Health and Development Participation Grant program guidelines – 2026

This page provides an overview of the 2025 Health and Development Participation Grant.

1. Purpose

This document (Guidelines) provides an overview of the 2026 Health and Development Participation Grant (HDP Grant).

The HDP Grant provides funding to eligible early childhood education and care providers to support the implementation of the separate but related Health and Development Checks in Early Childhood Education Program (HDC Program). The HDC Program is a partnership between the Department of Education (Department) and NSW Health to deliver a program to provide health and development checks to 4-year-old children by local health district staff within early childhood education and care settings. The HDP Grant funding aims to support early childhood education and care (ECEC) providers to embed suitable strategies to enable their partnership, and children’s participation, in the HDC Program.

The HDP Grant comprises $9,360,000 in funding exclusive of GST. The source agency for the entirety of the funding is the NSW Department of Education (department).

The Guidelines are intended to be read by applicants of the grant program, and they outline the program’s activities, requirements, objectives, outcomes, and evaluation approach.

The Guidelines may be amended or replaced by the department from time to time. These changes may be made in response to the 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. Approved Providers are expected to comply with the current version of the Guidelines.

2. Policy and legislative context

The HDC program is a part of the Brighter Beginnings: The First 2000 Days of Life initiative from the NSW Government. This initiative is a cross-government initiative that aims to give children the best start in life.

The 2024 Australian Early Development Census found that 1 in 5 children in NSW were developmentally vulnerable in one or more domains. Research indicates that being developmentally on track is a key predictor of life and learning outcomes.

The HDC Program aims to increase the number of children receiving a health and development check to identify any developmental support they may need. Increasing the number of children who complete the 4-year health and development check can help families:

get information they need to support their child’s health, growth and development
seek help where needed, before their child starts school.

More information about the HDC Program can be found on the NSW Health website.

The HDP Grant aims to support early childhood education and care providers to engage with the HDC Program, making it easier for eligible services to access the checks so that more 4-year-old children will receive this important check sooner.

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

2.1 Probity advice

The proposed grant is not considered complex, high-risk or high-value in nature and as such the requirement under Section 6.1 of the Grants Administration Guide (issued under Premier’s Memorandum M2024-03) (Guide) to obtain probity advice does not apply.

3. Program overview

3.1 Objectives

The key objectives of the 2026 HDP Grant are to:

increase engagement with the HDC program, particularly across priority populations and locations
embed health and developmental support for children following the check
increase capability of teachers and educators to support early childhood health and development.

In 2026, eligible Approved Providers may apply for funds under the following two categories to support their engagement with the HDC program:

Category 1 ($1500 excl GST): Participation in HDC program

Eligible activities under Category 1 provide staffing support for the HDC Program. This enables ECEC services to provide financial support and/or additional staffing for educators/teachers to:

undertake administrative duties such as collating consent forms,
liaise with parents and NSW Health staff or Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (where relevant),
support parents to complete and return pre-screening questionnaires, and
support children during the check.

Category 2 ($6000 excl GST): Capability Uplift and Resources to support children’s development

Eligible activities under Category 2 build capacity of ECEC educators and teachers to support children’s health and development.

They enable ECEC services to embed cohort-wide uplift and strategies to support children’s health and development through:

engagement of allied health professionals or other non-government providers to work with educators and teachers to embed suitable cohort-wide strategies; this covers planning of engagement with allied health professionals, development of cohort-wide strategies, and engaging with allied health service-level reports and feedback
engagement with professional learning, training and workshops related to health and development. This includes covering of related travel costs and relief time cover to enable educator/teacher attendance at professional learning events
provision/purchase of resources to support children’s development. Resources will need to support cohort-wide engagement with identified developmental domains, such as speech or language development.

3.2 Application assessment

The department will assess applications and determine funding based on service eligibility (see Section 4.1 Service eligibility criteria), spending rules (see Section 5.1 Spending rules), program priorities and available funding.

