Search Grants & Funding

Per capita grants help cover school operating costs such as teaching materials, staff wages and new equipment for community language schools. The amount of the grant is based on the number of students who have enrolled in your community language school.

You may receive a per capita grant if your community language school:

• has been operating for more than 12 months
• is managed by an organisation which is a not-for-profit legal entity
• is located more than two kilometres away from any other community language school that teaches the same language
• normally has a minimum of 20 school-aged students enrolled. (Schools outside a metropolitan area with less than 20 students may be eligible for funding in some circumstances.)
• is open to school students from Kindergarten to Year 12, regardless of their language background
• has students who attend at least 70 per cent of lessons in Term 1
• holds classes outside school hours for at least 35 weeks of the year
• provides a minimum of two hours per week face-to-face language teaching based on a sound educational program.

You can use the grant for:

• teaching materials
• stationery, photocopying
• technology
• payments to teachers
• buying educational equipment
• expenses associated with the administration of the schools.

You cannot use the grant for capital purposes such as buildings, repairs, maintenance or renovations.

The Mobile Preschool Funding Program’s objectives is to improve the affordability, quality, and accessibility of preschool education for children in regional and remote NSW, where access to centre-based preschools can be limited.

The program funds providers of mobile preschools to reduce fees, support quality uplift, incentivise increased enrolment and attendance, and drive improved outcomes for children, and recognises the additional costs and unique challenges associated with achieving universal access in regional and remote NSW.

The program operates on a calendar year, from 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2026.

Funding is designed to support quality uplift in preschool education and drive outcomes for children aged 3-5 in the developmentally significant years before school. Funding objectives are closely linked with ensuring equitable access for eligible children:

• Children from Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander background
• Children from low-income families
• Children with disability and/or additional needs
• Children living in regional or remote areas of NSW
• Children who are at risk of significant harm (from a child protection perspective).

The P&C Transition Grant Program is designed to support approved OOSH services that have transitioned to P&C ownership as a result of the recent Provider Category Review.

The objectives of the P&C Transition Grant are to:

1. Support approved parent-run OOSH services that are transitioning to P&C ownership.
2. Support P&Cs who are taking on responsibility for transitioning OOSH services.
3. Ensure continuing access for NSW Government primary school students to approved OOSH services impacted by the recent Provider Category Review.

 Who can apply:

• Applicants must be an approved OOSH provider.
• The application must benefit an approved OOSH service operating in NSW. One application is allowable per service location.
• The approved OOSH service must have transitioned to P&C ownership as a result of the recent Provider Category Review.
• The approved OOSH provider must have transitioned to P&C as a result of the recent Provider Category Review.
• Applications must be submitted by an authorised officer; a person legally able to enter into agreements on behalf of the approved service provider.

A range of allowances and scholarships are available for students in rural and remote locations who live away from the family home to attend school.

Living away from home allowance

The Living Away from Home Allowance (LAFHA) assists eligible NSW families whose children must board away from home to access secondary education. Pre-conditions for eligibility relate to income and distance from the nearest public secondary school or school of preferred religion. Applicants must also meet further criteria such as a medical condition or impassable roads.

Boarding scholarships for isolated students

Boarding Scholarships for Isolated Students (BSIS) assist eligible students from rural areas who are required to board to attend NSW public specialist high schools – including agricultural boarding schools – or those required to board at a school term hostel to access a NSW public secondary school. Scholarships are available for students in Years 7 to 12 who are disadvantaged by a low family income and geographical isolation.

Australian Government assistance

The Assistance for Isolated Children Scheme (AIC) is an Australian Government program that targets students who cannot attend a public school because the family home is geographically isolated or the students have a disability or special needs.

Communities, families and students value the NSW Community Languages Schools Program. The program helps students learn and use another language and connects young Australians to the language, heritage and culture of their community. It also helps build strong communities and it helps build respect in Australia for our many different cultures.

Schools may be eligible for a government grant to support a community language program.

There are three types of grants:

Establishment grant

This is a one-off grant of $2,500 for organisations that are setting up language classes for the first time. The aim of the grant is to help new community language schools in their first year.

Note: All organisations must submit an EOI by 1 April if applying for an Establishment Grant in the same year.

Per capita grant

This grant is used to help cover school operating costs such as teaching materials, staff wages and new equipment. The funding amount is based on the number of eligible students enrolled during term one. You can apply for this grant after you have been operating for more than 12 months.

Specific project grant

This grant of up to $10,000 is available to develop teaching materials or run training activities. The project should benefit other community language schools that use the same language.

The Start Strong for Community Preschools program provides funding to deliver affordable quality preschool education for 3-to- 5 -year-old children enrolled in eligible community and mobile preschools in NSW. 

The program’s operational funding (Program Payment) supports the operating costs of eligible early childhood education services and enrolment of at least 600 hours per year or 15 hours per week. Evidence shows that this level of participation in a quality early childhood education program in the 2 years before school is associated with better outcomes for children.

The program’s fee relief funding (Fee Relief Payment) provides community and mobile preschools with sustainable long-term funding to deliver at least 600 hours of low, or no cost preschool to eligible children.

Start Strong promotes universal access and priority of access by providing:

• higher program funding rates for preschools which operate within the lower range of Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) score of relative socio-economic disadvantage
• additional funding for children 3 years old and above from low-income families, children with an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander background, and children with disability or additional needs
• loadings for preschools that operate in outer regional, remote and very remote areas
• further loadings and subsidies as outlined in Appendix 1: Calculation and payment of funding
• up to $4,347 per year in fee relief for 3- to 5-year-old children enrolled in community and mobile preschools reducing the cost of early childhood education for families.

Apprenticeships are a proven pathway to well-paid jobs in a diverse range of careers. In NSW, apprenticeships are also fee free – meaning no more upfront training costs for students or employers.

There’s never been a better time to start an apprenticeship in NSW. The NSW Government is paying the course cost for 100,000 new apprenticeships – meaning apprentices undertaking a government funded apprenticeship no longer face a student fee of up to $2000.

Apprenticeships are a great career pathway. They combine on-the-job training with classroom study to give you the skills and experience employers are looking for. Apprenticeships generally take around 3-4 years to complete, and apprentices earn a salary while they learn.

There are more than 120 different apprenticeship courses available in NSW, in a range of industries including construction, cooking, aviation and automotive. Search all NSW apprenticeships funded under Smart and Skilled.

Traineeships are a proven pathway to well-paid jobs in a diverse range of careers. In NSW, traineeships are also fee free.

There are more than 390 traineeship courses funded in NSW, in a range of industries including early childhood, health and allied services, business, IT, hospitality and warehouse operations.

Fee free traineeships are available to NSW trainees – including school-based trainees whose training:

• is funded under the NSW Government’s Smart and Skilled Program
• commenced on or after 1 January 2020.

If you have previously commenced your Smart and Skilled traineeship training before 1 January 2020 and are returning to a traineeship after 1 January 2020, you will be eligible for fee free for the remainder of your training if your traineeship course or your employer has changed.

Each student is limited to a maximum of commencing three fee free traineeships under this initiative.