The Minor Capital Works program awards funding for eligible not-for-profit community preschools in NSW to undertake small extensions, renovations, or other works that increase preschool enrolments and/or licensed places as outlined in the Minor Capital Works program guidelines.

No. It is up to applicants to determine if they meet the eligibility requirements outlined in the Minor Capital Works program guidelines. The Assessment Panel will then decide on the eligibility of the applications received as part of the competitive assessment process.

The decision to apply for funding rests with the applicant. Any decision to apply for a capital works grant should first be discussed with your governing body.

Important things to consider include:

• Are you currently operating a community preschool or multipurpose children’s service?

• Are you currently rated Meeting or above against the National Quality Standard (NQS)?

• Do you intend to undertake capital works to create additional early learning places or increase enrolments for preschool aged children?

• Do you meet the eligibility requirements?

• Is your organisation committed to managing a capital works project if you are awarded a grant, noting construction timeframes below:

  The Funding Agreement (contract) must be signed by the applicant’s authorised officer and returned to the department by the deadline:

  For applicants in Round 1, the Funding Agreement must be signed and returned to the department within one week of receipt.

  For applicants in Round 2, the Funding Agreement must be returned to the department within four weeks after receipt.

Construction must be completed:

Within 12 months of outcome letter receipt for projects that already have or do not need a development application and construction certificate.

Within 24 months of outcome letter receipt for projects that do need a development application and construction certificate.

These questions are prompts to guide you to determine if this grant would suit your needs and capital works project. The Minor Capital Works program guidelines will also help you decide if you are ready to apply.

Yes. The program is a new program with its own eligibility and assessment criteria. This program is not connected to previous capital works programs and applications will be assessed on the criteria set out in the Minor Capital Works program guidelines. The capital works project is ineligible if it has already been fully funded by another grant program.

No. The program only funds the creation of additional licensed places or increased enrolments for preschool aged children as identified in the program guidelines. We encourage you to review our and other government agencies’ websites to identify other suitable opportunities that may arise:

• Grants and funding | NSW Government

• GrantConnect Homepage: GrantConnect

The department delivers a number of initiatives and funded programs to ensure children have the best start in life. Each initiative has distinct objectives and intended outcomes. To meet those objectives, each program creates its own methodologies and eligibility requirements, which may vary across programs.

Please refer to the Minor Capital Works program guidelines and Terms and Conditions for a list of elements which can and cannot be funded by the grant. You must allocate funding in addition to the nominated contribution for any elements that are not eligible under the program.

A co-contribution refers to funding that comes from sources other than the program grant. Examples of co-contributions include funds from the approved provider, bank loans, and contributions made by third parties (e.g. other state, federal or local government grants, donations from private or public organisations, or in-kind services). Co-contributions nominated on the application must be used for the capital works project co-funded by the grant (i.e. for the building works and not for ineligible elements, such as the purchase of land or property).

Applicants are required to provide a co-contribution of a minimum 5% of the total project cost. The whole co-contribution amount must be spent before any grant funds are used.

Exemptions may be considered primarily for services located in remote NSW, for Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations, or for services recovering from a natural disaster.

Details of the expected co-contribution can be found in the Minor Capital Works Program Guidelines.

The total cost of the project must factor in all expenses, including professional and project management fees, legal fees, builder and construction contingency, provider contingency and any other administrative costs related to the project.

To ensure you have reliable costing estimates, it is important that the total cost of the project is based on at least 2 quotes in the past 4 months that reflect the final design of the minor capital works project.

Total project expenses should match the total project income to demonstrate you have sourced enough funding to cover your project’s expenses.

Yes, the value of the maximum amount per grant is $250,000 (ex GST) per preschool service.

As per the program’s Terms and Conditions, any overruns are the responsibility of the approved provider. It is highly recommended that you include both construction and project contingency costs in your budget:

• Construction contingency refers to the sum set aside to cover any cost escalations and overruns related to the build. It is expected that the builder/construction contingency is included within the builder’s quote. Please also consider any escalations that may occur as a result of the lag between you submitting the application and the construction starting.

• Project contingency refers to the funding set aside by the applicant for other risks associated with the delivery of the capital works project, outside of construction or builder expenses. Examples may include unforeseen increases in project management and/or statutory fees.

A reasonable allowance for contingency can be included in the project budget submitted as part of your grant funding application. The department will then consider the circumstances giving rise to the need for accessing contingency to make a decision on its release. It is recommended to consider a minimum of 10% combined for construction and project contingency.

Applicants will first be required to meet any conditions attached to their grant award. Once this occurs, a Funding Agreement will be executed, which will include a project plan with milestones. Payments will be released as the delivery of the project progresses in line with the approved milestone project plan and evidence to demonstrate the achievement of the milestone has been submitted. Refer to Section 3.2.2 and 5.2 in the program guidelines for more details.

There is no benchmarks or recommended cost per place under the program, as these will vary depending on the type of project, location and other factors. However, the cost per place is used to inform the value for money of the project during stage 3 of the assessment. Cost per place is an element considered in the overall assessment process, but it is not the only element considered.

The department also considers a range of non-priced criteria, including socio-economic rating and project readiness.

