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Teaching and Learning funding

Teaching and Learning funding is the base, per-capita funding for the preschool program and supports the delivery of a teacher-led program by:

  • enabling Services to uplift an existing program to become a preschool program led by an ECT, and
  • allowing an additional 2 hours of non-contact time per week and 2 days of professional development per year above current award requirements.

Teaching and Learning funding incorporates these additional requirements so that Services are financially supported to meet these obligations.

Eligibility

All Partner Services.

Partnership Plan inclusion

Not applicable.

Delivery requirements

3-year-old preschool

By 2032, the standard offer will be 15 hours per enrolment per week, but during the roll-out of 3-year-old preschool, Services may offer between 6 and 15 hours per enrolment per week, across a minimum of 40 weeks per year, to maximise the number of children able to receive a 3-year-old preschool program.

Where there is greater demand than capacity in a Partner Service, the Service must prioritise the participation of children in a funded preschool program over the number of weekly program hours offered.

4-year-old preschool

Partner Services must offer 15 hours per enrolment per week across a minimum of 40 weeks per year, or 600 hours per year, for children attending the 4-year-old preschool program.

Summary

The universal preschool program can be delivered in a range of ways based on operational preferences of a Partner Service, provided they meet the following requirements for their funded preschool programs.

  • Each eligible child can be enrolled for a universal funded preschool program between:
    • 6 to 15 hours per week for 3-year-old preschool, and
    • up to 15 hours per week for 4-year-old preschool.
  • The Partner Service will be funded pro-rata on that basis.
  • Per universal funded preschool program enrolment, for each child the:
    • maximum hours offered per day is 8 hours
    • maximum hours per week offered is 15 hours
    • weeks of preschool offer per year are between 40 – 50
    • maximum number of hours per year is 600 hours.

It is acknowledged that in a long day care service, children may receive more than 600 hours of a preschool program depending on the overall number of days per week they are enrolled in the Service.

  • There is no minimum number of enrolled children required at a service to be eligible for funding.
  • Public holidays are included in the annual provision of 600 hours.

Spending rules

Allowable expenditure

Teaching and Learning funding must be spent in accordance with the purposes explained in this Guide. It cannot be used for other purposes, unless the Service is authorised in writing by the OECD to do so.

Teaching and Learning funding can only be applied to the marginal costs of teaching and learning in the funded preschool programs. This funding cannot be used for the costs of other rooms or the underlying costs of operating a National Law-compliant long day care service. (It is assumed these costs are covered by Australian Government funding and parent fees.) Therefore, funding must only be spent on the additional costs of delivering a quality preschool program that are above the costs of operating a long day care program.

Those additional costs may include:

  • the differential between the wages and conditions of an ECT-led program and a program led by a diploma-qualified staff member
  • for ECTs delivering the funded preschool program, the provision of an additional 2 hours of non-contact time per week above and beyond the relevant industrial award, plus 2 working days off the floor per year (pro-rata where required) for professional development.
  • This includes costs for backfilling of staff
  • additional teaching and learning professional development programs plus release time for ECTs and VET-qualified staff working in the funded preschool program. This supports quality programming, including a focus on preventing and responding to developmental vulnerability
  • improved wages and conditions for ECTs and/or VET-qualified staff working in the funded preschool program. This includes attraction and/or retention payments necessary to establish and maintain the program
  • release time for staff who are upskilling to their next level of qualification to take on a higher-level role in the funded preschool program
  • additional enrichment experiences such as incursions and excursions, and quality age-appropriate learning resources specifically for funded preschool children to support preschool program delivery.

Funding can only be allocated and used at a Service-level, unless authorised in writing by the OECD (this means Partner Providers cannot ‘pool funding’ if they have multiple Partner Services).

Funding restrictions

Teaching and Learning funding cannot be used:

  • for base operational costs of long day care services or non-preschool-related expenses
  • for wages for staff not supporting delivery of the funded preschool program (meaning other service staff wages)
  • for “under the roof” ratio provisions where the ECT is in another area of the service and not delivering the program
  • for the costs of other rooms or the underlying costs of operating a National Law-compliant long day care service (it is assumed these costs are covered by Australian Government funding and parent fees)
  • to fund allowable expenditure of other Funded Program streams supported by the OECD, if the budget for that stream has been exceeded.

Discretionary use of funding

The Teaching and Learning funding can only be applied to the costs of delivering a quality preschool program as above, over and above the costs of the delivery of a standard long day care program. All funding must be spent in accordance with that overarching principle.

If a Partner Service can meet the teaching and learning requirements of the funded preschool program and has Teaching and Learning funds uncommitted, the Partner Provider can use their funds for additional activities including:

  • additional workforce development
  • mentorship, practice-sharing and network-building activities with other services
  • quality or capability building in staff
  • equity and inclusion activities that benefit the service and its families as well as the broader local community, particular cohorts, or the early childhood system as a whole
  • providing fee relief for preschool to families that meet the priority of access criteria
  • providing additional fee relief for Preschool Plus enrolments
  • providing additional fee relief for Aboriginal children.

Program reporting

Evidence of ECT non-contact and professional development periods must be kept, documented and available, as this is an essential part of record-keeping. Other evidence may also be needed to confirm this non-contact requirement, when requested by the OECD.

Partner Services will need to retain supporting documentation and evidence to demonstrate expenditure in line with spending rules. Teaching and Learning funding will also need to be accounted for in the service-level annual financial acquittal.

Any unspent Teaching and Learning funding at the end of the calendar year will be offset against any future payment. Where no next payment exists, the provider must repay the unexpended amount within 30 days of written notification by the OECD to do so.