05 AprVictorian Government funding announcements
Great news for ELAA members!
ELAA welcomes the government’s announcement of a range of grants and funding to support the expansion of kindergarten.
These announcements come as part of Victoria’s ‘Best Start Best Life’ $9 billion Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) reform program. Service providers looking to upgrade or expand their infrastructure can now access additional grants and funding.
Key elements of the infrastructure assistance announcement include:
- an increase in funding for expansion grants for existing services from a maximum of $2.7 million to $4.5 million
- increase in funding for new Early Learning Facilities (which deliver kindergarten and support the delivery of other services such as long day care, maternal and child health, or playgroups) from a maximum of $3 million to a maximum of $8 million
- increase in funding for Integrated Children’s Centres (which deliver kindergarten and may include long day care, maternal child and health, family services, and other community facilities) from a maximum of $4 million to $9 million
- a continuation of grants for the manufacture, delivery and installation of the modular kindergarten facility and outdoor learning.
ELAA is particularly pleased about the increase in funding for wrap-around services. We have been advocating to government that additional support is needed to support vulnerable children and families. Co-locating vital services, and providing wrap around support is a key way of supporting access and enabling specialist service provision.
The increase in funding will significantly assist ECEC service providers to participate in the rollout of the government’s Best Start, Best Life reforms, specifically the increased 3-year-old hours and Pre-Prep program for 4-year-olds.
The grants are available for organisations including councils, not-for-profit community organisations, and schools.
Further information is available by clicking HERE.
The Victorian Government has also announced additional funding for workforce planning, with $8.5 million in Workforce Planning grants now available to help local governments and Early Years Managers profile their local workforce, forecast future needs, and deliver plans to support teacher and educator demand. More information is available by clicking HERE .
Other workforce initiatives announced include:
- eligible professionals can access up to $50,000 to move to hard-to-staff locations, plus $9,000 to join or re-join the ECEC workforce in Victoria
- free career development opportunities such as mentoring for first year teachers.
