This application guide will help you complete a grant application for the Building Early Learning Places Program (the program), delivered under the NSW Childcare and Economic Opportunity Fund (the Fund).

As part of your application, you will be required to demonstrate you meet the eligibility criteria for the program and address the assessment criteria as per the program guidelines.

The program grants are awarded following a competitive assessment process. Eligibility to apply for a grant does not guarantee the success of an application.

You may be eligible to receive individual support to prepare an application. Please refer to the Project Development and Planning Support Procedure for further information. Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations may also be able to access additional support provided by a sector strengthening partner.

Section 1: Eligibility criteria

1.1 Not-For-Profit status

Refer to Section 4 of the Building Early Learning Places program guidelines.

To be eligible for the program, the applicant must be a Not-For-Profit (NFP) organisation/association, or a local government entity.

To meet this requirement, your organisation may be registered on the Australian Charities and Not-For-Profit Commission (ACNC)’s Charity Register or you may be an incorporated association registered in NSW under the Associations Incorporation Act 2009.

If neither of these options apply to you, other evidence may be submitted to substantiate your Not-For-Profit status (e.g. constitutional documents and/or articles of association that demonstrate the Not-For-Profit character of the organisation).

1.2 Provider and service approval

To be eligible for the program, the applicant must be an existing Approved Provider and be operating at minimum one centre-based service with a valid Service Approval.

1.3 Targeted approach

Refer to Section 2.1 of the Building Early Learning Places program guidelines.

To be eligible for the program, the applicant must plan to deliver ECEC places for priority groups as identified in the program guidelines.

1.3.1 Priority group: Undersupplied areas

Applicants that fall under this priority group must deliver additional ECEC places in one of the 31 undersupplied areas as listed in the program guidelines.

In addition, applicants should carefully review the eligible service type against each undersupplied area. When an area has been identified as having a strong need for ECEC places for 0 to 2 year old children and 3 to 6 year old children, applications for both community preschools and long day care centres are eligible. However, when an area has been identified as only having a strong need for ECEC places for 0 to 2 year old children, only applications from long day care centres will be accepted, and they would be expected to propose a strong proportion of places for this age group.

For example, Parkes Surrounds is an SA2 area that has been identified as having a significant need for places for 0 to 2 year old children only. Applicants could propose a long day care service with 20 places per day for 0 to 2-year-olds and 6 places per day for 3 to 6 year olds. Applications for a community preschool, or a long day care allocating most places to a 3 to 6 year old cohort would not be acceptable for this area, as they would not be aligned to the needs of this community.

Please refer to the program guidelines for list of undersupplied areas.

1.3.1.1 How to determine your SA2 area

Each of the 31 undersupplied areas are categorised based on the Statistical Area 2 (SA2).

An SA2 is a Statistical Area determined by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

You can identify the specific SA2 for your capital works site by following these instructions:

1. Go to ABS maps.
2. Click on Choose a boundary type.
3. In the drop-down options, scroll down and find the section called ASGS Edition 3 ABS Structure, then select 2021 Statistical Area Level 2 (SA2)*.
4. Type your exact site address into the Find address or place search bar and select your address.
5. Once the map has navigated to your site address, navigate to the far left of the map and select the box with the three horizontal lines. Once you click on this box, ASGS classification will come up and appear below if you scroll down.
6. Scroll down and a box will appear with the ASGS classification. Scroll down the table to find the name and code of the Statistical Area Level 2 (SA2) for this site address.

1.3.2 Priority group: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children

Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations (ACCO) intending to deliver eligible ECEC places for 0 to 6-year-old children in community preschool or long day care settings, anywhere in NSW, will be able to apply for the program.

1.4 Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations

Refer to Section 4.1 of the Building Early Learning Places program guidelines.

If, as the applicant, you are an Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation (ACCO), you will be able to propose delivering eligible ECEC places statewide. However, you must provide evidence of your status as an ACCO under distinct categories:

i. The organisation is incorporated under relevant legislation and is not-for-profit.

To verify you are incorporated under the Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006 (the CATSI Act) OR an Aboriginal Land Council in NSW, please provide the following evidence:

• Mandatory: has relevant certificate of Incorporation or is an Aboriginal Land Council.
• Desirable: is registered with the Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations (ORIC).

