1. Purpose

This document provides an overview of the 2025 Mobile Preschool Funding program and outlines the program’s activities, requirements, objectives, outcomes and evaluation approach.

The NSW Department of Education (the department) is the decision maker and primary agency responsible for administering the 2025 Mobile Preschool Funding program.

This document forms part of the 2025 Funding Agreement with Approved Funded Providers (providers) and may be amended or replaced by the department from time to time. Providers must comply with the current version of the program guidelines, available on the department’s website.

2. Program description

The Mobile Preschool Funding program provides funding for the provision of preschool education delivered for the 2 years before school to children enrolled in mobile preschools in regional and remote NSW, where access to centre-based preschools can be limited. Mobile Preschool Funding aims to increase the number of children participating for a minimum of 600 hours in a quality early childhood education program in the 2 years before school. The program value is approximately $15 million to $16.5 million.

The 2025 Mobile Preschool Funding program operates on a calendar year from 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025. Funding for eligible services is based on data entered in the Annual Preschool Census, including enrolment information. For details on funding calculations please refer to Appendix 1: Calculation and payment of funding.

The program’s operational funding (Program Payment) supports the operating costs of eligible early childhood education services and enrolment of at least 600 hours per year or 15 hours per week (see Appendix 1.1 Program Payment). Evidence shows that this level of participation in a quality early childhood education program in the 2 years before school is associated with better outcomes for children.

The program’s fee relief funding (Fee Relief Payment) provides mobile preschools with sustainable long-term funding to deliver at least 600 hours of low, or no cost preschool to eligible children (see Appendix 1.2 Fee Relief Payment).

Mobile Preschool Funding aims to support sustainable and improved service delivery and recognises the additional costs and unique challenges associated with achieving universal access in regional and remote NSW.

Funding is targeted to 3- to 5-year-old children in the 2 years before school, with additional considerations provided to children aged 3 and above from low-income families, children with an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander background, and children with disability or additional needs.

See Appendix 3 for a glossary and definitions related to these guidelines.

2.1 Program key dates

These dates are indicative only to assist providers and applicants with their planning and may be subject to change. Any changes will be communicated to providers and applicants.

Table 1: Key dates

3. Program eligibility

3.1 Service eligibility criteria

A mobile preschool must meet each of the following criteria to be considered for funding under the Mobile Preschool Funding program:

• be operated by a not-for-profit provider
• be an approved early childhood education and care service under either the Children (Education and Care Services National Law Application) Act 2010 (NSW) or the Children (Education and Care Services) Supplementary Provisions Act 2011 (NSW) and the related regulations
• deliver an early childhood education program designed by a degree qualified early childhood teacher in accordance with The Early Years Learning Framework under the National Partnership Agreement on Early Childhood Education
• operate predominantly in Inner Regional, Outer Regional, Remote and Very Remote areas of NSW as measured using the 2011 Accessibility and Remoteness Index of Australia (ARIA +) Remoteness Classifications
• operate from venue(s) that are not purpose built centre-based preschools, or operate as a ‘pack away' service at one or more venue(s)
• operate in areas where centre-based preschools and long day cares with preschool programs are not readily available
• accept and comply with the Early Childhood Outcomes Commissioned Programs – Funding Agreement – Terms and Conditions – 1 January 2025 to 31 December 2025 (Terms and Conditions).

Mobile preschools must exercise best efforts to reach a minimum of 5 funded children enrolled at each venue. Refer to Section 3.2 Child eligibility criteria for more information. Mobile preschools are encouraged to deliver 600 hours of quality preschool to children enrolled at the service where possible.

The department will not provide funding for places in a service that are Child Care Subsidy approved.

Mobile preschools which operate solely or predominantly in Major Cities of NSW are not eligible for funding under this program. Mobile preschools in these areas can receive funding under the Start Strong for Community Preschools program, subject to Start Strong eligibility being met.

The Mobile Preschool Funding program is an open non-competitive program as this best supports the delivery of affordable quality preschool education for 3- to- 5 -year year-old children enrolled in eligible mobile preschools in NSW.

Providers of services which have been previously approved for funding under the Mobile Preschool Funding program in earlier years generally do not need to re-apply. Data available or provided to the department, including details from previous applications, the National registers (available on ACECQA’s website), the Annual Preschool Census and other sources, is generally sufficient to confirm continued eligibility. In limited circumstances the department may ask providers to re-apply for funding where significant provider or service changes have occurred, including, but not limited to, service delivery changes (e.g. adding additional services or reducing the mobile preschool service), relocation of the preschool with a significant change to the service being provided.

The department reviews eligibility of funded services annually (or more often where required) and will consider information from the census, any other details provided by the provider or other parts of the department and information of previous years.

Funding for eligible services is calculated as outlined in Appendix 1: Calculation and payment of funding.

Funding is generally approved as per financial delegations within the Department’s Early Childhood Outcomes division. This means, depending on the grant value, funding is approved by either the Manager, Preschool Funding 1, the Director, Commissioned Programs, the Executive Director, Early Childhood Outcomes Commissioning or the Deputy Secretary, Early Childhood Outcomes.

Applying for Mobile Preschool Funding

Interested organisations who would like to apply for funding through the Mobile Preschool Funding program should write to the department via email at ecec.funding@det.nsw.edu.au. Providers of services already approved for funding generally do not need to re-apply for funding. For further information, please refer to details outlined above under Section 3.1 Service eligibility criteria.

The department accepts funding applications throughout the program year (1 January to 31 December 2025). Under limited circumstances, the department may allow a provider to submit an application before the program year.

