Child care rebate is the 50% of your already out of pocket expenses at the centre. Child care benefit is the amount your fees are discounted by the centre - according to centrelink - this is combined income based and yes, is on a sliding scale - the amount you are quoting would be the upper most limit to get the minimum amount. On the other end, to get maximum for one child, the annual income amount is around $34000 and the discount goes down from there.