To verify you have not-for-profit status, please provide the following evidence:

• Mandatory: is registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profit Commission (ACNC) register.

ii. The organisation is controlled and operated by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people.

To verify you have Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander membership, are operated by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples and your requirements for membership and eligibility rules comply with CATSI Act 2006, or if you are an Aboriginal Land Council in NSW, please provide the following evidence:

• Mandatory:
  • Is registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profit Commission (ACNC) register.
  • Sighted the organisation’s Constitution, Articles or Memorandum and confirmed majority Aboriginal membership.

iii. The organisation is connected to the community, or communities, in which they deliver the services.

To verify you have a dedicated, reliable and consistent approach that is designed to suit the types of services required by communities, responsive to the needs of those receiving the services, and to be developed in consultation with the relevant body, and that your services and activities address the needs of local communities, please provide the following evidence:

• Business plans and annual service plan reflect program requirements.
• Mechanisms are in place to capture community needs such as surveys, consultation and meetings.

iv. The organisation is governed by a majority Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander governing body.

To verify you have a majority Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander governing body, please provide the following evidence:

• Mandatory: sighted the organisation’s Constitution, Articles or Memorandum and confirmed majority Aboriginal membership.

1.5 Capital works sites

The program will not fund:

• capital works on a NSW Government Public School site
• capital works on a non-Government School site
• capital works that have already been funded by other capital grants or funding source (including previous capital works grants or projects delivered by the department, NSW Childcare and Economic Opportunity Fund Board and other agencies). To be clear, places committed and already supported by any other funding source cannot be funded twice. However, you can request funding from different grant programs to cover the total costs of your project.

Example: Your total project cost is $1,250,000 ex GST. You are seeking $500,000 under this program, have obtained $500,000 ex GST under a Commonwealth Grant, and are contributing $250,000 ex GST of your reserves. This is acceptable under the program guidelines.

Section 2: Due diligence checks

Refer to Section 5.3 of the Building Early Learning Places program guidelines.

As part of the assessment process, the department will undertake due diligence checks to inform decision-making. This may include obtaining details about an applicant’s past performance, financial viability, reporting, regulatory performance and compliance history related to their provider approval and any associated service approval/s (both current and historical). You will be asked to consent to these checks as part of the application process.

2.1 Past performance

Refer to Section 5.3 of the Building Early Learning Places program guidelines.

The department will review your past performance and assess whether it is likely to have an impact on the successful delivery of your project. This will include a review of any previous capital works projects funded by the department, where applicable.

Section 3: Funding conditions

Refer to Section 7 of the Building Early Learning Places program guidelines.

To be eligible for funding, you must confirm you understand and agree to all funding conditions and obligations that would be in place if you are successful in receiving a grant offer from the Fund Board.

In this regard, you must review the program guidelines, Funding Agreement Terms and Conditions (PDF 409.6 KB) and Funding Acknowledgement guidelines before submitting an application.

Section 4: Project details

4.1 Project category and capital works site

Please select the project category that best describes your capital works project:

• New build on new site: Opening a new service by either building on vacant land or converting an existing property (which is not an ECEC centre), without closing an existing service managed by the Approved Provider. Applicants intending to open a new service are required to apply for service approval for the additional licensed ECEC places following project completion to acquit the final milestone payment.

Example: Penguin Early Learning operates several ECEC services across the state. They have recently acquired a new block of land on Leeton and are proposing to build a long day care on it. They will operate this service in addition to their existing ones.

• Extension works on existing site: Expanding the footprint of an existing ECEC service to deliver additional ECEC places. The service address will match the capital works address and you will be required to provide your current Service Approval ID (SE-XXXXXXX).

Example: Penguin Preschool operates a community preschool in Berala. To meet high demand, they are planning to add a new classroom to the south end of their current building, which will deliver 20 new licensed preschool places.

• Renovations on existing site: Refurbishment or modification of an existing ECEC service (without extending the footprint of the building) to deliver additional ECEC places. The service address will match the capital works address.

Example: Penguin Long Day Care operates a long day care centre in Queanbeyan. To assist with increasing demand, they have reviewed the service’s layout and identified opportunities to maximise the unencumbered space through renovations, including the removal of internal walls from a storage room and an unutilised office. These changes would deliver an additional 10 places, without increasing the footprint of the build.

