible for subsidy up to the hourly rate cap. What you actually pay depends on your CCS percentage. The cap is currently $15.19 per hour. If our hourly rate is above the cap, you pay the difference. You also pay a share of the rest, based on your income.

The Australian Government's Payment and Service Finder will give you a personalised estimate. Many families in the middle income range receive a subsidy of 50% to 75%.

A practical example

Take a family with two children, a one-year-old in the Joeys Room and a three-year-old in the Star Room, both attending three days a week. Combined family income $180,000. Both parents working full-time.

Full weekly fee:

• Joeys: $180 × 3 days = $540
• Star: $165 × 3 days = $495
• Subtotal: $1,035 per week

At that income, the older child attracts a CCS rate of about 72%. The younger of two children aged 5 or under gets a higher rate, about 84% at this income. One wrinkle: CCS is calculated on an hourly rate cap of $15.19, and an 11-hour day at $180 sits just above it, so the Joeys subsidy applies to $167.09 a day rather than the full fee ($165 in the Star Room is under the cap).

Put together, the family pays roughly $260 per week out of pocket for both children combined, not $1,035, and NSW Start Strong fee relief (below) takes it a little lower again. The rest is paid directly by the government to the centre.

This is a rough example, and Centrelink withholds 5% of the subsidy during the year as a buffer. Run your own numbers on our CCS calculator or the Services Australia tool, then we can check it together on a tour.

NSW Start Strong fee relief

On top of CCS, NSW Start Strong fee relief comes off your weekly fees automatically: in 2026, $35.66 a week for children who were 4 by 31 July, and $8.46 a week for children who turned 3 by 31 July. It can only be received at one service at a time; you nominate us at enrolment.

Other costs to know about

The daily fee covers almost everything. The two other things worth knowing:

• Holding deposit. A $500 holding deposit is required at enrolment. It's applied to your final invoice when your child leaves the centre, or refunded if you give us 4 weeks' written notice.
• Public holidays. If your enrolled day falls on a public holiday, you're charged for that day at the normal rate. The centre is closed but the place is held for you. This is common practice across Australia.

That's it. There's no enrolment fee. No food fee. No nappy fee. No charge for books or materials. Some visiting shows and activities (called incursions) are included in our daily fee, but specialist or multi-week programs are charged separately and are always opt-in, with written notice in advance.

Promotional offer for 2026

For new families enrolling now, we're running a 25% discount on the first 4 weeks of care. The offer applies to children who enrol by 31 December 2026 and start by 28 February 2027, and can't be combined with other discounts. From week 5 onwards, standard centre fees apply.