Supporting early learning in regional and disadvantaged communities

The Albanese Government is helping early childhood education and care services to stay open and expand.

Minister for Early Childhood Education Dr Anne Aly today announced over 430 early childhood education and care services, in disadvantaged, regional and remote communities across Australia, have been offered a share in $80 million of funding.

More than 380 services have received offers of sustainability support to help them remain open, with 90 services receiving offers of capital support to undertake important modification work or expand to create more early childhood education and care places.

“The funding will help services in disadvantaged and vulnerable communities remain open, particularly in regional, rural and remote Australia,” said Dr Aly.

“By helping providers to extend their services, more parent and carers will be able to have greater choice when it comes to increasing hours of work or education.

“More than 80 per cent of the funding will support services in regional or remote areas, ensuring children can access the transformational benefits of early learning no matter where they live.

“Families accessing these services will also benefit from the Government’s Cheaper Child Care reforms, which have made early childhood education more affordable for more than 1 million families across Australia.”

The funding is being provided through the Government’s Community Child Care Fund (CCCF), helping address barriers to participation in early childhood education and care.

This round of funding is part of the Government’s more than $600 million CCCF program which supports around 700 services across Australia, with around 85 per cent of funding supporting services in regional and remote communities.

For more information on the CCCF program visit education.gov.au/early-childhood/community-child-care-fund