Interested organisations will need to demonstrate their eligibility for funding (as outlined in Section 3.1. Service eligibility criteria above), as well as:

• analysis of local need and demand – for example, providers must be able to demonstrate that there is a local need for a mobile preschool service to deliver early childhood education in the area
• proposed number of preschool places to be created and number of mobile venues – for example, providers must outline how many venues are listed under the mobile preschool service and the enrolment capacity of each venue
• capability to deliver on the objectives and outcomes of the Mobile Preschool Funding program, including affordability for families – for example, providers will need to provide a fee structure for children enrolled at the mobile preschool service and provide documentation to demonstrate the service’s financial viability (e.g. through financial statements, forecast budgets or similar).

While the department recognises that fee decisions are at the discretion of services, the department will consider affordability for families when reviewing applications for funding under the Mobile Preschool Funding program. As such, new services are encouraged to make sure that fee structures do not impact negatively on preschool participation in their community.

Evidence provided by applicants will be assessed against eligibility criteria and the objective of the program. Value for money will be considered as part of application process. A provider’s application for funding under the Mobile Preschool Funding program will be reviewed by officers within Early Childhood Outcomes, with the actual decision made by one of the delegates referred to under the heading Service eligibility criteria above.

The department seeks to finalise applications in a timely manner, and the process may take between 12 to 16 weeks from the date an approved provider submits the application. The length of time can depend on various factors, including the completeness and accuracy of information provided to the department which is used for application assessment and funding calculation purposes. Applications for services that are not yet operational at the time of the initial application may experience a longer timeframe between submitting an application and receiving the application outcome.

3.2 Child eligibility criteria

For a provider to be eligible for Program Payment and Fee Relief Payment funding under Mobile Preschool Funding in 2025, for a child, that child must:

• be at least 3 years old on or before 31 July 2025 (the child must have a birthdate on, or before, 31 July 2022)
• be attending an eligible early childhood education program provided by the mobile preschool during that preschool year
• not be in compulsory schooling.

Although all children 3 years old and above (age on or before 31 July 2025) are eligible for funding, services need to consider priority of access guidelines when making enrolment decisions. See Section 3.3 Priority of access for further information.

Children who are 6 years old or above will be eligible for funding. Where required, a Certificate of Exemption as per the Exemption from School Procedures policy from compulsory schooling must be in place.

The department does not take citizenship and residency status into consideration to determine eligibility of children for funding under the Mobile Preschool Funding program.

3.3 Priority of access

Services are required to, when operating at capacity in 2025, give equal priority of access to:

• children who are at least 4 years old on or before 31 July in that preschool year and not enrolled or registered at a school
• children who are at least 3 years old on or before 31 July in that preschool year and are:
  • children from low-income families
  • children with an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander background
  • children with disability or additional needs
  • children with English language needs
• children who are at risk of significant harm (from a child protection perspective).

There is no order of priority assigned to the list of points above. Services must give priority to the groups outlined above before any other groups, including non-equity 3-year-old children.

Provisions relating to priority of access are intended to assist mobile preschools with making enrolment decisions in a way that seeks to allocate places to those in the greatest need. However, the particular community needs of the preschool will also be relevant. Mobile preschools should consider the hours children are enrolled at other funded services when making enrolment decisions.

Services should consider any adjustments to policies and procedures required to comply with regulatory requirements when obtaining and sharing personal information, including privacy laws.

The department will compare data collected through the August 2025 Preschool Census to the service’s reported enrolment in the August 2024 Preschool Census to review priority of access. The department periodically conducts reviews of mobile preschool services and may request a funding compliance review in these or other circumstances.

4. Spending rules and activities

For funding calculation details, please refer to Appendix 1: Calculation and payment of funding.

4.1 Program Payment spending rules

The Program Payment is to be used for operating expenses of the service, for example:

• Salary and wages: This covers payments made to employees, including ongoing salaries and compensations for full-time, part-time, and casual staff.
• Educational resources: These are materials that aid and help improve teaching and learning. They can be physical items, digital resources, videos, materials related to the preschool environment, or contributions from the community. This may also include training or special days dedicated to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural education.
• Vehicle costs: These are any usage or maintenance costs for the vehicle/s used in delivering a service’s mobile preschool program.
• Other operating costs: These are expenses that go beyond staff salaries and educational resources. They can include rental and license costs, professional development, language or cultural programs, technology, software or associated training costs, accounting and audit expenses, leasing arrangements, other costs associated with improving or maintaining the service’s quality rating to Meeting or Exceeding the National Quality Standards, etc.

Providers need to expend funds during the 2025 calendar year, unless otherwise agreed to by the department. For more information on surplus and refunds, refer to Section 6.5. Financial accountabilities and funding compliance.

4.2 Fee Relief Payment spending rules

The Fee Relief Payment aims to reduce the cost of early childhood education and care to families in the form of fee pass-through. The funding is provided for the purposes detailed below. Providers must expend the Fee Relief Payment in the following order (note this excludes reserved fee relief funds. Please refer to Reserved fee relief funds below for an explanation of when fee relief funds must be reserved):

1. Providers must reduce the daily fees as much as possible for 600 hours per year of enrolment for all eligible children accessing fee relief at the service (apportioned across the preschool year). Where there are fee relief funds remaining following the reduction of daily fees for 600 hours per year of preschool education to eligible children, these remaining funds are considered ‘surplus fee relief funds’.
2. Providers must use surplus fee relief funds in the first instance to reduce the cost of additional charges to families accessing fee relief at the service. Additional charges may include, but are not limited to, charges for enrolment/administration, resources, excursions/incursions, and maintenance.
3. If any surplus fee relief funds remain after all fees and/or charges are reduced to zero for families accessing fee relief, providers may then choose to allocate any remaining surplus fee relief funds to:
   • reduce the cost of enrolment above 600 hours per year (for instance 'third day' fees), or
   • reduce the daily fee for 600 hours per year of enrolment for children 3 years and older not accessing fee relief at the service, for example children of families with greatest need, or
   • the operating expenses of the service in line with the Program Payment spending rules in Section 4.1 Program Payment spending rules.

