The purpose of the Building Fund Small-Scale grant opportunity is to provide capital grants to build new or expand existing services in areas of need.

The grant opportunity will enable successful providers to expand service delivery in areas where there is undersupply of ECEC. It will also target investment to improve early childhood development outcomes and socio-economic factors.

The objectives of the grant opportunity are to increase:

• the number of NFP CBDC services and ECEC places in areas of undersupply in a timely manner;
• the number and capacity of services delivered by quality, NFP providers in the sector; and
• children's participation in ECEC in areas of need.

The Australian Government has announced a total of $500 million in capital grants over 4 years for the Building Fund. For this grant opportunity, at least $20 million is available over 2 years (2026-27 to 2027-28).

• There is no minimum grant amount. The maximum grant amount is $3,000,000.
• Grant amounts awarded to applicants will depend on the grant activities included in the application and priorities of the program. 

If there are insufficient funds under this grant opportunity to fully fund an application, it may be considered for partial funding. To maximise the benefits of the grants, it may be appropriate for applicants to co-contribute and to source financial and in-kind contributions from other parties.

Applications that demonstrate improved access of high quality and culturally safe ECEC for First Nations children, families and communities will be prioritised where appropriate.

To be eligible all organisations must:

• be a legal entity established under Australian law be a NFP organisation (see 4.1.2 of the guidelines)
• have an Australian Business Number (ABN)
• be registered for the purposes of GST
• have an account with an Australian financial institution
• not be ineligible (see section 4.3 of the guidelines).

• Email: BuildingFundSmallScaleGrant@education.gov.au