Key information
- Status: Closed
- Grant amount: Variable from a total Program budget of $20 million
- Application opened: 11 November 2024
- Application closed: 30 March 2025
Program objective
The Building Early Learning Places Program (the program), supported by $20 million from the NSW Childcare and Economic Opportunity Fund, will be competitive and targeted, with one round open to eligible centre-based community preschools and long day care centres that plan to deliver ECEC places for priority groups as identified in the program guidelines. This trial will prioritise projects that are ready to start construction, and applicants must show they can start building within 12 months of receiving a successful outcome letter.
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.
This program is funded by the NSW Childcare and Economic Opportunity Fund (the Fund Board).
This program is administered by Department of Education.
Eligibility
Who can apply
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.
Types of projects funded under this grant
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.
Refer to the Building Early Learning Places Program Application Guide for further assistance to determine which project category best applies to your capital works project.
What your application needs to include
Prepare your application with this checklist
Applicants will be required to provide evidence with their application, including:
- Evidence of provider approval and not-for-profit status.
- A detailed project plan, risk assessment for the project and expected delivery timeline.
- A project description.
- An itemised project budget outlining the total project cost, income and expenses. Income sources must include, as a minimum, the grant amount requested and the relevant minimum non-Board contribution(s) (unless exempt). The budget should demonstrate that the income can cover all expenses without any shortfalls.
- Information and evidence of minimum non-Board sources of funding and proof of funds for these contributions.
- Evidence and rationale as to why an exemption to the non-Board contribution is required, if applicable
- At least 1 Quantity Surveyor estimate and 2 builder’s quotes obtained in the past 4 months and valid at the time of the submission, that reflect the final design of the capital works project.
- Evidence on how the project will deliver socioeconomic benefits to the local community, including:
- Evidence on how the project will increase ECEC places for all children between 0 to 6 years old and create a safe and inclusive education setting for children with additional needs, low-income families, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.
- Evidence on how the service plans to attract enrolments to fill the funded places, including from children with additional needs, low-income families, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.
- Evidence on how the project will support workforce participation for parents or carers through the delivery of ECEC places.
- Evidence on readiness to proceed with the proposed project on the site including, but not limited to:
- Confirmation of the number of ECEC places that will be created with the final design of the capital works project.
- Professional plans and unencumbered space calculations prepared by a licensed building practitioner supporting the proposed increase in licensed ECEC places.
- A description and evidence on how the proposed project meets all required regulations, including to achieve the intended increase in places, obtain service approval, obtain DA approval, etc. Please consider any grandfathering arrangements that might be impacted by undertaking capital works with your Local Council, Regulatory Authority and any other relevant parties.
- Evidence the applicant owns the site or has formal lease or alternate leasing agreements with the owner of the site for a minimum ten-year period.
- Evidence the applicant has support from all affected stakeholders and delivery partners (your landlord, Council, committee/board, other funding bodies, etc).
- Evidence the applicant has received DA Approval, is preparing to submit a DA or has considered how to comply with all the requirements associated to obtaining DA approval.
- Evidence the applicant has engaged or is planning to engage a suitable project manager to deliver the capital works project.
Address the eligibility criteria
Each applicant, as part of an application response, must confirm that they meet the eligibility criteria.
Applicants that do not address the eligibility criteria in full may be excluded from the application process at the department's discretion.
After the application is submitted
Successful applications will be decided by: The NSW Childcare and Economic Opportunity Fund Board
All applications received before the closing date will be assessed for completeness and ensure the application meets eligibility requirements in line with the Program Guidelines.
Eligible applications will be competitively assessed by an Assessment Panel through a 3-stage evaluation process.
- Stage one: Non-Priced Assessment Criteria
Project Readiness: demonstrating the project is ready to commence construction within 12 months of grant award.
Financial Readiness: demonstrating accurate cost estimates and enough confirmed funding to cover all project costs if the grant is awarded.
Socio-economic Value: How much benefit the project creates for children, families and the state’s economy through the capital works.
If your application does not meet the minimum requirements of each non-priced assessment sub-criteria, your application will not proceed to the priced-criteria assessment and overall ranking.
- Stage two: Priced Assessment CriteriaFollowing the non-priced assessment criteria, the Assessment Panel will assess suitable applicants against the priced assessment criteria, which considers the cost per place of the proposed capital works project.
- Stage three: overall rankingOnce stage 1 and 2 are completed, the Assessment Panel will rank applications based on the results of their assessment against both the non-priced and priced assessment criteria.
Applicants will be ranked based on their overall assessment score from the non-priced and priced criteria. The Assessment Panel will provide the overall ranking and preliminary recommendation to the Fund Board for final decision-making. The Fund Board is the final decision-maker, and, in all circumstances, the Fund Board’s decision is final.
It is important to know that submitting an application does not guarantee getting the full funding requested. The Fund Board can decide not to fund or to partially fund an application.
Support and contact
For queries about the program, please contact us on (02) 1800 619 113 during business hours or email capital.work@det.nsw.edu.au.