Providers should apportion the Fee Relief Payments to families across the preschool year in line with funding payments or invoicing (e.g. quarterly, per term).

Documenting fee relief

Providers must demonstrate and communicate the fee reduction to families through regular invoices or statements, which attribute the fee relief to the NSW Government. Where no invoice or statement is issued, providers or their services should provide fee reduction information through newsletters, website, or letters to families.

Providers must demonstrate the fee pass-through as part of the annual reporting process. For additional information, refer to Section 6. Reporting and data collection.

Reserved Fee Relief funds

The department calculates Fee Relief Payment funding for each service based on enrolment data submitted in the previous year’s Annual Preschool Census (the Census). Where a service has fewer enrolments claiming fee relief compared to enrolments submitted in the Census, these funds become ‘reserved fee relief funds’. Reserved fee relief funds are typically from an overall reduction in total enrolments.

Reserved fee relief funds are generally separate from surplus fee relief funds. The provider must quarantine these reserved fee relief funds and cannot use reserved fee relief funds until an additional eligible enrolment nominates to receive fee relief from the mobile service. In certain circumstances, where there are changes in enrolment during the preschool year, reserved fee relief funds may become surplus fee relief funds that can be spent in line with Section 4.2 Fee Relief Payment spending rules. See Reserved fee relief funds and changes in enrolments throughout the year below for scenarios and more information.

Reserved fee relief funds and changes in enrolments throughout the year

The following scenarios explain the circumstances when fee relief funds are either reserved fee relief funds or become surplus fee relief funds when there are changes in enrolments at a service.

Vacant enrolment place

If an enrolment place is vacant for an entire term or the entire preschool year, the fee relief for this place is considered reserved fee relief funds. Providers are required to return these funds to the department. This may be facilitated through the Fee Relief Data Collection process outlined in Section 6.2. Data reporting, submission and Annual Preschool Census.

Vacant enrolment place filled partway through a term

If a vacant enrolment place is filled partway through a term (for example, if an eligible child is enrolled from week 5 onwards), the reserved fee relief funds for the enrolment place for the weeks in that term before the eligible child’s enrolment commences become surplus fee relief funds. These funds can be spent in line with Section 4.2 Fee Relief Payment spending rules.

Enrolment place vacated partway through a term

If an enrolment place is vacated partway through a term (for example, if a child leaves the service in week 6 of term), the enrolment place’s fee relief becomes reserved fee relief funds.

If the enrolment place then:

• remains vacant until the end of the term, at the end of the term the enrolment place’s reserved fee relief funds for the remainder of the term become surplus funds. These funds can be spent in line with Section 4.2 Fee Relief Payment spending rules, or
• is filled by another child before the end of the term (for example, if an eligible child is enrolled from week 8 onwards), then any reserved fee relief for the weeks (if any) between the enrolment place being vacated and then being filled become surplus fee relief funds. These funds can then be spent in line with Section 4.2 Fee Relief Payment spending rules.

Children enrolled at multiple services

Under Start Strong, a child cannot access a Fee Relief Payment from more than one community preschool or long day care service. However, mobile preschools funded under the Mobile Preschool Funding program are exempt from this requirement and are not required to gather declaration forms.

5. Fee guidelines

The department is focused on supporting participation for key equity/priority of access groups. Accordingly, children from Aboriginal families, children with disability and additional needs and children from low-income families must have access to lower daily fees children who do not meet the target cohort criteria.

Where the relevant card (for example, Health Care Card)has expired and has not been replaced, it is at the discretion of the mobile preschool to determine the fee structure for families. The daily equity fee must be charged where a child is recorded as low income in the Annual Preschool Census and therefore receives the highest base rate funding. For more information regarding relevant cards, please refer to Equity enrolment funding under Appendix 1.1 Program Payment.

Fee guidelines by cohort – before applying fee relief

Children eligible for equity loading

• Fee must be lower than children not eligible for equity loading, irrespective of age.

Children in the year before school not eligible for equity loading

• Fee must be the same as or lower than the fee for 3-year-old children not eligible for equity loading.
• Fee must be higher than the fee for children eligible for equity loading.

3-year-old children not eligible for equity loading

• Fee must be the same as or higher than the fee for children in year before school.
• Fee must be higher than fee for children eligible for equity loading.

In line with the affordability objectives of the program:

• Providers are not permitted to increase their service's fees to offset the benefit of the Fee Relief Payment.
• The fee for children in the same cohort must be the same irrespective of eligibility for fee relief at the service. For example, before fee relief is applied, the fees for a 4-year-old child receiving fee relief must be the same as a 4-year-old child not receiving fee relief.

If a provider does not comply with either of the things listed in the 2 dot points above, this may be considered to be an Event of Default under the Terms and Conditions.

Providers are encouraged to consider the full cost of early childhood education delivery when setting fees for 2025 and beyond. The department expects fees to be maintained at fee levels of the previous years where fees were charged to families, adjusted for CPI across this time period. In circumstances where it is necessary to adjust fees above CPI, such as due to reasonable increases in operating costs, providers must retain evidence to support the fee increase.

The department monitors daily fees and additional charges through the Annual Preschool Census, annual reporting, and compliance processes.

6. Reporting and data collection

6.1 Consent forms

Providers need to complete 2 types of consent forms, one for each staff member and one for each child upon commencement of enrolment.

It is good practice to seek a renewal of the consent form every year a child attends. Providers should ask families to complete a new form if any of the details in the original consent form require update or adjustment.

Each form consents to the use and disclosure of personal information by the department to allow funding and other support to be provided to deliver an early childhood education program, and for the exercise of the department’s governmental functions. Those functions may include monitoring the funding programs and reporting purposes.

Child and personnel consent forms will be available shortly.

6.2 Data reporting, submission and Annual Preschool Census

The department undertakes data collections as part of the Mobile Preschool Funding program delivery. Data collections are typically used for reporting, funding calculation and/or compliance purposes.

