If you work in early childhood education in Australia, your 2026–27 tax return has a new headline act: a $1,000 standard deduction you can claim without a single receipt. It changes the maths for almost every childcare worker — but it does not replace thinking. A diploma-qualified educator on $68,000 with a typical year of work expenses is still $169 better off itemising, while a casual educator with a light year is $122 better off taking the standard amount. This guide gives you the full ATO list for childcare workers, the traps that cost real money, and both worked examples so you can pick the right option for your year.
It covers centre-based educators, kindergarten assistants, pre-school aides and nannies employed by a service or family. Family day care educators run a business rather than working as employees, so some of this does not apply to them — there is a section on that distinction near the end.
The three rules, and the big 2026–27 change
Every deduction in this guide has to pass the same three tests: you spent the money yourself and were not reimbursed, the expense directly relates to earning your income, and you have a record to prove it. If your employer paid you back for something, you cannot claim it again.
What is new in 2026–27 is the standard deduction for work-related expenses: eligible employees can claim up to $1,000 without needing to have spent the money or kept records. It is law, it first applies in your 2026–27 return (not the 2025–26 return), and it is an either/or choice — you take the $1,000 or you itemise your actual expenses, not both. Two things survive on top of the standard deduction: union and professional association fees, and unrelated claims like donations and tax-agent fees. The old $300 no-receipts threshold and the old $150 laundry concession no longer operate as standalones; both are folded into this choice. That is why the worked example below matters: the right answer depends on your actual total.
What childcare workers can claim
Uniforms and laundry
You can claim the cost of buying, hiring, repairing and cleaning a compulsory uniform that is unique to your employer — typically a shirt, polo or apron carrying the service’s logo. Laundry costs for that eligible clothing are claimable too, worked out from a reasonable diary-based estimate of your washing costs. What you cannot claim is plain clothing, even if your employer requires it: black pants, a plain skirt or a generic white shirt are not deductible just because you only wear them at work. If you wear a mix, only the logoed and protective pieces count.
Sun protection for outdoor play
Outdoor play is part of the job, and the ATO accepts sun protection as a work expense when your duties require you to be outside: a sun hat, sunglasses and sunscreen you buy for work. This is a genuinely childcare-specific set that generic deduction guides skip. Keep the receipts and, for sunscreen, note that it is the work-use portion that counts if the bottle also lives in the family bathroom cabinet.
Teaching materials and equipment
Anything you buy yourself for the children in your care that the service does not provide or reimburse: art and craft supplies, stationery, teaching aids, educational toys, books, and a work bag used to carry resources between rooms or sites. Items costing $300 or less are claimed in full in the year you buy them; pricier items like a laptop or tablet used for programming and documentation are depreciated over their effective life, claiming only the work-related portion. A phone or tablet used for both work and personal life is apportioned — a diary over a representative four-week period is the usual way to justify your percentage.
Training, first aid and self-education
First aid, CPR and asthma and anaphylaxis courses are the classic childcare claim, and they are deductible when they relate to your current job — most services require them as a condition of employment, which makes the connection straightforward. The same test applies to other job-related courses, seminars and conferences: a course in supporting children with additional needs, taken while you are working as an educator, qualifies. What does not qualify is study that gets you a new job rather than improving your current one, and the cost of your initial qualification — the Certificate III that got you into the role in the first place. HECS-HELP course fees are never deductible either.
Your working with children check — renewal yes, first check usually no
Here is a trap the checklist guides gloss over. You can claim the cost of a working with children check if you are an existing employee who needs to obtain or renew it to keep earning income in your position. But if you are a new employee, you generally cannot claim the cost of getting your first check — unless your recent employment income is from continuous employment in a child-related field. So an educator moving from one service to another can usually claim the renewal, while someone entering childcare for the first time cannot claim the entry fee. The fee itself varies by state and territory, so check your state’s figure when you lodge.