Please note, if you are relocating an existing service to a new site where capital works will take place, for the purposes of the program only the net increase in ECEC places will be considered, and not the places maintained. For example, if the service offers 20 places per day at site A but would offer 25 places per day at site B, the net increase offered by the project is only 5 places. The cost per place of the application would then be considered in relation to the 5 additional places.

4.2 Additional ECEC places delivered by the project

To meet program objectives, the capital works project must deliver additional licensed ECEC places for priority groups as identified in the program guidelines. Please refer to the targeted approach section in the program guidelines for more details.

ECEC places refer to licensed places or places per day that are dedicated to enrolments of children aged 0 to 6 years old, in not-for-profit community preschools or long day care centres holding a valid service approval. Please note that all questions regarding ECEC places refer to your licensed or “per day” places as shown on NQAITS, and not to 600-hour or “per week” enrolments.

Example 1 – Approved provider expanding their existing long day care centre

Penguin Long Day Care is currently licensed for 45 ECEC places – 30 of them allocated to 3 to 6 year olds, 15 of them allocated to 0 to 2 year olds. They are undertaking extension works to create 30 new places. Of these new 30, 20 will be allocated to 3 to 6 year olds, and 10 to 0 to 2 year olds. The service will apply for Service Approval for 75 licensed places following the completion of the capital works.

In this case, the Fund Board will assess the application on the basis of the additional 30 ECEC places the applicant intends to create.

Example 2 – Approved provider creating a new community preschool

Penguin Preschool is undertaking a new build to create a new community preschool. The build will create 50 new licensed places for 3 to 6 years old.

In this case, the Fund Board will consider the additional 50 ECEC places the applicant intends to create. As this is a community preschool, no existing or new places are expected for children 0 to 2-year-old.

Example 3 – Approved provider relocating existing long daycare centre to a new site

Penguin Early Learning currently operates a long day care with 40 places per day, of which 20 are allocated to 0 to 2 year olds and 20 places to 3 to 6 year olds. They have recently acquired a lot of land and intend to relocate their existing service to the new site, as it would allow them to offer an additional 15 places, reaching a total of 55 places per day. The intention is to allocate 10 new places for 0 to 2 year olds and 5 new places to 3 to 6 year olds.

In this relocation scenario, the Fund Board will consider the benefits and costs of your project in relation to the 15 additional ECEC places only.

Section 5: Competitive assessment

Refer to Section 5 of the Building Early Learning Places program guidelines.

Eligible applications will proceed to the competitive assessment, which will be undertaken in three stages:

1. Stage One: Non-priced Assessment Criteria
2. Stage Two: Priced Assessment Criteria
3. Stage Three: Overall ranking

Applications from applicants deemed eligible will first be assessed against the non-priced assessment criteria. Only those who demonstrate alignment to the non-priced criteria will proceed to the priced criteria. After an assessment of both the non-priced and priced criteria (where applicable), the third stage will rank the applications based on the overall assessment score.

5.1 Stage 1 - Non-priced assessment criteria

Applications will be assessed against three non-priced assessment criteria:

• project readiness
• financial readiness
• socio-economic value.

5.1.1 Project readiness

The program will prioritise shovel-ready projects and applicants will have to demonstrate their ability to start building work within 12 months of receiving a successful outcome letter.

To demonstrate project readiness, applicants will be required to show their capital works project meets the following sub-criteria:

5.1.1.1 Access to land

Applicants must provide evidence that indicates they have a suitable project site for the 10-year period following the completion of the capital works. To meet this requirement, you must own the land, have a lease or licence for your desired site prior to applying for this grant or suitable arrangements:

• If you own the land

Suitable evidence includes a Certificate of Title.

• If you have a current lease

Suitable evidence includes a current 10-year lease or license to operate on the site.

• Other land arrangement

For example, if your current land arrangements are not valid for 10 years, you will be required to demonstrate how you and your landlord will meet the 10-year requirement. You may provide a lease for a shorter tenure and a letter of support from your lessor indicating you are a longstanding tenant and that they intend to extend your lease upon the expiry of your current one.

Applicants are also expected to show that they have support from all stakeholders involved in the project (e.g. landlord, Local Council, Committee, Aboriginal Land Council, private lessors etc.) to proceed with the capital works project on the proposed site. Suitable evidence to demonstrate this can include:

• Preliminary minutes from discussions with your landlord, Board or Local Council expressing their support for the project.
• Letters of support from your landlord confirming their agreement to the service occupying the land for the required ten-year period.