Annual Preschool Census

All providers of mobile preschools funded by the department must complete the Early Childhood Education Annual Preschool Census (the Census).

The purpose of the Census is to provide data for government reporting and to inform services’ funding levels for the next period. The Census is typically held in July and August each year and conducted via ECCMS.

The department calculates Program Payment and Fee Relief Payment amounts based on the data entered in the Census, including the number and hours of enrolment, and the number and characteristics of children enrolled. For this purpose, the data entered by providers via the preschool census is required to be correct, true and not misleading in any respect, and consent forms must be completed for each staff member and for each child enrolled. Refer to Section 6.1 Consent forms.

Total funding for the 2025 period is based on the 2024 Census. Funding for 2026 will be based on data entered into the 2025 Census.

The department submits data collected in the Annual Preschool Census to the Australian Bureau of Statistics for inclusion in the publication Preschool Education, Australia. The department may use de-identified data for research and evaluation purposes.

Fee relief data reporting

Providers may be required to complete a data collection to detail their fee relief spending from January 2025 to December 2025. The department will undertake the collection in early 2026 to allow providers to outline the full calendar year of spending for 2025.

Providers that note an amount of reserved fee relief funds (see Section 4.2. Fee Relief Payment spending rules) in the fee relief data collection may have their reserved fee relief funds offset against later fee relief payments or be required to return their reserved fee relief fund to the department.

Providers that note a deficit in the 2025 fee relief data collection may have their fee relief funding positively adjusted by a one-off top-up payment in late 2026.

The department will use data obtained from the fee relief data collection as well as the information submitted by the provider in the 2025 Census to improve accuracy of funding figures.

The department will provide further information to providers about the fee relief data collection closer to the release of the collection process.

6.3 Transition to School Statement

Completing Transition to School Statements for children in the year before they start Kindergarten is a strongly recommended component of the Mobile Preschool Funding program. The department encourages mobile preschools to complete the Transition to School Statement (the statement) for all children going to Kindergarten in 2026.

The Transition to School Statement provides a snapshot of a child’s strengths, interests, needs and approaches to learning to support their effective transition to Kindergarten. A positive transition from early childhood education and care to Kindergarten helps improve children’s educational and social outcomes.

The child’s early childhood teacher or educator should complete the Transition to School Statement and provide it to the child’s parents/carers and new school before the commencement of the 2026 school year. This is to facilitate learning continuity and to help link the Early Years Learning Framework to the Early Stage 1 Syllabus.

Teachers or educators can complete the Transition to School Digital Statement via the department’s digital platform as the preferred method. Where access is not possible, the PDF version (PDF 434 KB) can be completed. Copies of Transition to School Statements should be retained for auditing purposes.

Please note that parent consent must be obtained prior to starting a statement. The Transition to School Consent form (PDF 111 KB) can be uploaded onto the platform enabling the educator to then proceed with the completion of the Transition to School Digital Statement.

More information on the importance of the Transition to School Statement and supporting resources are available on the Transition to School webpage.

6.4 Communication

Publication of funding information

The department will publish grant funding information, including program details, provider information and funds awarded to the provider, on the NSW Government Grants and Funding Finder in line with the Grants Administration Guide.

Provider responsibilities

In addition to documenting fee relief under Section 4.2 Fee Relief Payment spending rules, the provider is encouraged to publicly acknowledge the funding received through the Mobile Preschool Funding program and fee relief provided to the families of eligible children with the following statement:

“This service is a recipient of funding under the NSW Department of Education’s Mobile Preschool Funding program and fee relief is available for families of eligible children.”

Such acknowledgement may be included in a regular newsletter or an annual report.

To receive all program related communication, the provider’s SP-Admin account holder must maintain up-to-date contact details in ECCMS. The changes can be completed in the Main Service Provider page. Providers should ensure service and other details are up to date, this includes details on the Main Details, Contacts and Address tabs.

6.5 Financial accountabilities and funding compliance

In accordance with the Terms and Conditions, a provider must submit a financial accountability for each individual mobile service which has received funding. Submitting financial accountabilities helps to provide assurance that public funds have been expended for their intended purpose.

Financial accountabilities are completed through ECCMS. Providers will be notified when these are due. Further information is available in the Financial Accountability Return Guide and on the Financial Accountability - Information for Services page.

Providers may complete their financial accountabilities either on a calendar or financial year basis. This is usually determined by the provider’s operating and reporting period.

Surplus and refunds

Providers are required to expend all annual funding under the Mobile Preschool Funding program in accordance with the spending rules (see Sections 4.1 and 4.2 for spending rules) during the relevant program period. The department understands that some providers may have a surplus at the end of their reporting period which needs to be returned to the department according to the Terms and Conditions. A surplus may include Program Payment and Fee Relief Payment funding. The department will review surpluses through the annual financial accountability process. Providers complete their reporting at service level and the department also reviews surpluses at service level.

As outlined below, providers can choose to retain surpluses of up to 10% or $30,000 (whichever is higher) of the service’s annual Program Payment funding under the Mobile Preschools Funding program. Providers can also choose to return their service’s surplus funds but are encouraged to expend all annual program funding in accordance with the spending rules.

Providers of services that have a surplus above 10% or $30,000 (whichever is higher) of the annual Program Payment funding under the Mobile Preschool Funding Program are required to return the surplus amount above the threshold. Providers that have an operational need to retain the surplus above the threshold can submit a form to request to retain their surplus. Providers must complete their annual financial accountabilities before any request to retain their surplus can be made. The provider will need to outline how the surplus will be spent in line with the program objectives and spending rules. The department will consider the request and advise the provider of the outcome.

Surplus thresholds and options for providers

Up to 10% or $30 000 of the annual Program Payment funding (whichever is higher)

Providers can choose one of the following options:

1. carry surplus over into the next reporting period for their service and expend the surplus in accordance with the spending rules outlined in Sections 4.1 and 4.2 spending rules, or
2. return the surplus to the department.