The department’s assessment team will comprise:

Manager (Grade 11/12), Quality, Participation and Connections
Senior Policy/Programs Officer (Grade 9/10), Quality, Participation and Connections
Policy/Programs Officer and/or Education Support Officer (Grade 7/8), Quality, Participation and Connections
Assistant Policy/Programs Officer (Grade 5/6), Quality, Participation and Connections

Applications that satisfy the eligibility and spending rules will be approved up to the limit of total available funding. Category 1 will be capped at a certain number of recipients, as per grant modelling and projections. Category 2 will then be available for eligible applicants until the total grant funds are exhausted.

If the number of eligible applicants exceeds the total grant funds, the Department will apply the following hierarchy in prioritising applications:

Eligible ECEC services located in areas of high developmental vulnerability, as defined by the 2024 Australian Early Development Census (AEDC) results.
Eligible ECEC providers located in areas with a Socio-Economic Indexes for areas (SEIFA) quintile of between 1-2, according to the index for relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (IRSAD)*.
Eligible Aboriginal Child and Family Centres, Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations (ACCOs) delivering early childhood education and care or partnering with early childhood education and care services, Multifunctional Aboriginal Children’s Services.
Eligible ECEC services with a higher proportion or high number of Aboriginal children enrolled at the service.
Eligible ECEC services located in outer regional, remote or very remote communities, as per the Accessibility/Remoteness Index of Australia (ARIA+).
Eligible ECEC services with a higher proportion or high number of children with a Language Background Other Than English (LBOTE) enrolled at the service.
Other eligible ECEC providers operating a service.

There may be applicants who satisfy the eligibility and assessment criteria but are not awarded a grant, as preference will be given, according to the hierarchy above, in equity considerations.

* The SEIFA IRSAD from the Australian Bureau of Statistics ranks areas according to socio-economic advantage and disadvantage based on census data. These spending rules use the SEIFA IRSAD to identify and preference Approved Providers that are more likely to educate children experiencing disadvantage. SEIFA IRSD for the location (SA2) of each service applying for the grant will be calculated using 2021 ABS data.

3.3 Application process

Applications for the HDP Grant should be submitted through the SmartyGrants online application system. A guide is available to help applicants use SmartyGrants.

Alternatively, applicants may submit their applications for the HDP Grant by emailing the completed application form to EarlyChildhoodDevelopment@det.nsw.edu.au. Applicants who wish to submit their application by email should contact EarlyChildhoodDevelopment@det.nsw.edu.au to request an application form.

Applications must be completed by the Approved Provider, or a duly authorised representative of the Approved Provider and/or SP-Admin account holder* and must confirm the accuracy of the application’s content. This person will be the SP-Admin account holder in the Early Childhood Contract Management System (ECCMS).

To ensure applications can be prioritised in accordance with the hierarchy (see Section 3.3 Application Process), applicants will be required to submit evidence of the following:

number of child enrolments at the service in 2025
proportion/number of Aboriginal children enrolled at the service
proportion/number of children with a LBOTE enrolled at the service
SEIFA rating (if known)
ARIA+ rating (if known)
predicted number of 4-year-old enrolments at the service for 2026 (if known).

Applications will be reviewed to ensure they meet eligibility criteria and comply with the Guidelines. Applications for the 2026 HDP Grant will be accepted from 29 October 2025. The department will assess applications, using the eligibility and assessment criteria, between 24 November and 8 December 2025. Applicants will be notified of the outcomes by 30 January 2026.

* A duly authorised representative of the Approved Provider and/or SP-Admin account holder is someone who has received permission from their organisation, the Approved Provider and the ECCMS SP-Admin account holder to submit this application on their behalf.