5.1.1.2 Development approval and regulatory compliance

A key element to demonstrate project readiness is to gather project documentation that demonstrates the compliance of your proposal with all relevant regulations, allowing the project to proceed and subsequently achieve the intended outcome of an increase in ECEC places. Key documents to achieve this include, but are not limited to, professional plans, unencumbered space calculations, and development approvals (DA).

Professional Plans and calculations

Given that an increase in ECEC places is the primary outcome for these projects, it is essential that you include professional plans and unencumbered space calculations that:

• Support the forecasted ECEC places, in line with all relevant regulations, including regs 107 and 108 of the ‘Education and Care Services National Regulations’.
• Showcase a design that meets all regulatory requirements applicable to childcare centres - see Architectural plans and regulatory compliance for more information.
• Are drawn by a licensed building practitioner. Please refer to the Architectural plans and regulatory compliance for information on the appropriate licensing bodies.

Only professional plans prepared by an adequately licensed or registered building practitioner as defined in the National Regulations (Section 4) will be accepted. Further details on what site plans should include can be found under Section 25(1)b and in the NSW Regulatory Authority’s Service Approvals Policy (PDF 411.9KB).

Under Section 4 of the National Regulations, a licensed building practitioner is defined as:

1. a person who is registered as a building surveyor, building inspector or draftsperson under a law of a participating jurisdiction; or
2. a person who is registered as an architect under a law of a participating jurisdiction; or
3. a person who is licensed as a surveyor under a law of a participating jurisdiction; or
4. a person who is licensed or registered as a building certifier under a law of a participating jurisdiction; or
5. a person who is accredited under a law of a participating jurisdiction to design buildings that will be used to provide education and care services.

Compliance with applicable regulations

Applicants are responsible for confirming that their proposed capital works project meets the current building codes, local and state government regulations as applicable to their project. This includes considering whether any existing transitional arrangements (e.g. grandfathering arrangements) would be impacted if you undertook capital works. Please refer to the Architectural plans and regulatory compliance for examples of these arrangements.

Development Application (DA) approval

As per the program guidelines, construction works must start within 12 months of receipt of a successful Outcome Letter and projects must be completed and acquitted within 24 months of a successful Outcome Letter. Obtaining DA approval is a key requirement to achieve these timeframes.

If applicants already have DA approval

• Attach DA approval and any other related documents
• Approved DA should include stamped plans and reports to indicate Council has approved the project with a DA number and date.
• Approved DA should include a Notice of Determination that outlines the approval and any conditions.
• Approved DA should include a Section J report that provides a comprehensive overview of a building environmental performance.
• Approved DA should include a waste management report that outlines how building waste will be treated – disposed or recycled.

If applicants have not submitted a DA application yet

• Attach any supporting documents to demonstrate the service is working towards a DA submission and indicate when you intend to submit it. Please do note there could be extended processing times for DA applications, so we encourage you to engage with your relevant council as soon as possible.
• You may attach any relevant progress and/or reports collated towards the submissions, such as minutes from Pre-DA meetings with Council, Childcare Planning Guideline checklist, Owners Consent, site survey signed by a Registered Surveyor in NSW etc.

5.1.1.3. Project plan and timeline

Applicants are required to provide a detailed description of their final project design and scope of works, as well as a timeline outlining how they plan to meet the required delivery timeframes.

Risk assessments

Applicants will be required to provide a risk assessment for their project. We encourage you to think carefully about the risks that may impact your project and what strategies you can implement to mitigate them and deliver your project with minimal disruptions.

Please refer to the Risk management factsheet for further guidance on how to undertake risk assessment and put a risk management plan together.

5.1.2 Financial readiness

5.1.2.1 Budget basis

Applicants should provide reliable project estimates and supporting documents to calculate the total cost of the capital works project. You must submit a minimum of one quantity surveyor estimate prepared by a licensed quantity surveyor and two quotes prepared by a licensed building practitioner .

