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

From 2023, fee relief for families announced as “Affordable Preschool” in the context of the NSW Government's Early Years Commitment will be integrated into Start Strong and provide 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 for Community Preschools funding is provided for children in the two years before school and supports 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 two years before school is associated with better outcomes for children.

Start Strong, including the now integrated Affordable Preschool initiative, promotes universal access and priority of access by providing:

• higher program funding rates for preschools which operate within the lower range of Socio-Economic Index for Areas (SEIFA) score of relative socio-economic disadvantage
• additional funding for children aged 3 years 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 Section 3.2
• up to $4,220 per year in fee relief for 3 to 5 year old children in community and mobile preschools.

The Program Payment and Fee Relief Payment are both calculated based on the data entered in the Annual Preschool Census, including the number and hours of enrolment, and the number and characteristics of children enroled.

The Responsible Gambling Fund provides funding to support innovative projects that prevent and reduce gambling harm in communities across NSW.

The Office recognises opportunities for innovation and advancement can be led by a broad range of organisations. Support is prioritised for projects that advance the outcome areas of the Office’s Strategic Plan 2021-24 of education and awareness, leadership and influence, and services and support.

Support can be provided for one-off projects that address or enable unique opportunities to be put forward in the
areas of technology, prevention and harm minimisation. The Office encourages collaborative partnerships involving appropriate subject matter expertise to ensure that all projects are effective and strategic in their approach to preventing and reducing gambling harm.

The Office encourages proposals involving the development of preventing and reducing gambling harm. The Office is open to supporting a wide range of projects. For example, projects could include:

• the development of consumer products like apps or online tools that:
  • help people make informed choices
  • use geographic location or other indicators to support people at risk of harm
• projects that deliver gambling harm minimisation messaging in innovative ways—for example to a youth audience, or in the context of online sports betting.
• development of online training content that aims to minimise harm. For example a suite of animations that explain how odds work and the chance of winning.
• innovative application of ICT—for example the integration of existing tools and triage systems in health and welfare settings with gambling screening.

The Westpac Youth Impact Challenge is a nationwide initiative open to all young people around Australia aged 7 to 21 years. The Challenge aims to help young Australians solve problems in their local communities.

To take part in the Challenge, participants must identify a local problem and brainstorm an innovative business or social change idea to solve it. Participants can choose to work individually, or in a group of up to 3.