Flexible Initiatives Trial

With a total pool of $20 million from the Childcare and Economic Opportunity Fund, the Flexible Initiatives Trial will empower early childhood education and care providers to better cater for the needs of local families and increase the availability of places for children in New South Wales where and when they are needed most.

There is strong evidence that a lack of flexible early childhood education and care (ECEC) service offerings is a significant barrier to work and study for NSW families, particularly for parents and carers who are in part-time, casual or shift work.

Running from 2023 to 2025, the 2-year Flexible Initiatives Trial has been especially designed to target these barriers by providing grants for early childhood education and care services to test and trial new or adapted operating models, including:

• extending hours of operation beyond traditional working hours
• providing flexible pick-up and drop-off times
• giving families the ability to make irregular care arrangements
• establishing new family day care services in rural and remote areas
• partnerships between 2 different service types to provide extended or wrap around care arrangements.

There are two distinct streams in the trial. Applicants may seek funding for program activities in one or both streams.

• Stream 1 focuses on smaller-scale operational changes within a single provider and service type. It also supports the establishment of new family day care services by existing providers in outer regional, remote, and very remote areas.
• Stream 2 involves two established approved services of differing service types working together to implement or extend flexible practices or models. For example, an existing local family day care service provides wrap around hours care for children enrolled in a community preschool.