To ensure your total project costs are reliable, your quotes must:

• Be obtained within the past 4 months prior to submitting an application and be valid at the time of application submission.
• Consider any escalations to account for the time between you obtaining the quote for the application and the time when you expect your project to start. Please refer to key dates to identify high level timeframes for outcome notifications and consider other components that may impact your timeframes, such as obtaining DA approval.
• Be itemised and reflect the final design of your capital works project. Conceptual or high-level estimates will not be accepted as these do not provide a firm estimate of total project costs. Design additions or alternations that are not contemplated in the quotes submitted in the application will not be funded.
• Explicitly identify any exclusions. If these apply to your project, you must obtain separate quotes or costings for them separately and include them in the budget.

If you cannot obtain 1 Quantity Surveyor estimate and 2 Builders quote, please contact the department.

5.1.2.2 Budget development and feasibility

You will be required to provide a breakdown of the expenses that make up the total cost of your project and nominate funding sources to cover them.

When preparing your budget and expenditure table, please ensure that:

• You are considering all relevant expenses related to your project, including administrative or professional fees, project management, etc. The builder quote does not necessarily include all the expenses relevant to your project.
• You are nominating an adequate funding source (grant or non-Board contribution) to cover each eligible expense. Please review the program guidelines to understand which components can be funded by this grant.
• You should only include expenses associated with the capital works project in its final design that are eligible under the program guidelines
• You should not include any ineligible items that make up part of the capital works project in the expenditure table. Examples of ineligible elements may include purchase of land, therapy rooms, toys, etc. However, you will be required to demonstrate you have enough funding to also cover these ineligible costs to demonstrate the financial viability of the project.
• You are including both construction contingency and project contingency in your budget. A reasonable allowance for contingency can be included in the project budget as part of the grant funding requested, and will be released by the Fund Board during project delivery only if needed to cover exceptional and unforeseen expenses related to the approved scope of works.
• Your total expenditure (i.e. total cost of the project) matches your total income, demonstrating you have sourced enough funding to cover the costs of your project.

Contingency allowance

It is recommended that applicants include a contingency allowance within their project budget to allow for unforeseen increases in project expenditure during delivery of the capital works project that are outside the applicant’s control.

The department recommends setting aside a minimum of 10% of the total project cost for both construction and project contingency combined:

• Construction contingency: This refers to the sum set aside to cover any cost escalations and overruns related to the build, such as increased material costs and labour costs or costs associated with unforeseen construction delays and site conditions. It is expected that construction contingency will be included within the construction estimate or added onto the builder’s quote provided in support of an application. Please consider any impact on costings that may occur because of the time between you obtaining the initial quote and the project starting.

• Project contingency: This is contingency funding set aside by the applicant for other risks associated with delivery of the capital works project, outside of any construction or builder expenses. These costs may be incurred at any time of the project lifecycle. Examples may include unforeseen increases in project management and/or statutory fees. Project contingency does not include project scope changes, and an applicant must ensure that its project is fully scoped when the application is submitted.

For funded projects, the department would consider the circumstances giving rise to the need for contingency to make a decision on its release.

Expenditure table

An editable version of the table below is provided in the application.

Note that the expenditure table should only include eligible items funded under the program. If you have ineligible items that make up part of your capital works project, you will be asked to identify these items later in the application process and provide evidence you have funding in addition to the nominated non-Board contribution to cover these ineligible costs.

Here is an example of expenditure table with eligible items under the program:

Ineligible items as part of your capital works project

If your capital works project includes ineligible items that cannot be funded under the program, you will be asked to fill out a separate table for these ineligible costs.

Here is an example:

In the application, you will be asked to provide evidence to demonstrate you can cover the total cost of ineligible items. This must be covered by funding in addition to the nominated non-Board contribution that will cover a portion of the eligible costs of your capital works project. Refer to section 5.1.2.3 of the application guide for examples.

5.1.2.3 Non-Board contribution

Refer to Section 5.2.1 of the Building Early Learning Places program guidelines.

Non-Board contribution refers to funding contributed to the project outside of the Grant amount requested under the program or any other funding provided by the Fund Board. Applicants are expected to contribute a minimum amount of non-Board funding depending on the size of their organisation, unless provided with an exemption. These non-Board funds are required to be spent prior to any grant funds in line with the Program's Terms and Conditions (PDF 409.6 KB). Please refer to the program guidelines to determine your minimum non-Board contributions.

