Annual Funding Agreement
Early childhood education and care (ECEC) services receiving funding through the department’s grants and funded programs are required to accept annual funding agreements, which includes the terms and conditions and relevant program guidelines.
A read-only version of the 2026 Terms and Conditions is available to download.
2026 Funding Agreement
Please note, the 2026 Funding Agreement must be accepted by an authorised person in the Early Childhood Contract Management System (ECCMS) and/or the ECEC Digital Hub as advised by the department. The version available above does not include signature fields, and is not considered a replacement to the 2026 Funding Agreement available in ECCMS or the Digital Hub.
Some providers will be required to sign in ECCMS or Digital Hub and some providers will need to sign in both portals, see the table below for further details. The department will write to individual providers to confirm how they should accept the Terms and Conditions.
The 2026 Terms and Conditions will become available to providers funded under the following programs via:
| Digital Hub | ECCMS |
|---|---|
| 2026 Start Strong for Community Preschools | 2026 Start Strong for Long Day Care |
| 2026 Mobile Preschool Funding program | Ninganah No More Aboriginal languages program |
| 2026 High Learning Support Needs (as part of the Disability and Inclusion Program) | Aboriginal Families as Teachers (AFaT) |
| 2026 Inclusive Environments (as part of the Disability and Inclusion Program) | 2026 Start Strong Pathways |
| Health and Development Participation Grant (HDPG) | Health and Development Participation Grant (HDPG) |
| Additional Targeted Equity Loading (ATEL) | N/A |
How to accept the 2026 Funding Agreement in the ECEC Digital Hub
If you are a Provider Admin or Provider Supervisor user for the approved provider, log in to the ECEC Digital Hub using your myID.
Note: Only Provider Admin and Provider Supervisor users are able to accept the Funding Agreement on behalf of the approved provider in the Digital Hub and so must be legally authorised to bind the approved provider.
Once logged in to the Digital Hub:
- select Programs from the left-hand side menu
- under the relevant program select View funding
- you’ll be taken to another screen to view and sign the funding agreement
- once you have read and are ready to sign the agreement, click on Sign agreement and follow the prompts within the PDF document.
The acceptance of the 2026 Funding Agreement cannot be changed in the Digital Hub.
How to accept the 2026 Funding Agreement in ECCMS
If you are the SP-Admin user for the approved provider, log in to your account in ECCMS using your myID.
Note: the SP-Admin user is the only user able to accept the Funding Agreement on behalf of the approved provider and so must be legally authorised to bind the approved provider.
- On the ECCMS menu, click Service Provider.
- Click the Terms and Conditions tab.
- Click the Terms and Conditions hyperlink. The Funding Agreement will open in another window in your browser.
- At the bottom of this pop-up window, click the 'Print Preview' button, download the PDF and read the Funding Agreement.
- When you are certain that you have read and understood all the Terms and Conditions and associated program guidelines, select the 'Read, Agreed and Accept' check box and then click 'Accept'.
- The Funding Agreement Terms and Conditions document will now have a status of Accepted. The Accepted Date is set to the date actioned, and the name of the person who accepted displays under Accepted By.
The acceptance of the 2026 Funding Agreement cannot be changed in ECCMS.
Troubleshooting
Please use the below troubleshooting tips if you experience difficulties in accepting Terms and Conditions:
- Please try an alternative browser, such as Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, or Firefox. It may be helpful to clear your cache and cookies as well.
- Ensure pop-ups are enabled on your browser.
The options to clear cache/cookies and enable pop-ups can usually be found within each browser in the settings menu, which is located under the More, Tools or Menu option.
Changes made in the 2026 Funding Agreement
The 2026 Funding Agreement introduces several important updates to strengthen accountability, quality, child safety and to clarify Approved Funded Providers’ (AFPs’) roles and responsibilities. While the following highlights provide an overview of key changes, it is essential that you carefully read the entire Funding Agreement in full.
Key changes include:
- Agreements can now be accepted through two systems depending on the program: Digital Hub and ECCMS (Clauses 1 (c), 21.14, and 22.4 and Schedule A - Contract Management Systems).
- A new clause has been added to clarify that if the Department makes an early payment under a Program before 1 January 2026, the Terms and Conditions apply in respect of, and from the date of, the payment (Clause 1 (e)).
- To clarify that funding in respect of one Program must be spent in accordance with spending rules for that Program alone, and not spent for the purposes of another Program (Clause 2 (h)).
- Funding is now explicitly linked to service quality ratings under the National Quality Standard. Services rated below ‘Meeting’ must improve within an appropriate timeframe as determined by the Department (Clause 4 (a)).
- Updated privacy consent requirements (Clause 13.3 (a)).
- Expanded data obligations to clarify AFPs’ responsibility for software provider actions or omissions (Clause 4 (d)).
- Providers must re-notify the Department of ongoing conflicts annually (Clause 6 (c)).
- Expanded conflict of interest clause, with examples to help AFPs identify potential issues (e.g. related suppliers, family employees, rent arrangements) (Clause 6 (d) (iii) – (vi)).
- Strengthened compliance requirements to include all relevant Child Protection Laws across Australian jurisdictions (Clause 7.1 (a)).
- AFPs must comply with the Financial Accountability Return Guide and accurately declare any unspent funds (including in relation to fee relief, if applicable) (Clause 8.1 (a)).
- Clarified that AFPs may be subject to a funding compliance review in relation to any Funds, and must provide supporting documentation and evidence of relevant records on request (including evidence for any fee increases) (Clause 8.4 (f)).
2025 Funding Agreement
Contact us
Early Childhood Education - Information and Enquiries
- 1800 619 113
- ecec.funding@det.nsw.edu.au