Mobile preschools that are already funded under the Mobile Preschool Funding program do not need to apply/reapply for funding each year. Funding will be automatically applied for services that are eligible for the Mobile Preschool Funding program and where the provider has signed the Funding Agreement.

Approved providers of mobile preschools who are not currently funded under the Mobile Preschool Funding program can contact the NSW Department of Education to find out how they can be included in the Mobile Preschool Funding program by sending an email to ecec.funding@det.nsw.edu.au.

Information on applying for the Mobile Preschool Funding program is also available on the Mobile Preschool Funding program webpage. The department accepts funding applications through the program year.

Approved providers are not permitted to increase their service fees to offset the benefits of the Fee Relief payment. The department expects fees to be maintained at fee levels of the previous years where fees were charged to families, adjusted for the Consumer Price Index across this time period.

If services need to adjust fees above the Consumer Price Index, such as due to reasonable increases in operating costs, evidence must be retained to support the fee increase.

The department will be monitoring daily fees and additional charges, through the Annual Preschool Census, annual reporting, and compliance processes. For more information, refer to Section 5 Fee guidelines in the program guidelines.

Children who are 6 years old will be eligible for funding where they have been granted a formal exemption from the NSW Department of Education and have a Certificate of Exemption. The exemption should be in place by the time the child turns 6 years old.

It is the responsibility of families to seek formal exemption from the NSW Department of Education.

Funding under the Mobile Preschool Funding program, including fee relief, is based on enrolment data – not attendance.

If a child is enrolled at your service and does not attend due to reasons such as medical conditions or extended holidays, the funding payment for this enrolment does not get impacted due to low attendance. It is the service’s business decision to decide the process regarding holding the position for the family.

No negative adjustments will be applied for services whose new SEIFA decile would lead to a funding reduction for 2025. This means that the 2025 funding allocation for these services will be based on existing SEIFA bands and their respective funding rates. Information on SEIFA classification transition arrangements is available in the Mobile Preschool Funding program guidelines (see Appendix 1.5 Transition arrangements for SEIFA classifications in 2025).

The department uses the ARIA+(2011) Remoteness Classifications for Start Strong for Community Preschool funding calculations. There are no planned changes to the ARIA+ (2011) Remoteness classifications for funding calculations in 2025.

All funding under the Mobile Preschool Funding program, including fee relief funding, is paid to services. Fee relief funding is then passed on from the mobile service to families in the form of reduced fees.

While families can access Start Strong fee relief at only one community preschool and/or long day care service for their child, mobile preschools funded under the Mobile Preschool Funding program are exempt from this rule.

In the event that a child is enrolled at more than one service, there will be no impact on program payment funding amounts for either service that the child attends. Each service will be provided the full allocation of program payment in line with the program funding calculations for each eligible enrolment.

Funding under the Mobile Preschool Funding program is delivered on a calendar year basis. Funding will be paid on a quarterly basis, with allocations based on the Annual Preschool Census held in August.

Funding is expected to follow the schedule below:

• December (Quarter 1) for period January – March 2025
• April (Quarter 2) for period April – June 2025
• July (Quarter 3) for period July - September 2025
• October (Quarter 4) for period October – December 2025.

The funding rates outlined the Mobile Preschool Funding program guidelines do not include GST.

If your provider is GST registered, you will receive funding payments that include GST. Conversely, if your provider is not GST registered, you will receive payments without GST.

All children aged 3 years old and above, who have a birthday on or before 31 July 2025 are eligible for the Program and Fee Relief payment. In addition, as per Section 3.2 of the  Mobile Preschool Funding program guidelines, a child will need to:

• be attending an eligible early childhood education program
• not be in compulsory schooling.

Children who are 6 years old will be eligible for funding where they have been granted a formal exemption from the NSW Department of Education and have a Certificate of Exemption.

Families who have children enrolled at a mobile preschool funded under the Mobile Preschool Funding program do not need to complete a fee relief declaration form. If your child is enrolled at another service that is funded by the Start Strong for Community Preschools or Start Strong for Long Day Care program, you will need to complete a fee relief declaration form for that service.

