Flexible Childcare Assistance

You may be able to get Flexible Childcare Assistance if you:

• are the principal caregiver of a dependent child or young person
• have informal childcare costs because you’re unable to access formal childcare
• are in or starting an employment-related activity and need childcare because of this
• likely to need a benefit for a long time if you don’t get this assistance, and
• are a New Zealand citizen or permanent resident (you may be able to get this payment if you have a temporary entry class visa that allows you to work in New Zealand).

Employment-related activity

You need to be participating in the employment-related activity for at least 3 hours a week, during times you need informal childcare. This can include:

• paid employment
• employment-related study, or
• employment-related training.

If you're working and won't be getting a main benefit, your job must be expected to last at least 13 weeks.

If you're in training or study, you must be doing a specific type of course, and it will depend on how long you’ll be taking part. If your course is:

• 12 weeks or less, the course can be at any level and does not need to be NZQA certified
• 13 weeks or more, the course must be Level 3 or below on the NZQA framework, which means it is certificate level study.

The child or young person

The child or young person must be:

• 13 years or younger, or
• 14 to 18 years but can’t safely be left home alone, e.g. because they need special help.

Income and asset limits

There is no income or asset limit for this payment.

Other parent or caregiver

You may not be able to get this payment if the child's other parent or caregiver can take care of them.

You can get a weekly rate of:

• $64.02 for one child
• $32.01 for each additional child.

The maximum amount you can get is $192.06 a week.

You can get the payment for up to 52 weeks.

The payment is to help pay for your informal childcare costs, e.g:

• paying the person who’s caring for your child, which could be a:
  • family member
  • trusted friend
  • neighbour
  • child-minder
• food
• activities
• travel.

You need to pay the person caring for the child or young person yourself.

You need to call us on 0800 559 009 to book an appointment.

In most cases, we’ll need you to come in for a face-to-face appointment. However, there may be times we’ll be able to support you over the phone.

The information we need from you is listed in our pdf form.

You can print and fill out the form yourself, or we can help you fill it in at your appointment.

We’ll also need you to provide documents showing your:

• employment details e.g. name of the company, your position, and start date
• employment-related training details, or
• employment-related education details.

If this is your first time applying for a benefit or ongoing payment, you need to bring your original government-issued ID into a service centre so we can check it.

You’re responsible for choosing and organising appropriate care for your children.

When you’re looking at options for childcare, there are a number of things you may like to consider or do, so that you know your children will be safe and well cared for. These could include:

• asking the person for references, then contacting their referees and talking to them
• asking to see a copy of the person’s criminal record
  • they can get this from the Ministry of Justice
• thinking about the environment where your children will be cared for, e.g:
  • fencing for pools and balconies
  • who else will be there
  • safety around animals 
• checking if the child will be travelling in the person’s car, e.g:
  • do they have a driver licence
  • is the vehicle safe
  • do they need car seats
• talking to the person about how you want your child looked after, e.g:
  • types of food and activities
  • behaviour expectations
  • special needs or medication they need to be aware of.

You can leave a child under 14 at home or in another place if you’ve made reasonable provisions to have them supervised and cared for safely, and they’re not left for a long time.

You must also tell us straight away about any changes in your circumstances that could affect your payments, e.g. if your child leaves your care.

If you get Flexible Childcare Assistance, you can still apply for OSCAR or Childcare subsidy to help with childcare costs during the times you're able to access formal childcare programmes.