Funding is available to plan, build, expand and improve early years infrastructure across Victoria. The aim is to ensure local families can continue to access great local kindergarten programs, no matter where they live.
The Victorian Government has released its Three-Year-Old Kindergarten Infrastructure Strategy:
Building Blocks: Three-Year-Old Kindergarten Infrastructure Strategy
The record investment - $1.68 billion over the decade - in early childhood infrastructure will provide the right support to achieve the reform, including giving:
- greater certainty
- greater flexibility
- greater investment.
Building Blocks has replaced previous grants schemes − the Children's Facilities Capital Program and Inclusive Kindergartens Facilities Program − as the keyway for the Victorian Government to invest in kindergarten building and upgrades. This will ensure Victoria has the early childhood infrastructure it needs to meet the growing demand for Three and Four-Year-Old Kindergarten.
Building Blocks makes it easier for the sector to seek state co-investment in their facilities.
Building Blocks Grants
Building Blocks Grants contribute to high-quality early years programs by:
- the building or expanding kindergartens so there are more places for three and four-year-old children
- helping integrate community services at kindergartens so families can access early childhood education and care, health and development and family services in one place
- improving access to local and responsive early childhood services for children from vulnerable or disadvantaged families
- building kindergartens at, or next to, schools.
Learn more about Building Blocks and consult the program guidelines on
Victorian School Building Authority website.
Apply for a grant
Building Blocks Grants consists of four streams:
- Planning stream
- Capacity building stream
- Improvement stream
- Inclusion stream.
Planning stream
This stream provides grants for pre-construction work on kindergarten building projects that support the roll-out of
three-year-old kindergarten across Victoria. This might include designing, developing the scope or calculating construction costs of the project.
It is for applicants who will be applying for a construction Building Blocks grant once planning is complete.
Download the planning stream guidelines on the Victorian School Building Authority website.
Capacity building stream
The capacity building stream provides funding for projects that create additional infrastructure capacity for funded Three and Four-Year-Old Kindergarten programs by building new or expanding existing infrastructure. There are four grant categories in this stream:
- Integrated Children's Centre
- New Early Learning Facility
- Modular Kindergarten Facilities
- Expansion.
Download the capacity building stream guidelines on the Victorian School Building Authority website.
Improvement stream
The improvement stream provides grant funding for upgrades and minor expansions to existing early years facilities and investment in IT equipment.
There are three grant categories in this stream:
- Early Learning Facility Upgrades
- Minor Infrastructure
- Information Technology.
Download the improvement stream guidelines on the Victorian School Building Authority website.
Inclusion stream
The inclusion stream provides grants for upgrades of existing facilities and the purchase of equipment to provide safe and inclusive environments for children of all needs.
There are two grant categories in this stream:
- Building and Playgrounds
- Equipment
Download the inclusion stream guidelines on the Victorian School Building Authority website.
Opening and closing dates
For current opening and closing dates, visit the
Building Blocks page on the Victorian School Building Authority website.
Kindergarten Infrastructure and Services Plans
The Victorian Government wants to co-invest in projects at the right time to make sure providers can meet the demand for Three-Year-Old Kindergarten and to provide clarity across the sector about which projects need to be prioritised. A key part of this will be sharing information with all our partners to get a clear picture of infrastructure needs state-wide.
To enable this, We have invited all 79 Local Government Areas (LGAs) to discuss and agree on a Kindergarten Infrastructure and Services Plan (KISP).
What is a KISP?
A KISP will allow us and an LGA to share information regarding and agree on:
- the current supply (or capacity) and demand for funded kindergarten in the LGA
- forecast demand for Three- and Four-Year-Old Kindergarten
- expectations about how demand growth will be accommodated over the roll-out (for example, the use of existing capacity and building new or expanded capacity, and the role of different types of provision).
While a KISP is not a funding document and would not commit any party to fund specific projects, it is expected that future investment requests through Building Blocks and decisions for any LGA or not-for-profit projects would align with the relevant KISP. To ensure a transparent and collaborative approach across the market, the KISPs will be publicly available.
When assessing a Building Blocks capacity grant project proposal in an LGA where there is an agreed KISP, we will consider the entire KISP to fully understand the data regarding the demand for Three-Year-Old Kindergarten and the local context of service delivery, demographics and geography. This information is included in the ‘Local Context’ section of the KISP and may be referenced by the applicant when addressing criteria as part of a Building Blocks grant application.
Agreed KISPs
Building Blocks Partnerships
The KISP planning processes will be underpinned by new 'Building Blocks Partnerships'.
These are long‑term, in‑principle agreements between us and LGAs or not-for-profit providers for co-investment in multi-site 'project pipelines'. Partnerships will build capacity for both Three and Four-Year-Old Kindergarten, through multiple projects over several years under agreed funding parameters.
Building Blocks Partnerships will be a critical means of working with large partners, particularly LGAs to build large numbers of facilities over time. The discussions to establish these partnerships have commenced.
Agreed Building Blocks Partnerships
Wyndham: Statement of Intent
Melton: Statement of Intent
Hobsons Bay: Statement of Intent
Mitchell: Statement of Intent
Monash: Statement of Intent
Whittlesea: Statement of Intent
Port Phillip: Statement of Intent
Related Documents
Building Blocks: Three-Year-Old Kindergarten Infrastructure Strategy
General enquiries
For all general enquiries regarding the Building Blocks Grants:
Previous programs
Details of funded projects can be found on the
Victorian School Building Authority website