Above 10% or $30 000 of the annual Program Payment funding (whichever is higher)

Providers are required to return the surplus amount above the threshold.

Providers that have an operational need to retain the surplus amount above the threshold are required to submit a form outlining their need to retain the surplus. Providers can contact the department for the request form.

Providers can also choose to return all of the service’s surplus to the department if they wish to do so.

Return or offset of surpluses

Providers can choose one of the following options when returning their surplus:

1. Refund through the department’s invoicing process with providers given 30 days to pay the refund (repayment plans may be available upon request); or
2. Offset the surplus amount against any potential future Program Payment funding.

The department may change options available based on sector feedback, administrative requirements or other reasons. The department will inform providers if this occurs.

Record keeping

The department periodically conducts reviews of preschool services and funding distributed to providers. For this purpose, the department may request that providers supply supporting documentation to the department and its representatives.

Relevant records must be retained by providers for the purpose of the department undertaking funding compliance reviews. Examples of relevant records include:

• proof of expenditure in line with spending rules, e.g. financial statements
• statements to families or other relevant documents demonstrating fee reduction and attributing fee relief to the NSW Government
• evidence to support any fee increases or new/increased additional charges for children eligible for fee relief
• enrolment and consent forms
• Individual Learning Plans (ILP) for children with disability or additional needs working towards 600 hours per year
• Transition to School Statements
• Certificates of Exemption for any 6-year-old children enrolled in the service, if required
• data requested by the department that is relevant to meeting fee relief reporting requirements.

6.6 Service changes

Requirements relating to the transfer or closure of a service are outlined in Appendix 2: Service changes.

7. Program objectives and outcomes

A key objective of the Mobile Preschool Funding program is to support quality and ensure children have access to high quality early childhood education programs that drive improved outcomes.

Over the course of the program, the department may work with providers of services rated as Working Towards NQS in Quality Area 1 – Educational Program and Practice. This may involve implementation support, mentoring, self-reflection resources or engagement in the department’s Quality Support Program.

7.1 Target groups

The target group for the Mobile Preschool Funding program funding and fee relief is all children who are at least 3 years old on, or before, 31 July 2025 and attending an early childhood education program in a mobile preschool.

The program includes Enrolment Funding and an Equity Adjustment to support priority cohorts. The Mobile Preschool Funding program also provides higher funding for services located in disadvantaged areas and loadings for services in outer regional or remote NSW. Providers are required to follow the priority of access guidelines as outlined Section 3.3. Priority of access.

Mobile Preschool Funding is committed to supporting:

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. The department’s First Steps Strategy is a commitment to improving access to quality early childhood education for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in NSW. The Mobile Preschool Funding program supports the goals of the First Steps Strategy by:
  • supporting the attendance and engagement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in early childhood education to enhance outcomes. This includes ensuring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are fully supported to attend a minimum of 600 hours of early childhood education in the year before school in all service types
  • ensuring funding models in NSW are best placed to enable quality participation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children
  • supporting services to deliver a culturally appropriate transition into early childhood education and primary school programs for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children
  • ensuring early childhood education services have strong relationships with their local communities.
• Children from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds. Evidence shows children from CALD backgrounds, especially those who speak English as an additional language or dialect, as well as those from asylum seeker, refugee or refugee-like backgrounds, are less likely to participate in early education than their peers and are more likely to start school experiencing developmental vulnerability.

The department is developing programs to address barriers for families and children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds accessing early childhood education. This will provide a foundation for the preschool funding programs to enhance support to children and their families in future years, increasing participation in early childhood education.

7.2 Locations and contracted providers

The Mobile Preschool Funding program provides funding to providers across NSW. For service eligibility refer to Section 3.1. Service eligibility criteria.

8. Review and evaluation

These guidelines may be updated or amended over the course of the program. This will be in response to continuous program improvement or where further clarity is required. Changes to the guidelines may be made in consultation with the sector but remain at the discretion of the department. Any changes will be communicated to the sector.

Monitoring the overall performance of Mobile Preschool Funding determines whether the program is appropriately targeted and if program outputs and outcomes are being achieved.

The department may undertake an evaluation to understand the effectiveness of the Mobile Preschool Funding program. Providers may be required to participate in an evaluation of the program through the provision of data and participation in other evaluation activities as required.

The department will make sure that any work with providers to enhance early childhood education programs aligns with quality expectations outlined under the National Quality Framework.

Appendix 1: Calculation and payment of funding

The department calculates a service's Program Payment and Fee Relief Payment based on the data entered in the Annual Preschool Census (see Section 6.2. Data reporting, submission and Annual Preschool Census). Providers may wish to use the funding planning tool to estimate their funding. The planning tool will be available soon.

All funding rates in these guidelines are subject to change and are at the discretion of the department. Funding rates do not include GST. See Appendix 3: Glossary and definitions for when GST is included.

Program Payment

Mobile Preschool Funding promotes universal access and sustainable and improved service delivery by providing:

• a funding floor component to provide a level of funding certainty
• loadings for services provided in Outer Regional, Remote and Very Remote areas of NSW
• loadings to assist with certain venue and travel costs
• funding to support the additional costs associated with growth in enrolments
• operational adjustments to ensure increased provision of services is met with greater levels of funding
• higher base funding rates based on Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) score of disadvantage
• additional equity funding for children aged 3 years and above from low-income families, children with an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander background and children with disability or additional needs.

Further details for each dot point above are outlined in Appendix 1.1 Program Payment.

Fee Relief Payment

The department provides up to $4,347 in Fee Relief Payment for 3- to 5-year-old children enrolled in a mobile preschool. Funding available is calculated on the number of hours a child is enrolled at the service. The highest rate of $4,347 is provided for a child enrolled for 600 hours or more. See Table 3 under Appendix 1.2 Fee Relief Payment for the Fee Relief Payment funding rates by hours of enrolment.