4. Program eligibility criteria

4.1 Service eligibility criteria

To be eligible for activities under both Categories 1 and 2 of the HDP Grant, services must meet all of the following criteria:

Be an Approved Provider under the Children (Education and Care Services) National Law Act 2010 (NSW) and be one of the following:
- Not-for-profit community preschool (centre based);
- Not-for-profit long day care (as identified in the National Quality Agenda IT system, or where sufficient evidence is provided upon request), including a local government managed service;
- Multifunctional Aboriginal Children’s Service*;
- Aboriginal Child and Family Centre*
- Aboriginal Controlled Community Organisation*; and
- For-profit providers operating up to 3 long day care services (as identified in the National Quality Agenda IT system);
Must deliver an early childhood education program to children aged 4 and above.

The service must also do the following if applying for Category 1:

For ACCOs, Aboriginal Child and Family Centres and Multifunctional Aboriginal Children’s Services, agree to participate in the HDC program through the local health district team or an Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation by the end of 2026.
For all other services, agree to participate in the HDC Program through the local health district team by the end of 2026.

Approved Providers would need to have an active, up to date account in ECCMS and agree to the Terms and Conditions of the HDP Grant including the acquittals process.

4.2 Program logic

The HDP Grant Program logic illustrates the relationship between program activities and intended outcomes.

The logic outlines how the HDP Grant is expected to enable the goals of the HDC Program:

In the short-term, increasing eligible ECEC providers’ uptake of the HDC Program and related supports.
In the medium-term, an increase in ECEC educator and teachers’ engagement with capacity building activities related to children’s health and development, and a continued increase in ECEC providers’ uptake of the HDC Program.
In the long-term, the number of 4-year-old children receiving routine HDC checks and referrals as clinically indicated.

See Appendix 1: Program logic.

4.3 Payments

The department will pay grants to successful Approved Providers as a one-off payment through the ECCMS.

Eligible Approved Providers that have applied for the grant, agreed to participate in the HDC Program in 2026 (if receiving Category 1), and been notified that their application is successful, will be required to accept the Early Childhood Outcomes Programs – Funding Agreement – Terms and Conditions – 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2026 (2026 ECCMS Terms and Conditions) of the Grant.

Grant payments will only be progressed for applicants that are registered in the ECCMS and have accepted the 2026 ECCMS Terms and Conditions of the HDP Grant program. Approved Providers must accept the 2026 ECCMS Terms and Conditions by 31 December 2025.

The 2026 ECCMS Terms and Conditions, these Guidelines and other associated documents will form the Funding Agreement for Approved Providers receiving a grant payment under the HDP Grant.

Approved Providers should ensure that their ECCMS SP-Admin account holder can log into ECCMS successfully using their myGovID.

Approved Providers are required to review the following pages within ECCMS:

Main Service Provider page – ensure that service details and contacts are up to date on the Main Details, Contacts and Address tabs; and
Each Funding Specification page – ensure that details and contacts are updated on the Main Details, Contacts and Address tabs.

Successful Approved Providers that have met the above requirements will receive payment prior to 27 February 2026.

4.4 Key dates

Key dates are the 2025 HDP Grant are:

Grant activity	2026 HDP Grant
Applications open	Wednesday, 29 October 2025
Applications close	Wednesday, 3 December 2025
Applications assessed	Monday, 24 November – Monday, 8 December 2025
Decision maker’s approval	Friday, 23 January 2026
Notification of outcome	Friday, 30 January 2026
Grant delivery	By Friday, 27 February 2026
End of grant funding	31 December 2026
Acquittal	by 30 June 2027
Evaluation commences	by 31 July 2027

5. Program requirements

5.1 Spending rules

This program is being funded on a calendar year basis.

The HDP Grant funding must be used to support an Approved Provider’s participation in the HDC Program in 2026 and/or engage in educational capability uplift activities, per Funding Agreement.

HDP Grant funds must be spent by 31 December 2026.

