As you know the Government has announced a range of child care flexibility trials designed to build a more flexible and responsive way of delivering child care services to Australian families.

In an attempt to garner industry support and stimulate the development of further innovation the Government has allocated $1.3 million to a Child Care Flexibility Fund, a competitive grants program which will be distributed to child care providers who can demonstrate an innovative and sustainable approach to addressing local child care flexibility issues.

Applications for the fund will start soon and a range of projects may be eligible to receive funding including:

• Feasibility studies
• Training to build capacity within the sector to provide more flexible care and/or
• Small scale trials which enable families to access care in a way that better suits their needs (for example extended opening hours)

As part of a competitive grants process, child care providers and other interested stakeholders will be invited to submit a proposal. These proposals need to be innovative and sustainable over the long term and demonstrate how they address child care flexibility issues in their community, while still being affordable for parents.

Successful proposals will have to meet certain selection and eligibility criteria and it is important to note that the Australian Government isn't covering the entire cost of these flexibility proposals. Successful applicants will receive funding to cover up to 50 per cent of the total cost of their project.

Interested? Full details will be released shortly but in the meantime register your interest by emailing your details to childcareflexibility@deewr.gov.au