Appendix 1.1: Program Payment

The Program Payment under the Mobile Preschool Funding program is calculated for each preschool year through three components:

• Base Funding (which is made up of the funding floor, cost loadings, and enrolment funding)
• Operational Adjustment
• Equity Adjustment.

The Operational Adjustment and Equity Adjustment are applied to a mobile preschool’s Base Funding, which may increase or decrease that service’s base funding depending on operational settings and the characteristics of the children enrolled by that mobile preschool. Providers may wish to use the funding planning tool to see how these components determine a service’s funding. The planning tool will be available soon. The planning tool will only provide a funding estimate and is not a guarantee of future funding.

Base Funding

The Base Funding component of Mobile Preschool Funding is made up of three components:

• funding floor
• cost loadings
• enrolment funding.

Funding floor

Each eligible mobile preschool will receive a core funding floor. The funding floor intends to provide mobile preschools with funding certainty and is not impacted by changes in enrolments.

The funding floor aims to address the minimum operational costs for mobile preschools for up to 10 average daily enrolments and considers costs such as minimum staffing requirements (for example, salary and wages), vehicle costs, venue costs and other essential expenditure (such as resources and professional development).

The funding floor amount of $224,762 is based on the median operations of a mobile preschool for 960 hours in a calendar year. A mobile preschool’s funding floor may increase or decrease depending on operational settings above or below 960 hours.

Cost loadings

Cost loadings aim to ensure that the unique demands and needs of each mobile preschool and the communities they service are met.

Regional loading

• Rate ex. GST: $13,358

Mobile preschools will receive an additional loading based on the most remote venue classified using the 2011 ARIA+ Remoteness Classifications.

Venue loading

• Rate ex. GST: $4,582

Mobile preschools will receive a loading to support the higher cost of venues operating from non-school sites based on the proportion of venues that operate from a non-school site.

Vehicle loading

• Rate ex. GST: $38.50 per kilometre

Funding for additional costs of vehicle travel for mobile preschools with significant travel distances. Loading is calculated as the total kilometres between a mobile preschool’s base and its venues, multiplied by $38.50.

Enrolment funding

Enrolment funding acknowledges that some costs, particularly staffing, are influenced by the number of enrolments. This component aims to support mobile preschools where on average there are more than 10 enrolments per day at a venue. Enrolment funding is only payable for average daily enrolments above 10. For example, where a mobile preschool has an average of 12 daily enrolments, the service will receive enrolment funding for 2 enrolments.

The rate of enrolment funding for average daily enrolments above 10 will be determined based on the mobile preschool’s Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) classification, and the proportion of equity enrolments at the mobile preschool. Refer to section ‘Equity Adjustment’ for more information.

Equity enrolments are eligible for the highest rate of funding. Children who are part of multiple equity groups will only be eligible for one amount of equity loading per child.

Table 2: Enrolment funding rate per SEIFA decile

Children with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander backgrounds

• Rate per child: $8,193

Children from Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander backgrounds receive the highest base rate funding across all locations.

Services must record that the child identifies as being from an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander background on the child’s enrolment form.

No other form of documentation is required. The information on the enrolment form may have been obtained verbally from the child’s parent or guardian.

Children from low-income backgrounds

• Rate per child: $8,193

Children from a family holding a Health Care Card or Pensioner Concession Card (where the child is a named dependent on the card), or a Veteran Card, issued by the Australian Government receive the highest base rate funding across all locations. The Australian Government has confirmed that Health Care Cards issued in the child's name only are not means tested. Therefore, children with their own Health Care Card will not be eligible. This includes Foster Care Health Care Cards and Health Care Cards for children with disability.

Services must keep a copy of the relevant card to show proof that it was valid at the time of the preschool census, or for a prior period during that same preschool year, for example, at the time of enrolment.

Where the relevant card expired during the preschool year, the service should engage with the family to obtain a copy of the new card, if available.

Where the relevant card expired and has not been replaced, it is at the discretion of the service to determine the fee structure for families. The daily equity fee (see Section 5. Fee guidelines) must be charged where a child is recorded as low income in the census and therefore receives the highest base rate funding.

Children with disability or additional needs

• Rate per child: $8,193

One of the following must be kept on record as evidence of the child’s disability or additional needs:

• the child’s NDIS reference number
• a copy of the most recent and relevant report, assessment or letter that outlines the child’s disability or additional needs from a relevant professional. Documentation must be on letterhead and signed by the relevant professional (see additional notes below)
• a High Learning Support Needs (HSLN) application number of an eligible HLSN funding application approved under the Disability and Inclusion Program in the current preschool year.

Services must keep a copy of this documentation on the child’s preschool file to show proof that they were valid at the time of the preschool census or for a prior period during that preschool year.

Relevant professionals are:

• a General Practitioner (GP)
• an early childhood teacher or primary teacher with an additional qualification in Special Education who is not employed by the preschool which the child attends
• an audiologist, registered psychologist, paediatrician, psychiatrist, speech pathologist, occupational therapist, a professional qualified to administer psychometric assessments, or other relevant medical specialists.

Operational adjustment

Base Funding is adjusted in line with a mobile preschool’s operating hours to ensure that greater provision of service is met with greater levels of funding. Where a mobile preschool expands its operations between one year and the next, its funding may be adjusted in the subsequent year to reflect this. Operational Adjustment aims to support mobile preschools to deliver and maintain expanded operational hours, particularly 600 hours of service delivery for each child per year and is designed to ensure that funding provision is tailored to the unique costs of each mobile preschool.

The Operational Adjustment to the Base Funding for a mobile preschool is based on how many hours the mobile preschool is operational in a calendar year, as compared to the median operational hours of mobile in contract preschools, which was 960 hours of operation for a calendar year. A mobile preschool’s operational hours for a calendar year will be calculated by multiplying the number of hours it is open per week by the number of weeks it is open per year. A percentage adjustment will be made to the extent the mobile preschool’s hours of operation for a calendar year are above or below the median operational hours.