The non-Board contribution(s) nominated should only fund eligible items under the program. Applicants are required to nominate funding in addition to the non-Board contribution(s) in order to fund any ineligible items that may be part of the capital works project.

Examples of non-Board contributions are outlined below. You will be required to provide evidence to substantiate the availability of any nominated funds. Please note that should the funds not yet be confirmed at the time of application, your grant award may be conditional on this occurring.

Non-Board contribution sources and examples of suitable evidence

• Other State, Federal or Local government grants: Successful outcome letter for the grant award noting amount offered and any relevant conditions
• Donations from private or public organisations: Formal letter confirming donation amount or bank statement showing reserves
• In-Kind services: Letter confirming the in-kind service(s) being delivered and an estimate costing for them
• Provider funds: Bank statement or letter from CFO confirming commitment of funds.
• Loans: Letter of offer or formal correspondence from your lending entity, confirming the amount and availability of funds. If the loan has not been confirmed, applicants are still encouraged to include documentation or correspondence from the lending entity noting your application’s progress, support for the approval of the requested funds and an indication of when you expect to receive an outcome.
• Fundraising: Formal letter confirming fundraising, bank statement.

If you are unable to meet the minimum expected non-Board contribution, you may submit an exemption request with your application. Please nominate the alternative amount the service can contribute and evidence to support your exemption request.

Evidence may include information on your current finances and cash flow, other recent exceptional expenses that required you to use your reserves, or any evidence of financial hardship. Exemptions may be considered particularly for services located in remote NSW, for ACCOs or those recovering from a natural disaster.

What is my minimum non-Board contribution and maximum grant amount?

Scenario 1

Penguin Early Learning is an approved provider who runs two existing community preschool services. The approved provider wants to undertake a new build to create a new preschool in Dubbo to create 20 new places and the total cost of the project is $1,500,000 ex GST. The applicant has identified no ineligible items as part of their capital works project.

As the approved provider currently has two existing services, they fall under the medium-size provider category and are required to contribute 25% of the total project cost, which in this case is $375,000. The applicant is eligible to apply for a maximum grant amount of $1,125,000 ex GST.

Scenario 2

Penguin Long Day Care is an approved provider that currently operates 4 approved long day care services across NSW. They intend to undertake a new build to create a new long day care centre in Liverpool which will deliver 30 new places and the total project cost is $2,000,000 ex GST. The applicant has identified no ineligible items as part of their capital works project.

As the approved provider currently has four existing services, they fall under the medium-size provider category. The category considers your existing approved services and does not include the new service you are creating.

The minimum non-Board contribution in this case is 25% of the total project cost, i.e. $500,000 ex GST. The applicant is eligible to apply for a maximum grant of $1,500,000 ex GST.

Scenario 3

Penguin Preschool is an approved provider who currently operates one existing community preschool in Parramatta NSW. They intend to build a new community preschool in Lakemba and create 50 new licensed preschool places.

The total project cost is $4,000,000 ex GST. Of the $4,000,000 ex GST, Penguin Preschool has identified that $3,000,000 ex GST is to fund eligible items under the program as part of the capital works project, and $1,000,000 ex GST is to fund therapy rooms which are ineligible items as part of the capital works project.

The minimum non-Board contribution in this case is 10% of the total project cost on the eligible items, i.e. $300,000 ex GST. The applicant is eligible to apply for a maximum grant of $2,700,000 ex GST to cover the total cost of eligible items of capital works project.

Penguin Preschool must ensure they have additional sources of funding in addition to the nominated non-board contribution to cover the total cost of the ineligible items, i.e. $1,000,000 ex GST.

For example, Penguin Preschool might get a loan for $1.3M from the bank and but only need to use $300K to meet the required non-board contribution to cover the total cost of eligible items that make up part of the capital works project. Penguin Preschool can use the remaining funds of $1,000,000 ex GST from the bank loan to contribute towards costs of the ineligible items.

In some cases, applicants may use the same source of funding to cover the ineligible items and the nominated non-Board contribution (e.g. a portion of the bank loan may be allocated to the non-Board Contribution and the remainder of it to fund the ineligible items).

Project income table

The table provided below is an example with fictitious information.

The project income table should only include the nominated non-board contribution(s) that will be allocated to fund the total cost of eligible items of the capital works project. In the application, you will be asked to nominate funding sources for any ineligible items (if applicable) separately, so these should not be included in the income table.