Car travel: between centres yes, home to work never
Car expenses are where childcare workers leave the most money unclaimed — and also where they most often overclaim. You can claim travel between two workplaces on the same day, travel between centres for the same employer during the day, and travel to training, meetings, excursions and to pick up supplies. The cents-per-kilometre method is the usual choice for occasional work travel: 91 cents per kilometre in 2026–27, up to 5,000 work kilometres a year, with a diary of your trips. What you can never claim is ordinary home-to-work travel, even for a 6am start, a split shift or a long commute. Many educators work a second job — travel straight from the centre to that second job on the same day is deductible, because neither end of that trip is your home.
Phone, internet and working from home
Claim the work-related portion of your phone and internet bills, supported by a diary showing your work percentage — calls and messages to families, rostering apps, programming and documentation done at home. If you do programming, observations or documentation at home, a work-related portion of your home running costs (electricity, internet, stationery) is claimable too; keep a diary of your hours rather than guessing a percentage. You cannot claim rent, mortgage interest, rates or insurance for a home office as an employee.
Union fees, overtime meals and other claims
Union and professional association fees directly related to your job are deductible, and — usefully in 2026–27 — they can be claimed on top of the standard deduction. If you receive an overtime meal allowance under your award or agreement, the meal expense is deductible within the ATO’s reasonable amounts; without an allowance, the meal is private. Last year’s tax-agent fees are deductible, as are donations of $2 or more to registered charities where you received nothing in return.
2026–27 rates that drive the numbers
| Item | 2026–27 figure |
|---|---|
| Resident tax rates | Nil to $18,200; 15% to $45,000; 30% to $135,000; 37% to $190,000; 45% above |
| Medicare levy | 2% of taxable income (most residents) |
| Car, cents per kilometre | 91c/km, up to 5,000 work km |
| Standard work deduction | Up to $1,000, no receipts, instead of itemising |
| Low income tax offset (LITO) | Up to $700, fully phased out at $66,667 |
Note the second-bracket rate fell from 16% to 15% on 1 July 2026 — worth up to $268 a year for anyone earning over $45,000. If a calculator or guide still shows 16%, its figures are last year’s. Run your own numbers any time with the income tax calculator.
Worked example: Maya, diploma educator on $68,000
Maya works full-time at a long day care service in Brisbane. She claims the tax-free threshold, has no HELP debt and no private health insurance. Before deductions, her 2026–27 tax is:
| Slice | Working | Tax |
|---|---|---|
| $0 – $18,200 | Tax-free threshold | $0 |
| $18,201 – $45,000 | 15% × $26,800 | $4,020 |
| $45,001 – $68,000 | 30% × $23,000 | $6,900 |
| Medicare levy | 2% × $68,000 | $1,360 |
| Total | $12,280 |
Her take-home before deductions is $55,720. At $68,000 her low income tax offset is $0 — it phases out completely at $66,667 — so it does not change the result. (A part-time educator on $42,000 would still receive a $475 offset.)
Maya’s actual work expenses for the year:
| Expense | Amount |
|---|---|
| Logo uniforms (2 polos + apron) | $240 |
| Laundry for eligible clothing (diary-based) | $120 |
| Sun hat, sunglasses, sunscreen for outdoor duty | $85 |
| First aid + CPR renewal | $310 |
| Phone, 25% work use of a $720 annual bill | $180 |
| Car: 420 work km × 91c | $382.20 |
| Teaching materials bought herself | $210 |
| Covered expenses subtotal | $1,527.20 |
| Union fees (claimable on top either way) | $390 |
Now the choice that defines 2026–27. Itemising gives Maya $1,527.20 + $390 = $1,917.20. Taking the standard deduction gives $1,000 + $390 = $1,390. Itemising wins by $527.20, and because every extra dollar of deduction saves tax at her 30% marginal rate plus the 2% Medicare levy, that is worth $168.70 in her pocket. The standard deduction is not a bonus on top of itemising — if she itemises, the $1,000 falls away entirely, and she needs records for the full amount claimed, not just the part above $1,000.