For example, a mobile preschool which operates for 1,440 hours per year (1.5 x 960 = 1440 hours) will have its Base Funding multiplied by 1.5 as the mobile preschool operates for 50% more than the median operational hours. Similarly, a mobile preschool which operates for 864 hours per year (0.9 x 960 = 864 hours) will have its Base Funding multiplied by 0.9, as the mobile preschool operates for 90% of the median operational hours.

For a service that commences operations partway through a year, the service’s number of operational hours in a calendar year will be extrapolated from the number of hours the service is operational in a two-week period, as captured through an ad hoc data collection.

Equity adjustment

The application of an Equity Adjustment aims to support services operating in areas with a lower SEIFA classification to reduce barriers to participation for children, including fees. The Equity Adjustment is applied through an adjustment to a mobile preschool’s allocated funding floor and loadings, and through an adjustment to the funding rate applied for enrolment funding.

The Equity Adjustment to the Funding Floor and Loadings for a mobile preschool is based on the proportion of equity enrolments at the mobile preschool.

The rate of enrolment funding per child will be determined based on the mobile preschool’s Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) classification, and the proportion of equity enrolments at the mobile preschool. Where a mobile preschool’s SEIFA decile is 3 or above, the rate of enrolment funding for the service will be between the equity funding rate and the relevant SEIFA decile funding rate. For services where transition arrangements to SEIFA classification apply, this will apply to mobile preschools with a SEIFA band 9 or above (see Appendix 1.5 Transition arrangements for SEIFA classifications in 2025).

Appendix 1.2: Fee Relief Payment

Children enrolled for 600 hours or more will receive the full rate of fee relief outlined in Table 3. Children enrolled for fewer than 600 hours attract a proportionate amount according to Table 3.

Table 3: Fee Relief Payment - calculation by hours of enrolment

Appendix 1.3: Indexation

The department will make decisions on the application of indexation to funding rates on an annual basis. If indexation is applied, the department will be guided by NSW Treasury-determined rates. The department will communicate any changes to the funding rates arising from indexation via email to providers (e.g. via the funding notification letter).

Appendix 1.4: Funding payments

Providers must accept the Terms and Conditions in ECCMS before receiving funding. These Terms and Conditions set out accountability and compliance requirements. Providers are required to certify that funds have been spent in accordance with the Terms and Conditions.

The department will pay funding under the Mobile Preschool Funding program quarterly in advance according to the schedule below (on calendar year basis):

1. December (Quarter 1) for period January – March
2. April (Quarter 2) for period April – June
3. July (Quarter 3) for period July – September
4. October (Quarter 4) for period October – December

Fee Relief Payments will follow Program Payments.

Payments of funding will be communicated to the provider of the eligible services by email.

Appendix 1.5: Transition arrangements for SEIFA classifications in 2025

In 2025, transition arrangements will apply to SEIFA classifications to support providers with the change from SEIFA bands, which applied under the Mobile Preschool Funding program prior to 2025, to the SEIFA deciles.

New SEIFA classifications will be applied for services that would receive more funding when using new SEIFA classifications (see Appendix 1.1. Program Payment). 2024 SEIFA bands and their respective funding rates (see Table 4) will be maintained for all other services.

Table 4: 2025 SEIFA bands and their respective funding rates

Appendix 2: Service changes

Appendix 2.1: Transferring service approval

Transferring Approved Provider

If a provider is transferring a mobile preschool service to another approved provider, then the transferring provider must do the following:

• Contact the department at ecec.funding@det.nsw.edu.au at least 42 days before the transfer is to occur. The department will advise on the steps required in addition to those listed below to conclude the provider’s responsibilities under the Mobile Preschool Funding program.
• Immediately contact the department to confirm once the transfer has taken effect.
• Complete all outstanding financial accountabilities in ECCMS. The department will advise of any additional financial accountabilities that require completion by the transferring provider for the period up to the transfer effective date. The financial accountability must be completed within 14 days of the date of the transfer of the service, unless otherwise agreed with the department.
• Give written notice to the receiving approved provider of the amount of funds (1) expended and (2) unspent within 14 days of the date of the transfer of the service. The transferring provider must also request that the receiving provider liaise with the department about this funding program.
• Only if directed by the department, transfer any unspent funds to the receiving provider within 21 days of the date the transfer of the service occurs. This may only occur if at the time of the transfer of funds either the receiving provider has entered into the Terms and Conditions or has otherwise provided an undertaking to the department, in the form required by it, regarding the expenditure of the unspent funds.
• Otherwise, the transferring provider must return any unspent funds to the department within the timeframe advised by the department.
• Cease expending funding from the transfer effective date unless otherwise agreed in writing with the department.
• Comply with any direction by the department under the Terms and Conditions, including seeking the department’s approval.

Receiving approved provider

If a provider is receiving a service from another provider, then the receiving provider must do the following to be considered eligible to receive funding:

• Liaise with the department about their eligibility to receive funding under the Mobile Preschool Funding program.
• Immediately contact the department to confirm once the transfer has taken effect.
• Enter into the Terms and Conditions with the department with the amount of funding to be determined by the department in its absolute discretion. There is no guarantee the receiving provider will receive further funding.
• If there are Unexpended Funds, in order to receive a transfer of those Unexpended Funds the receiving provider must confirm in writing to the department that the Unexpended Funds will be used in accordance with the Terms and Conditions. The department does not guarantee that any Unexpended Funds may be transferred by the transferring provider and the department may require the return of Unexpended Funds from the transferring provider.

The receiving provider may be subject to an eligibility assessment before the transferring/transferred service can receive funding under the Mobile Preschool Funding program.