In this example, the funding sources breakdown is as follows:

• The total cost of the project or total expenditure is $650,000 ex GST.
• This is a small provider, so the minimum non-Board contribution is 10% of the total project cost (i.e. $65,000). However, the applicant can exceed this and contribute a total of $250,000 in non-Board contributions:
  • Provider funds – $100,000
  • Loan – $100,000
  • Donations – $50,000
• The requested program grant amount is $400,000 ex GST.
• The total project income (i.e. the addition of the program grant and non-Board contributions) adds up to $650,000 ex GST. Therefore, the total project income matches the total project expenditure.

5.1.3 Socio-economic value

The socio-economic value of the project refers to the extent to which the proposal delivers overall benefits for children, families, and the State’s economy because of the capital works.

The following elements are considered within this assessment criterion:

5.1.3.1 Increase in ECEC places for all children between 0 to 6-years-old

Applicants will be required to explain how the proposed capital works will increase ECEC places for all children and create a safe and inclusive educational setting for children with additional needs, low-income families, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.

Please refer to the Accessibility and inclusion and Cultural safety factsheets for further information.

5.1.3.2 Suitability of ECEC places created

The Fund Board will consider whether the places created meet the demand of the community you intend to service, for instance by considering needs across age groups, overall unmet demand, other existing or projected ECEC centres in the area, Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander children and access to culturally safe ECEC.

For applicants providing places for priority group one (undersupplied areas), please refer to the program guidelines to identify whether your SA2 has a predominant need for ECEC places for 0 to 2-year-old children and/or 3 to 6 year old children. You may also wish to include waitlists or requests from parents in the community for places for a certain age-group.

For applicants providing places for priority group two (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children), consideration should be made to the specific needs of the local community when determining the service type you intend to deliver. Some areas may have limited access to culturally safe childcare places for preschool aged children and others may have identified, with community consultation, the need to provide culturally safe long day care places. You should include evidence such as waitlists and/or requests from parents in the community for culturally safe places in the community.

5.1.3.3 Plan to attract enrolments

Applicants will be required to demonstrate how the proposed capital works project will attract enrolments from all children, including those with varying levels of ability, socio-economic status, cultural identity and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.

The plan to attract enrolments should be underpinned by a strategic workforce plan to ensure suitably qualified staff have been recruited to enable additional ECEC places to operate.

Please refer to Strategic workforce planning in the Application resources for further information.

5.1.3.4 Support workforce participation

Applicants will be required to demonstrate how the capital works project will help parents and caregivers participate in the workforce by providing places that meet their family's needs.

Families make complex family decisions about ECEC, guided by many different factors such as parent and caregiver preferences around ECEC, the need for flexible care arrangements, and access issues whether relating to availability of ECEC to a child’s specific care needs. Applicants should consider the unique needs of parents and caregivers in their local community to support their participation in the workforce.

The provision of additional ECEC places in areas of need supports workforce participation on itself, although additional strategies may also be considered:

• Offering extended hours of operation or flexible care arrangements.
• Delivering ECEC places or learning environments that cater for the specific needs experienced in your local community e.g. co-location with wrap around services (noting this funding can only support the creation of spaces used primarily to deliver ECEC).
• Operate more than one type of ECEC service (e.g. BASC, OOSH, family day care) to provide variety and choice for families in the local community. Please note that funding on this grant can only be obtained for community preschool and long day care services.

5.2 Stage 2 - Priced assessment criteria

If an applicant meets the requirements of the non-priced assessment criteria, the application will be assessed against the priced assessment criteria to determine the monetary value the project yields.

The priced assessment criteria considers the grant amount requested (ex GST) against the total places created by the proposed capital works project.

Example:

Little Children Learning Centre has requested a $500,000 (ex GST) grant amount to create 10 new licensed places.

Cost per place = Grant amount requested (ex GST) divided by new licensed places.

Cost per place for the above example will be $500,000 (ex GST) divided by 10 which equals $50,000.

5.3 Stage 3 - Overall ranking

As a final step, applications will be ranked based on the individual results of their assessment against both the non-priced and priced assessment criteria.

Grants will be awarded to highest ranked applications received by the closing date, in accordance with the assessment approach and within the available funding.