This grant helps early childhood education and care (ECEC) services in areas experiencing disadvantage and vulnerability to stay open. It is part of the Community Child Care Fund (CCCF).
On this page:
This opportunity is open at specific times. It is currently closed.
About the grant
The sustainability and capital support grant provides funding to help ECEC services in areas experiencing disadvantage or vulnerability stay open.
The grant is part of the Community Child Care Fund which helps services address barriers to ECEC participation. The Community Grants Hub manages the grant on our behalf.
This grant is open at specific times and has opened previously in 2018, 2019, 2021, 2024 and 2026.
Who can get the grant?
The grant is for Child Care Subsidy (CCS) approved providers.
Funding is available to services that:
- operate in, or service families from, an identified priority area
- operate in, or service families from, a regional, remote or very remote area, or
- provide specialised care to communities experiencing disadvantage or vulnerability.
Priority areas are communities identified as experiencing particularly high levels of disadvantage compared to most other areas.
Priority areas vary between rounds and are published when grant rounds open.
For round 5, these areas were defined at the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) Statistical Area Level 2 (SA2), and were determined using a combination of national data sets, including:
- Australian Early Development Census (AEDC) results
- Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) disadvantage data.
See the priority areas for grant round 5
What the grant funds
The grant has 2 funding streams.
Sustainability support grants help improve the service’s financial viability.
Examples of funded activities include:
- improving business practices
- supporting service delivery in under-served communities
- workforce development and training
- engaging families not currently using ECEC
- developing workforce and community engagement plans.
Capital support grants help improve existing ECEC facilities through minor works.
Examples of funded activities include:
- repairs, renovations and modifications
- improvements to community buildings used for ECEC
- child safety and quality compliance works
- outdoor play areas and fencing.
Funding amounts
Funding amounts vary between rounds.
In round 5, the Australian Government committed up to $106.9 million (GST exclusive) over 3 years from 2026–27 to 2028–29.
The maximum sustainability grant offered over 3 years was $600,000. The maximum capital support grant offered over 3 years (with a requirement for a co-contribution) was $150,000.
Outcomes
Since the introduction of the CCCF in 2018, the Australian Government has provided more than $425 million to support services across the country address barriers to local families and children accessing and benefiting from ECEC.
This includes under each round of the CCCF sustainability and capital support grant, and the limited supply grant.
All CCCF grant recipients are listed on GrantConnect.
Round 5
The Australian Government offered more than $106.7 million through round 5 of the sustainability and capital support grant.
A total of 420 applications representing 387 services were successful in round 5. Funding offered included:
- $99.5 million in sustainability support funding
- $7.3 million in capital support funding.
Funded projects will commence from September 2026. Projects will be supported from 2026–27 to 2028–29.
General feedback for round 5 applicants is available on the Community Grants Hub website.
Previous rounds
Round 1 outcomes were announced in April 2018
Round 2 outcomes were announced in August 2019
Round 3 outcomes were announced in July 2021
Round 4 outcomes were announced in August 2024
Future rounds
This grant is currently closed. We will publish details about any future grant rounds when available.
Subscribe to our newsletter and join our Facebook Group to get the latest updates.