First of all, why am I asking this question in a technology forum rather than going direct to Work and Income? We will eventually make contact with Work and Income, but before we descend into that black hole, I wanted to find out from others who may have a comparable experience how it all works. So, in advance, thanks to anyone suggesting I just contact Work and Income and ask them, but for now I'm looking for what I can learn from other's experiences.
The scenario I am exploring is how Work and Income treats an application for childcare subsidy where the parents of the child are separated but have a 50/50 custody arrangement (7 days in each fortnight). Only one parent is eligible to receive the childcare subsidy. Taking that overall eligibility as a given (according to the online calculator, that seems to be the case), would that parent be entitled to claim the childcare subsidy for the entirety of the childcare costs (less the 20 hours free ECE care, of course), or only 50% (reflecting the custody arrangement)?
For instance, the child attends childcare from 7.30am to 5.30pm five days a week (50 hours total). The first 20 hours are free, leaving 30 hours childcare paid by the parent. Can the parent eligible for the childcare subsidy claim the subsidy for the remaining 30 hours, or only 50% of those hours (or, more stringently, only those hours of childcare when the child is in their custody)?
Is there anyone here in a similar scenario who can give some insight into how W&I treats this kind of case?