What can be funded

Eligible services may apply for grant funding in up to 2 categories; up to $7,500 in total funds exclusive of GST. The funding can be used to embed strategies from a combination of one or more of the categories below:

Category 1: Participation in HDC program

Program Activities

Providing relief (including financial assistance, or practical assistance such as relief teachers) for educators/teachers to take time off the floor to:

undertake administrative duties such as collating consent forms,
liaise with parents and NSW Health staff or Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (where relevant),
support parents to complete and return pre-screening questionnaires, and
support children during the check.

To support the completion of the duties outlined above, ECEC services may use funding to cover:

additional wage payments to permanent educators/teachers to extend working hours
additional wage payments to permanent educators/teachers to work additional hours on non-contracted days, where negotiated and agreed to by both the early childhood education provider and the staff member
any costs incurred by employing relief educators/teachers, including wage payments and travel costs to and from the ECEC service location
any travel costs incurred by permanent educators/teachers to offsite locations where applicable.

Linked Outcomes

Short term:

Services can participate in the HDC Program in 2026.

Medium term:

Early childhood education and care services remain consistently engaged in the HDC Program over time.

Category 2: Capability Uplift and Resources to support children’s development

Program Activities

Supports engaged through Category 2 funding must be in line with the National Quality Framework (NQF). Eligible services may use Category 2 funding across the following 3 sub-categories:

2a. Engagement of Allied Health Professionals

Providing support to ECEC services to engage allied health professionals to build capacity within the service to support children’s health and development.

Providing opportunities for ECEC services to develop and embed cohort wide strategies in their educational program in line with the NQF to support children’s health and development, under the guidance of allied health professionals and/or teachers.

Engaging external allied health providers can include:

arranging for an allied health worker or other non-government provider to work with educators and teachers. This may include developing a response to any concerns identified as part of the health and development check. They can then support educators and teachers to embed suitable cohort wide strategies in their curriculum. Strategies developed may be modelled and must be co-delivered with educators and teachers to the entire cohort and cannot be used to provide individual therapy or to remove a child/ren from the group.
the engagement of an Aboriginal community member to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families’ participation in the HDC Program.

2b. ECEC Educator & Teacher Professional Development

Providing opportunities for ECEC educators and teachers to build capability to support children’s health and development.

ECEC services may use funding to cover any travel costs incurred by permanent educators/teachers or any costs incurred by employing relief educators/teachers to support educator and teacher attendance at relevant events (in person or online) to learn about health and development checks and build capability in supporting children’s health and development.

Services will be encouraged to use the funding to attend health and development workshops and engage with the Department’s professional learning materials and tools, including resources and courses, such as the Connect & Communicate Toolkit and Culturally Safe Approach Toolkit, provided by the Department in its HDC support suite.

2c. Resource to support children’s development

Purchasing functional or educational resources to support children’s learning and developmental needs following the health and development checks.

Resources and equipment must be for the benefit of children aged 4 and above and must be directly linked to a specific developmental need, i.e. speech and language development.

Examples of appropriate use of funding include:

Developmental Domain	Example of Funding Use
Socioemotional development	Dramatic play resources including costumes, props and play furniture Emotion flashcards Visual timers
Cognitive development	Counting/sorting sets Memory matching games Puzzles
Fine motor development	Lacing beads/cards Construction resources including blocks and connectors Child-sized tweezers/droppers/scissors
Gross motor development	Balance boards Stepping stones Balls Fundamental movement cards
Speech and language development	Storybooks Musical instruments Visual routine/schedule board
Health & wellbeing resources	Healthy eating resources (food models, posters, story books about healthy eating) Oral Health resources (mouth models, tooth brushes etc)

Note this is not an exhaustive list and is up to the discretion of the eligible service and needs of the children.

Linked Outcomes

Short term:

Children are supported to participate in the HDC Program.

Medium term:

Early childhood education and care services remain consistently engaged in the HDC Program over time.
Parents/carers find the health and development checks process accessible and convenient.
Educators/teachers are equipped with appropriate resources to support children's learning and development following the health and development checks.
Educators are knowledgeable, skilled and confident to discuss child development with families and support children under their care appropriately.