At least two quotes in the past four months that reflect the final design of the minor capital works project need to be provided with your application. Applicants should contact the department if you are unable to obtain a second quote. In exceptional circumstances this requirement may be waived, for example if you are in a rural or remote area of NSW and have limited options.

No. Changes can only be made to an application during the period that applications are open. Please note that once an application form is submitted on SmartyGrants, it cannot be edited. Late applications or late documents past the application close date will not be accepted, unless explicitly requested by the NSW Childcare and Economic Opportunity Fund Board or the Assessment Panel.

Given the limited timeframe for application submission, applicants are not expected to run a full tender process to obtain the two builders' quotes. However, if it has been possible for applicants to run a tender process given their circumstances, they are strongly encouraged to attach that evidence to demonstrate their readiness to proceed and to support the proposed budget.

All amounts listed on your application must exclude GST, including the grant amount being requested. If amounts inadvertently include GST, this will impact the priced assessment of your application, which is a key factor to determine the assessment outcome.

If you are successful, the NSW Childcare and Economic Opportunity Fund Board will pay for the GST relevant to your grant award when processing milestone payments for GST registered organisations.

If you have submitted your application in error prior to the closing date, you may retrieve and further edit your application from SmartyGrants by contacting the Sector Growth Team on  capital.works@det.nsw.edu.au or via telephone on 1800 619 113.

Please use the help guide  for an explanation of the essential steps you need to take to complete and submit your application form.

1. Applications are assessed against the eligibility criteria (section 2.1).
2. Applications are assessed using the assessment criteria (section 2.2) and then ranked in comparison with other applications based on the assessment score of each application.
3. The Assessment Panel will provide a recommendation to the NSW Childcare and Economic Opportunity Fund Board (the Fund Board) for final decision-making. The Fund Board is the final decision-maker, and, in all circumstances, the Fund Board’s decision is final.

All applicants will be notified in writing of their application outcome after the assessment process is complete. Grant recipients will be notified of their successful application before any public announcement is made about the funding. Written notification to unsuccessful applicants will be provided on or before the date of the public announcement, where practicable.

Public announcements of grant funding will be coordinated by the department and may include information about successful applicants, funded projects and the amount of funding awarded.

It is up to your discretion whether you wish to engage a project manager for your project. Please note project management expenses can be funded by the grant if they are included as part of the endorsed application budget.

Construction must be completed:

• Within 12 months of outcome letter receipt for projects that already have or do not need a development application and construction certificate.

• Within 24 months of outcome letter receipt for projects that do need a development application and construction certificate.

If you are successful in being awarded a grant and your project experiences unexpected delays, please contact your assigned program coordinator in the department as soon as possible. Adjustments to timeframes may be considered where there is evidence of exceptional circumstances and where an adjustment will not compromise the fairness of the competitive grant process.

The grant recipient must note that timeframe extensions may not be approved, and that excessive delays may ultimately result in the department recommending withdrawal of the funding commitment to the Fund Board.

Service approval must be obtained for any increase in licensed places. The provider is required to show evidence that they have obtained service approval for the new licensed places created as a result of the project.

For enquiries about Service Approvals please contact the NSW Early Learning Commission Information and Enquiries team 1800 619 113 (toll free) or information@earlylearningcommission.nsw.gov.au

If you require plans to be drawn up for your project, they must be drawn up by a licensed building practitioner as part of their application to support the proposed increase in preschool places or to demonstrate unencumbered space measurements that supports the increase in enrolments. This is a requirement from the Early Learning Commission. Before engaging a licensed building practitioner, please check their registration or accreditation with one of the following bodies:

• Architects: refer to NSW Architects Registration Board

• Landscape architects: refer to the Australian Institute of Landscape architects. Landscape architects can only prepare or certify plans and calculations for outdoor space under Regulation 108.

• Surveyor: refer to NSW Board of Surveying and Spatial Information
  

• Certifiers: refer to NSW Fair Trading NSW – Building Certifiers
  

• Building designers: refer to Building Designers Association of Australia (BDAA) .

Applicants are required to seek professional advice to ensure their projects comply with all regulatory requirements imposed to early learning centres by the NSW Early Learning Commission and any other relevant agencies, including local and the NSW government. Although the below is not intended as an exhaustive list, applicants should consider the information provided in the resources below as a minimum when preparing their application:

• Education and Care Services National Regulations (NSW) (2025 SI 601a) - NSW Legislation

• Education and Care Services National Regulations (NSW) (2025 SI 601a) - NSW Legislation - Section 107 Space requirements – indoor space

• Education and Care Services National Regulations (NSW) (2025 SI 601a) - NSW Legislation - Section 108 Space requirements –outdoor space
  

• Childcare Planning Guideline (PDF 21.3 MB)
  

• Guide to the NQF

• Application guide for New Service Applications (PDF 412 KB)

Applicants are required to own the land where the capital works is taking place or alternatively have a 5-year license or lease for the capital works site. Applicants will be required to provide evidence to substantiate the land arrangement.

If you do not currently own the land or have a 5-year license or lease, but have other land arrangements you consider suitable, such as a lease for a shorter tenure and support from your lessor indicating you are a long-standing tenant, the NSW Childcare and Economic Opportunity Fund Board encourages you to provide such evidence in your application.