Planning grants awarded for new kindergarten projects in Victoria

15 organisations will share in more than $2 million in Building Blocks Planning Grants of up to $150,000 each to put towards planning, design and pre-construction work on kindergarten building projects to help boost the rollout of three-year-old kindergarten across Victoria. 

Minister for Early Childhood Ingrid Stitt announced the grants, which are intended to help cover costs incurred from pre-construction planning – including scope development, design, soil investigations and costing of projects – last week ahead of a ramp up in demand for care on the back of the state’s Three-YearOld Kindergarten Reform.

From 2023, families with a three or four-year-old will pay nothing for kinder – a saving of up to $2,500 per child every year. 

The Grants will support applicants to prepare a project in readiness of seeking future Building Blocks Capacity Grant funding. 

Building Blocks grants aim to streamline all pre-existing kindergarten infrastructure grants into one overarching program and provide increased state funding contributions for early childhood projects.

The Victorian Government has expanded the Best Start, Best Life program with three major new initiatives: 

• Making kinder free across the state 
• Delivering a new year of universal Pre-Prep for 4-year-olds 
• Establishing 50 government operated childcare centres 

Over the next decade, Four-Year-Old Kinder will transition to Pre-Prep – increasing to a universal 30-hour a week program of play-based learning for every four-year-old child in Victoria. 

As part of the roll-out of Three-Year-Old Kinder, the Victorian Government is expanding infrastructure through a $1.68 billion commitment to co-invest with the early childhood sector in new and expanded kindergarten facilities across the state. 

This investment includes the delivery of several new kindergartens on existing school sites to support the roll-out of Three-Year-Old Kindergarten, providing benefits through co-location of facilities and convenience for families. 

For more information on Building Block capacity grants please see here.