NSW Start Strong for Long Day Care Program

Total funding available (program value): Approximately $350 million to $380 million.
Funding streams:
- 4YO+ Program Payment (program funding for eligible children aged 4 and above; scaled around 600 hours; includes a 50% loading for specific equity cohorts).
- 4YO+ Fee Relief Payment (fee relief for families of children aged 4 and above).
- 3YO Program Trial Payment (program funding for eligible children aged 3; includes a 50% loading for specific equity cohorts).
- 3YO Fee Relief Trial Payment (fee relief for families of children aged 3).
Activity period: 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2026

The 2026 Start Strong for Long Day Care program provides funding to deliver affordable, quality preschool education to children aged 3 and above enrolled in eligible long day care services in NSW. The program supports participation in preschool education in the two years before school and incentivises enrolments of 600 hours per year.

In 2026, fee relief is provided as an annual flat rate allocation per eligible enrolment, with different rates for children eligible for maximum funding and all other children. Payments are made in four equal quarterly instalments across the calendar year.

Key Requirements

Deliver affordable, quality preschool education for children aged 3+: Funding supports preschool education for children aged 3 and above enrolled in eligible long day care services in NSW.
Support participation in the two years before school and encourage 600 hours: Funding incentivises enrolments of 600 hours per year.
Provide fee relief to families via services: Fee relief payments are intended to support affordability for families of eligible 3-year-old and 4+ children.
Comply with service and program eligibility requirements: Services must meet approval, reporting, and program delivery requirements (including delivery by a qualified early childhood teacher, and compliance with the Funding Agreement Terms and Conditions).
Quality uplift expectation: The department may pause or cease funding where quality ratings do not lift to “Meeting” or above within an appropriate timeframe, and may direct services to quality uplift supports.
Use the required fee relief declaration process: A completed fee relief declaration and consent form is required for each child before fee relief can be applied

What is eligible for funding?

Deliver a preschool education program to children aged 3 and above in eligible long day care services, aligned with program requirements and designed to support participation in the two years before school.
Provide fee relief to families of eligible children through the service, consistent with the program’s fee relief arrangements (including the requirement to hold a completed declaration and consent form before applying fee relief).
Take reasonable steps to deliver 600 hours of quality preschool to children in the two years before school.
Participate in quality uplift activities if directed by the department to support lifting quality ratings to “Meeting” or above

What companies are eligible for funding?

Eligible services/providers: Providers whose long day care services meet the program’s service eligibility criteria, including being appropriately approved to operate, administering Child Care Subsidy via the relevant system approvals, and delivering a quality early childhood education program to children aged 3 and above delivered by a qualified early childhood teacher (in line with National Quality Framework requirements), and agreeing to comply with the Funding Agreement Terms and Conditions.
Child eligibility (summary):
- For 4YO+ streams: child is 4 years old on or before 31 July 2026, has a confirmed enrolment with the service, is attending the eligible education program, and is not yet in compulsory schooling.
- For 3YO streams: child is 3 years old (and not yet 4) on or before 31 July 2026, has a confirmed enrolment with the service, is attending the eligible education program, and is not yet in compulsory schooling
- Families do not need to be receiving CCS to be eligible for Start Strong funding (child must be a confirmed enrolment captured in the system).
- Citizenship and residency status are not considered for child eligibility

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.

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