The reverse case matters too. In a light year where Maya’s covered expenses total only $620, the standard deduction beats itemising by $380 — worth $121.60 at the same 32% combined rate — with no receipts at all. The rule of thumb is simple: add up your genuine covered expenses (excluding union fees); if they clear $1,000, itemise with records; if they do not, take the standard deduction and stop worrying about receipts.
Five mistakes that cost childcare workers money
1. Claiming your own child’s care fees. This is the cruelest trap in the sector: you work in childcare and you pay for childcare, but the cost of minding your own children while you work is a private expense. The ATO states this plainly — childcare costs put you in a position to earn income, they are not incurred in earning it. No deduction, however logical it feels.
2. Claiming plain black pants. Required by your employer is not the test; distinctive to your employer is. A logoed polo counts, generic black pants do not, even if you bought them solely for work and never wear them elsewhere.
3. Claiming the drive to work. Home-to-work travel is private, full stop — early starts, split shifts and long commutes do not change that. Only trips between workplaces, or from work to training, excursions or supply runs, count.
4. Claiming your first qualification or your first WWCC. The Certificate III that got you the job and the first working with children check that got you through the door are both entry costs, not work expenses. Renewals and job-related upskilling are different — those are claimable.
5. Claiming gifts for children or reimbursed expenses. Presents for the children in your care are private, and anything your service reimbursed you for cannot be claimed a second time. If the centre paid for the craft supplies, the deduction belongs to nobody on your return.
Family day care educators: different rules
If you run family day care from your home, you are generally carrying on a business, not working as an employee. That changes the picture: you claim business deductions (a portion of home occupancy costs, for example) under business rules, and the employee standard deduction does not apply to business income in the same way. Do not copy a centre educator’s return — or this guide’s $1,000 choice — onto a family day care business return without advice.
Keeping records without the headache
Use the ATO app’s myDeductions tool or a simple folder of photos: snap every receipt the day you pay, log car trips in a notes app with the date, destination and kilometres, and run a four-week phone diary once a year to lock in your work percentage. If you plan to itemise, you need records for the whole claim in 2026–27, not just the amount above $1,000 — that is the sting in the new system for anyone who itemises casually. If you plan to take the standard deduction, you need almost nothing, which is precisely the point of it.
FAQ: the questions childcare workers actually ask
Can I claim the fees for my own child’s daycare?
No. Childcare for your own children is a private expense, even though you work in the sector. The ATO is explicit on this one.
Is my first working with children check deductible?
Generally no, if you are entering child-related work for the first time. Renewals as an existing employee are deductible, and a new check is deductible if your recent income is from continuous child-related employment.
Do I still need receipts if my expenses are under $1,000?
Not if you take the standard deduction — that is its whole purpose in 2026–27. But the moment you choose to itemise instead, you need records for every dollar claimed.
Can I claim plain black pants my employer makes me wear?
No. Clothing must be a compulsory uniform distinctive to your employer (a logo) or protective clothing required for the job. Generic clothing fails the test no matter how strict the dress code.
I work at two centres — is travel between them deductible?
Yes, travel directly between two workplaces on the same day is deductible, at 91c/km up to 5,000 km under the cents-per-kilometre method. Travel from home to the first centre is not.
I am studying my diploma while working as an educator — deductible?
It depends on the connection: study that maintains or improves the skills of your current job is deductible, but study designed to get you a new job, or your initial qualification, is not. A diploma that deepens your current educator role will usually pass; a course that qualifies you for a different role may not. Keep the course outline to show the link.
Childcare work has one of the longest genuine deduction lists of any occupation — uniforms, sun protection, first aid, materials, car travel and training all add up — and 2026–27 adds a genuinely useful shortcut for light years. Add up your covered expenses, compare them honestly against the $1,000 standard deduction, and claim the bigger number. For the full checklist across all occupations, see the tax deductions checklist, and for the closest comparison, teachers’ deductions, nurses’ deductions, the car expenses guide and the $1,000 standard deduction guide. If your situation is unusual — family day care, a second business, salary packaging — a registered tax agent is worth the fee.