Long term:

Children are more developmentally ready to start school, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.

What cannot be funded

Funding cannot be used for regular administration of the ECEC or eligible service that is not related to participation in health and development checks.

Funding cannot be used to purchase:

sensory toys
trampolines
or resources for children under the age of 3 years.

Funding cannot be sought, or used for, supports already offered through another grant or program which addresses the same element(s). This includes, but is not limited to, programs such as the NSW Sector Capacity Building Program (SCB Program) or the Australian Government’s Inclusion Support Program (ISP). The HDP Grant will support any additional training or development that falls outside of the SCB or ISP guidelines only. In the instance that a service is recipient of the SCB Program or ISP, services must speak with their provider to identify training and supports already available under the SCB or ISP.

Funding cannot be used to withdraw a child/ren from an ECEC group setting to deliver therapy. Where external providers such as an allied health professional or non-government organisations are engaged, the professional development and support provided must focus on upskilling ECEC educators/teachers, such as in the co-delivery of group-based sessions to meet children’s developmental needs.

5.2 Target and priority groups

The target group for the HDP Grant and HDC Program is children who are 4 years old. Children will need parental consent to participate. Consent forms will be provided to ECEC services from their Local Health District representatives, or their Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation representative (where relevant), upon signing up to the HDC program.* The target group are part of an eligible early childhood education and care provider, as outlined in the program eligibility requirements.

A priority cohort within the target group of 4-year-old children are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. Research indicates that this group has a higher proportion of children who are identified as developmentally vulnerable, compared to the overall Australian population.**

* It is the responsibility of the service to coordinate parental consent. The service must act in accordance with the National Quality Framework and all applicable laws.

** Australian Government Productivity Commission's 2024 Closing the Gap Information Repository.

5.3 Locations and Approved Providers

The HDP Grant will support Approved Providers to participate in the HDC Program in 2026.

Approved Providers will work with their Local Health Districts to opt into the HDC program and offer the HDC Program through their service.

The aim of the HDC Program is to deliver health and development checks to children in early childhood education and care settings, or other approved settings, located in Local Health Districts in NSW.

5.4 Decision making

Applications will be assessed by officers within the department’s assessment team (see Section 3.2 Application Assessment).
Any conflict of interest is required to be declared and managed in accordance with the department’s Code of Conduct, for department staff.
The person responsible for deciding whether to approve or decline the HDP Grant (the Decision Maker) is the Executive Director, Quality, Participation and Outcomes, Early Childhood Outcomes, NSW Department of Education.
The Decision Maker’s decision to approve or decline a grant must be recorded in writing. All records must be managed in accordance with the requirements of the State Records Act 1998 (NSW).
The grant must be administered in accordance with the NSW Grants Administration Guide.
The grant will be administered by the department.
All decisions in the recommendation and approval process must be documented.
Where the application is supported, the Decision Maker has discretion to determine the funding amount (this may be either the full funding amount requested, or a portion of the funding request). The Decision Maker’s decision and reason to depart from the funding amount recommended in the brief must be recorded in writing.
Applicants will be advised, in writing, of the outcome of their application.

5.5 Financial accountabilities and funding compliance

Approved Providers are required to spend all funding received from the HDP Grant by 31 December 2026 in accordance with the Funding Agreement.

