Open Call: Building Early Learning Places Program (Australia)

Objective

• The program’s overarching objectives are to:
  • Support the accessibility and affordability of ECEC, by assisting not-for-profit community preschools and long day care centres to deliver additional ECEC places through capital works.
  • Increase the number of ECEC places through these capital works projects, leading to accessible, inclusive, and culturally safe environments that attract enrolments from children with disability, children with additional needs, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and culturally and linguistically diverse children.
  • Generate insights, evidence and lessons learned to guide future capital initiatives that may be delivered by the Fund Board in the years to come.

Funding Information

• Grant amount: Variable from a total program budget of $20 million.

Eligible Projects

• Applicants can deliver ECEC places for priority groups through 3 types of capital projects:
  • New builds: opening a new service on vacant land or converting an existing property (which is not an ECEC centre), without closing existing ECEC services managed by the approved provider.
  • Extension works: expanding the footprint of existing ECEC service’s site to increase ECEC places.
  • Renovation: modifications of an existing ECEC service’s site (without extending the footprint of the building) to increase ECEC places.

Eligibility Criteria

• To be eligible for funding, applicants must meet each of the following criteria:
  • be registered or incorporated in Australia
  • be a not-for-profit organisation/association or local government entity operating on a cost recovery basis
  • be an approved early childhood education and care provider operating at least one existing and open approved service under the Children (Education and Care Services) National Law (NSW) and the Education and Care Services National Regulations (2011)
  • intend to deliver ECEC places for a priority group as identified in these program guidelines:
    • deliver eligible ECEC places in an identified undersupplied area (excluding on public school sites and non-government school sites); or
    • for Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations, deliver eligible and culturally supportive ECEC places anywhere in NSW (excluding on public schools and non-government school sites)
• hold, or intend to hold service approval for the capital works site under the Children (Education and Care Services) National Law (NSW) to:
• operate, or intend to operate, as a centre-based service with a ‘Nature of Care’ service type of preschool, or
• operate, or intend to operate, as a centre-based service with a ‘Nature of Care’ service type of long day care.

For more information, visit NSW Government.