Payment of department funds during transfer

The department may take actions, if a provider transfers a service to another provider, including:

· withholding funding for the transferring service from the receiving provider of the service, until the transfer is effective or indefinitely

· withholding funding for the transferred service from the transferring provider of the service, after the transfer is effective or when the department is notified of the transfer.

Note: Providers must follow steps to comply with regulatory requirements under the National Law and Regulations, including submitting an application for service transfer to the NSW Regulatory Authority. See the Approvals process webpage.

Appendix 2.2: Service ceasing to operate

If a service is to close/cease trading as a mobile preschool, before the date of closure, the provider must:

• contact the department at ecec.funding@det.nsw.edu.au as soon as possible and before the surrender of service approval. The department will advise on the steps required to conclude the provider’s responsibilities under the Mobile Preschool Funding program
• log on to ECCMS and complete all outstanding financial accountabilities. The department will advise of any additional current year financial accountabilities that require completion by the closing service for the period up to the date of closure. The provider must complete the financial accountability within 30 days of the closure of the service, unless otherwise agreed with the department
• cease expending all funds from the date of closure
• return all unspent funds to the department by no later than 30 days of the date of the closure of the service
• comply with any direction by the department under the Funding Agreement.

The department may take actions if a service has notified the department that it proposes to close/cease trading, including withholding funding for the service that is proposed to be closed/cease trading from the provider, where that funding relates to a period after the proposed date of closure.

No funding will be provided by the department for a service that has closed/ceased trading, in relation to the period after the date of closure.

For temporary closures for 5 weeks or more, the department may seek information from funded services to confirm ongoing availability of funding.

Appendix 3: Glossary and definitions

Accessibility/Remoteness Index of Australia Plus (ARIA+)

Remoteness Areas are derived from the Accessibility/Remoteness Index of Australia Plus (ARIA+) produced by the University of Adelaide.

Remoteness Areas divide Australia into 5 classes of remoteness on the basis of a measure of relative access to services. The 5 remoteness classes are:

• Major Cities
• Inner Regional
• Outer Regional
• Remote
• Very Remote.

GST exclusive amounts

The funding rates outlined in the guidelines do not include GST. If the provider is GST registered, it will receive funding payments that include GST. If the provider is not GST registered, it will receive payments that do not include GST.

Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA)

Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) is a product that enables the assessment of the welfare of Australian communities. The indexes are produced by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

What are deciles?

Area-based deciles are calculated by dividing the areas, ordered by disadvantage, into 10 equally sized groups. Decile 1 contains the top 10% most disadvantaged areas. The department has elected to use deciles based on ranking of socio-economic disadvantage within NSW only. Area-based deciles are easy to interpret as SEIFA is designed and constructed as an area-based measure.

What are Statistical Areas Level 2 (SA2s)?

The ABS developed the Main Structure of the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) which is used to release and analyse social, demographic and economic statistics within a functional geographic area.

The structure has seven hierarchical levels, one which includes ‘Statistical Areas Level 2’ (SA2s). SA2s are medium-sized areas that represent a community that interacts together socially and economically.

Changes to SEIFA from 2025

For the 2025 program the following changes have been made:

• SEIFA of each service will be calculated using 2021 ABS data instead of 2011 ABS data
• 10 SEIFA deciles will replace the 18 SEIFA bands.

In 2024 Mobile Preschool Funding was subject to scaling based on SEIFA bands from 1-18. These bands were internally constructed using SEIFA Index of Relative Socio-economic Disadvantage (IRSD) scores based on 2011 ABS data. For 2025, the department has updated to SEIFA IRSD deciles based on 2021 ABS data. 2021 SEIFA IRSD deciles 1-10 for SA2s ranked within NSW are provided by the ABS.

Updating funding to be based on 2021 ABS SEIFA IRSD deciles (SA2, ranked within NSW) was necessary as there has been significant socio-economic change in the last decade. This change aligns with publicly available data on socio-economic disadvantage, which providers can access using information on the ABS website. This change will also align the program with Start Strong for Community Preschools and Start Strong for Long Day Care which use 2021 SEIFA IRSD deciles (SA2, ranked within NSW).

Reserved fee relief funds

For an explanation of reserved fee relief funds, refer to Section 4.2 Fee Relief Payment spending rules.

Surplus fee relief funds

Surplus fee relief funds are what remains of a child’s fee relief allocation after their daily fee (and all other fees/levies, or other charges, to the family/carer) are reduced to zero. 

• For example, the fee relief allocation for a child enrolled in 2025 for 600 hours or more (on average 15 hours/2 days a week across a 40-week year) is $4,347.00, or $54.34 per day.
• If the child is enrolled for 2 days a week, and the service charges $30 a day, then the child’s daily fee will be reduced to zero and will have $24.34 in surplus fee relief funds per day.
• Any surplus fee relief funds must be expended as specified in Section 4.2 Fee Relief Payment spending rules.

If a child is enrolled partway through a term, any fee relief funds that could be applied to the enrolment place the child is filling in the weeks before their enrolment (in the same term) are also considered surplus fee relief funds. These surplus fee relief funds must be expended as specified in Section 4.2 Fee Relief Payment spending rules.

• For example, if an enrolment place is filled at the beginning of week 5 in Term 1 2025, any amount of fee relief from weeks 1 to 4 (in the same term) from the previously vacant enrolment place can be considered surplus fee relief funds.

Unexpended funds

Unexpended funds have the same meaning as contained in the Terms and Conditions.

Appendix 4: Additional information and resources

A range of resources are available to support providers in implementing the requirements under the Mobile Preschool Funding program, which may include FAQs, case studies, webinars and workshops.

Contact details

For questions, feedback or complaints about the Mobile Preschool Funding program, please contact the department by:

• calling 1800 619 113
• emailing ecec.funding@det.nsw.edu.au.

An officer within Early Childhood Outcomes will consider and respond to your enquiry.