Approved Providers are required to provide a six-month update from the date that services receive the grant to demonstrate how grant funds have been spent across the applicable category or categories by providing the department with the following information:

for category 1 funding: summary of how category 1 funds have been spent on supporting participation in the HDC Program including:
- update on the number of additional hours of staffing that have supported the Approved Provider’s participation in the HDC Program
- date of completed participation in the HDC Program
- number of children that participated in the HDC Program (through the Approved Provider)
for category 2 funding: summary of how category 2 funds have been spent on supporting engagement with HDC Program outcomes which may include:
- resources and equipment to support children’s learning and developmental needs following the health and development checks
- details of engagement with an allied health professional to embed cohort-wide strategies
- the number of Approved Provider’s staff that:
  - engaged in professional development related to health & development; and/or
  - engaged with the DoE Support Suite offering, including health and development checks culturally safe approach reflective tool; and/or
  - engaged in online training modules to learn how to identify children with a potential developmental concern or delay; and support their developmental needs; and/or
  - engaged with an allied health professional.

5.6 Record keeping

Approved Providers are required to comply with all financial, data collection, reporting, acquittal, evaluation and monitoring requirements in the Funding Agreement.

Approved Providers must undertake a formal acquittal process by June 2027. The acquittal process includes completing a statement which includes reporting on how the funding has been spent. All approved providers are required to submit evidence of expenditure, and a statement, on the direct impacts that funds have had on the service before the 30 June 2027.

Approved Providers may also be audited. This audit could be a part of the department’s annual audit, or to confirm the accuracy of data provided in an applicant’s statement. Therefore, relevant records must be retained by providers for the purpose of the department undertaking reviews.

Approved Providers will be required to participate in the evaluation of the HDP Grant by collecting and providing requested data and participating in evaluation activities. This will include a short survey on use of HDP Grant funds to support participation in the HDC program. A process evaluation will be used to provide information on the delivery of the HDP Grant, to ensure it is being delivered as intended to support approved providers’ ongoing participation in the HDC Program.

Approved Providers may be required to obtain consent from participating families to share relevant data with the department and/or program evaluation team. If necessary, Approved Providers will be provided with appropriate consent forms and disclosure information. Approved Providers must ensure consent forms are completed prior to collecting and recording personal information.

The department may disclose certain information regarding the HDP Grant to the NSW Department of Health and to NSW Local Health Districts for the purpose of the HDC Program.

The department will ensure that any work with Approved Providers to enhance early childhood education programs aligns with quality expectations outlined under the National Quality Framework.

6. Roles and responsibilities

The approved HDP Grant provider is required to:

spend the allocated funds by 31 December 2026 in specified categories and complete an acquittal by 30 June 2027
provide reporting (See Section 5.5 Reporting requirements) and program evaluation data (See Section 8.2 Program review and evaluations), as needed
take part in an audit of the program, if required.

7. Governance

7.1 Program management

The program management function for the HDP Grant will be performed by the staff from the Early Childhood Development Team in the department’s Early Childhood Outcomes division.

The Executive Director, Quality, Participation and Connections, Early Childhood Outcomes, within the department is the Decision Maker for the HDP Grant Program. All funds awarded must be spent according to the Funding Agreement which includes amongst other things the Terms and Conditions and these Guidelines.

The Decision Maker has the authority to approve or decline grants, even if their decision differs from the recommendation of the assessment panel. If the Decision-maker chooses to depart from the assessment panel’s recommendation, they must provide a clear explanation in the relevant documentation. Decisions are recorded and any deviations from the assessment panel's recommendations are documented in writing. The documentation, including reasons for departures, is published to ensure transparency.

7.2 Program-level governance

The HDP Grant will be governed through the established HDC program-level governance between the department and NSW Health.

8. Additional Information

8.1 Communication

The department may publicise and report on any funds awarded to Approved Providers.

Approved Providers are required by the Terms and Conditions to publicly acknowledge the funding received through the HDP Grant, with the following statement:

“This Service is a recipient of funding under the NSW Department of Education’s Health and Development Participation Grant.”

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

8.2 Program review and evaluations

These Guidelines may be updated or amended over the course of the HDP Grant 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, and will be communicated to the sector.

The department will undertake an evaluation to understand the effectiveness of the HDP Grant. Participating providers may be required to participate in an evaluation of the HDP Grant through provision of data and participation in other evaluation activities as required.