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Early childhood educator supporting inclusive learning for a child in a community preschool setting

NSW Disability and Inclusion Program – High Learning Support Needs Funding

  • Grant funding available: Up to $15,542 (GST exclusive) per child, per year
  • Total funding pool: Approximately $71.7 million (GST exclusive)
  • Applications close: 22 April 2026

 

High Learning Support Needs Funding provides additional support for children with disability or additional needs to safely and meaningfully participate in community preschool programs. Funding assists preschools to implement tailored strategies, adjustments and capacity‑building measures aligned to the child’s individual learning and safety needs.

Key Requirements

  • Funding is provided per eligible child, not per service
  • Funding must address significant safety concerns for the child, other children, or staff
  • Supports must align with the child’s Individual Learning Plan (ILP)

 

What is eligible for funding?

Eligible children must:

  • Be enrolled in a NSW community preschool receiving Start Strong or Mobile Preschool funding
  • Be aged 6 years or under (or enrolled on an exception basis)
  • Have high learning support needs requiring additional supervision, strategies or staff support

Funding can be used for:

  • Additional educator support to enable safe participation
  • Completion of activities identified in the child’s ILP
  • Sector Capacity Building Program activities where free training is not available locally

Funding cannot be used for:

  • Therapy services, assessments or specialist medical consultations
  • Equipment, furniture or environmental modifications
  • Supports that should be provided through the NDIS
  • Offset of existing staff costs

What companies are eligible for funding?

Eligible applicants are NSW community preschools applying on behalf of an enrolled child with high learning support needs. Each application must relate to a specific child and preschool placement.

Is this grant competitive or entitlement based?

Competitive. Your application will be assessed among other applications by a judging panel.

How can I increase my chances of winning this grant?

By engaging an accredited government grants consultant, such as Avant Group.

Competitive grants often require significant business case development and project analysis to support the application, this may include detailed presentations supporting the project’s merit, projected sales, cost-benefit analysis and more.

As part of your engagement with Avant Group, your account manager will assess the required documents and will provide the following as needed to support your grant submission.

Grant application writeup including a detailed presentation illustrating how the grant funding will contribute to your project, how the funding will contribute to the project’s budget, a project milestone plan, delivery timeline, impact on employment if applicable and a breakdown of the management and leadership team for the project

  • Industry analysis presentation
  • Competitor Analysis Presentation
  • Marketing and Sales Analysis Presentation
  • 3-5 year Cashflow Forecast
  • 3-5 year Balance Sheet Forecast
  • Cost-Benefit Analysis of Grant Funding
  • End-to-end grant application including information collating, analysis and application writing
  • CAPEX (Capital Expenditure) cost-benefit analysis
  • Stakeholder relations and Risk Mitigation Plans
  • Any other relevant forecasting that will support your application

How can I get help with my application? Or know if I’m likely to win funding?

Avant Group offers a no-obligation assessment of your eligibility for funding and will assess your likelihood of a successful grant application.