Grants open to grow South Australia’s early childhood workforce

This is the second round of the Government of South Australia’s Flying Start Workforce Grants, designed to address workforce shortages and expand early learning opportunities for families across the state.

These grants respond to challenges such as staff shortages and high turnover by creating opportunities for growth and development. A key focus is on regional and remote communities, where access to early learning services can be hardest to secure.

Early learning services and other organisations, including Registered Training Organisations, working in partnership to address barriers to attract, train and retain diverse early childhood workforce are eligible for grant funding.

The state government is also opening applications for the Flying Start Aboriginal Workforce Grants, launched alongside South Australia’s new Aboriginal Workforce Strategy.

Grants of up to $20,000 are available to help services embed cultural safety and strengthen the professional development of Aboriginal staff, ensuring Aboriginal voices, leadership and expertise are central to the future of early learning.

In June, the first round of workforce grant funding supported organisations in Mount Gambier, Port Augusta, Coober Pedy and the Riverland. These projects include local mentoring programs and tailored study support, practical, community-led solutions to strengthen attraction and retention.

The grants are a key initiative of South Australia’s Early Childhood Workforce Strategy as part of the state’s sweeping $1.9 billion Flying Start for Kids early childhood reforms. The state government has committed more than $118 million to help build a skilled, supported and highly valued workforce to support the successful roll-out of 3-year-old preschool.

Applications for the Flying Start Workforce Grants and Aboriginal Workforce Grants close Monday, 3 November 2025. For further details and to apply, visit www.flyingstart.sa.gov.au/workforce-grants.

Quotes attributable to Kim Little, Chief Executive, the Office for Early Childhood Development:

These grants are about more than filling vacancies, they’re about supporting a proud, skilled and sustainable early childhood workforce that gives every child, no matter where they live, the best possible start in life.

What makes these grants powerful is that they allow communities to design local solutions to local challenges, from mentoring and training to cultural safety and professional support. By putting resources into the hands of services and organisations who know their communities best, we’re helping to build a workforce that is not only stronger but deeply connected to the families they serve.

The roll-out of 3-year-old preschool depends on the dedication, skill and care of early childhood educators, and we are determined to support them at every step so that families everywhere can access high-quality early learning.