The Minns Labor Government has announced today that 36 early childhood education and care services will receive more than $5.9 million to trial extended hours and create an additional 350 places for children.

The recipients are part of the second round of the Minns Government’s Flexible Initiatives Trial (FIT). The first round in April 2024 saw 16 services across the state supported to offer longer hours, weekend operating hours and additional places. This year’s grant recipients include 6 in metropolitan Sydney, 9 in Western Sydney and 21 in regional NSW.

The trial supports services to test new and expanded operating models to better cater for local families’ needs, increase availability of places where and when they are needed most, and reduce barriers to workforce participation.

The grants will help services create up to 350 additional places in long day care services and community preschools, extend hours including before and after school and on weekends, fund new educator and teacher positions, open new rooms, expand programs and establish five new family day care services.

This is part of the NSW Labor Government’s long-term commitment to support children and young families in the early years, which includes an historic $769 million investment to build 100 new public preschools in NSW, which is the largest investment in public preschools in the state’s history.

We have also committed $60 million to build and upgrade preschools at non-government schools in areas where they are needed most, and $17 million to support capital works for early childhood services.

The new offerings include:

• Choice Preschool Kindergarten Auburn plans to increase their licensed places by 20 and provide two sessions per day, from 9am to 12pm and from 3pm to 6pm. The service is in a community with a high proportion of new migrants and asylum seekers.
• Koorana Croydon Street Preschool Lakemba plans to add a vacation care program for up to 18 preschool children in the April, July and October school holidays. The service supports children of all abilities, including those with additional needs. Children can also access NDIS-funded therapy on site during the term and as part of the new vacation care program.
• Indigo Early Learning Centre Forresters Beach on the Central Coast will increase licensed places by 41, from 79 to 120.
• Murray-Toola Damana (Many Hands) Preschool Mount Druitt will open for an extra day each week from three to four days, and employ a bus driver to pick up and drop children home.
• Planet Long Day Care in Coledale plans to extend their operating hours by two hours each day, increasing licensed places by 20.
• Eurobodalla Shire Council plans to establish five new family day care services to provide early childhood education and care for up to 50 children six days a week. It also proposes to employ a full-time family day care relief educator to cover leave across the shire’s family day care services.

The Flexible Initiatives Trial is a $20 million trial program launched by the Minns Labor Government in 2023, through the NSW Childcare and Economic Opportunity Fund. The program aims to improve equitable access to affordable quality early childhood education and care services.

Deputy Premier and Minister for Education and Early Learning Prue Car said:

“The Minns Labor Government is committed to ensuring children across NSW get the best start in life through high-quality early learning – no matter their postcode.

“The Flexible Initiatives Trial is supporting our valued early childhood services, teachers and educators to trial new ways of meeting families’ needs.

“Not only does this program increase access for children in our state to early quality education and care, it also removes a barrier facing parents who wish to re-enter the workforce or enter it for the first time.

“The Minns Labor Government is delivering a plan to build stronger, more accessible education for families across the state.”