moving states with kids: childcare, CCS and school transfers

CCS and childcare when you move

Child Care Subsidy is a federal program run by Services Australia. there's no state-level version, no lag when you cross a border, and no waiting period to re-establish entitlement. as long as you're enrolled with an approved provider and you've updated your address on myGov, CCS flows straight through to the new centre.

the bits that do require attention:

• new Complying Written Arrangement (CWA): every provider needs a fresh enrolment in the CCS system — you can't transfer the old one
• address update: change it in myGov (for Centrelink) and with the ATO before the first day at the new centre
• activity test: unchanged — CCS hours are based on recognised activity, not postcode. from 1 January 2026 the Three Day Guarantee means every child gets 72 hours a fortnight regardless
• immunisation: still nationally recorded on the Australian Immunisation Register, so no action needed

waitlists by state

the real bottleneck isn't subsidy — it's finding a place. long day care demand is concentrated in inner metropolitan postcodes, and in some suburbs the wait for an under-two place runs into years. a rough picture for early 2026:

join waitlists the day you sign a lease, not the day you move in. most centres don't charge a waitlist fee and there's no limit on how many lists you can be on. family day care is often a faster route to a place while you wait for a centre spot — it's the same CCS, different setting.

preschool funding differences

this is where the states really diverge. "preschool", "kindergarten" and "kinder" mean different things in different places, and the funding model changes what you pay.

• Victoria: free kinder for 3 and 4 year olds, 15 hours a week, delivered through sessional kinders and long day care
• New South Wales: Start Strong funding subsidises 600 hours a year of community preschool for 3-5 year olds — most preschools are free or near-free for the year before school
• Queensland: free kindergarten for 4 year olds, 15 hours a week, via approved kindergarten programs
• South Australia: preschool is delivered through public schools for 4 year olds, free, usually 15 hours a week
• Western Australia: 4 year old kindy runs through public primary schools, free, part-time
• Tasmania / NT / ACT: school-based kinder or preschool programs, mostly free

the practical consequence: a Melbourne family moving to Adelaide with a 3 year old loses the Victorian free 3yo kinder (SA doesn't run one) and either pays for long day care with CCS applied, or waits a year for school-based preschool at age 4.

school starting ages and transfers

compulsory school age and the cutoff date vary by state, and the mismatch is the single most disruptive thing about moving interstate with school-age kids.

if your child was born in May and you move from Victoria to Queensland, they can start a year earlier in Queensland than they would have in Victoria. moving the other way can push them back. talk to the receiving school's enrolment officer before you lock in a start date — most states allow some discretion, particularly if the child has already started elsewhere.

for primary and high school transfers, request a transfer certificate from the old school. public school enrolments are managed by state departments and you usually enrol in the school catchment that matches your new address — out-of-area applications exist but can take weeks.

the admin checklist

the things to update, roughly in order:

• Medicare address (online via myGov)
• Centrelink address (triggers CCS and FTB updates)
• ATO address (for tax file matching)
• My Health Record and GP transfer
• waitlist applications at new childcare centres
• transfer certificate from current school
• enrolment at new school in catchment
• immunisation history statement (print from myGov)
• paediatrician, speech, OT referrals if the child sees specialists — referrals usually need to be reissued by a new GP

frequently asked questions