Under Start Strong, a child cannot access a Fee Relief Payment from more than one community preschool or long day care service. However, mobile preschools funded under the Mobile Preschool Funding program are exempt from this requirement and are not required to gather declaration forms.

Reserved fee relief funds are fee relief funds which have not been utilised because there are fewer children claiming fee relief at your service than you have been funded for.

It is recommended that you consider the number of children claiming fee relief at your service at the beginning of each term to identify fee relief funds that should be quarantined as ‘reserved fee relief funds’. When changes in enrolments during each term occur, services can use reserved fee relief funds as surplus fee relief funds to accommodate those changes in enrolments. Refer to Section 4.2 Fee Relief Payment spending rules of the 2025 Mobile Preschool Funding program guidelines for more information.

Surplus fee relief funds are what remains of a child’s fee relief allocation after their daily fees are reduced as much as possible. Depending on your service’s fee structure there may be no surplus fee relief funds (for example, if your daily fees are higher than the child’s allocation of daily fee relief).

For more information, refer to Section 4.2 Fee Relief Payment spending rules of the 2025 Mobile Preschool Funding program guidelines.

If a previously vacant enrolment place is filled partway through a term, any fee relief funding that was reserved for the weeks prior to the enrolment being filled (in the same term) can be considered surplus fee relief funds and be expended as per the program guidelines.

If an enrolment place is vacated partway through a term, that place's remaining fee relief funding for the remainder of the term must be reserved (unless an eligible child is enrolled and wants to claim fee relief). If at the end of that term, the enrolment place has not been filled, for that term the remaining fee relief funds for that enrolment place can be considered surplus fee relief funds.

For more information, refer to the 2025 Mobile Preschool Funding program guidelines.

Providers are encouraged to expend 2025 surplus fee relief funds in accordance with Section 4.2 Fee Relief Payment spending rules.

Providers may be able to outline their fee relief usage, including reserved fee relief (if any) via an online collection in early 2026. Providers that note an amount of reserved fee relief funds in the online collection may have their funds offset against a later fee relief payment in 2026.

More information on the fee relief online collection will be made available closer to the release of the collection process.

The department understands that some providers may have a surplus at the end of their reporting period, which needs to be returned to the department according to the Terms and Conditions. Surplus refers to the program payment surplus and any surplus fee relief remaining after all fees and/or charges are reduced to zero for families accessing fee relief at the service. Refer to Section 4.2 Fee Relief Payment spending rules for more information on spending rules.

Surpluses will be identified and validated through the annual acquittal process, at which point services can apply to retain surpluses above the nominated thresholds.

Services that have an operational need to retain the surplus are required to submit a form outlining their need to retain the surplus amount as per Section 6.5 Financial accountabilities and funding compliance of the program guidelines.

Providers can contact the NSW Department of Education by emailing ecec.funding@det.nsw.edu.au and requesting the necessary form.

Completion of transition to school statements for children enrolled at mobile preschools funded under the Mobile Preschool Funding program is strongly advised. The digital statement is a free, collaborative tool to support the transition to school for NSW children. Where access to the digital statement is not possible, the Transition to School Digital Statement Form (PDF 434KB) can be completed.

The digital statement can be used in conjunction with other methods that are convenient for your service, families, and your local primary teachers. For more information, please see the Transition to School Statement.

Yes, the Transition to School Digital Statement allows for a statement to be created at each service the child is enrolled in.

This allows multiple services to provide information about the child as they present at each service, providing a more holistic picture of their learning and development.

While the platform currently only allows for statements to be sent directly to public schools, services can save a statement created on the Transition to School Digital Statement as a PDF and email it to an independent or catholic school.

Consent must be obtained before a Transition to School Statement can occur. Funding under the Mobile Preschool Funding program will not be impacted if a parent or carer does not consent to the competition of a Transition to School Statement.

Providers funded under the Mobile Preschool Funding program must retain evidence of consent or non-consent when completing Transition to School Statements.