Draft policy and funding guide
Funding
When funding starts
| Expressions of Interest closes | Funding agreement offered by OECD | Funding starts |
|---|---|---|
| 28 February 2025 | Late May 2025 | Term 1, 2026 |
How funding is calculated
The OECD will communicate initial funding amounts, including a breakdown of loadings and the number of eligible enrolments funded to the partner services. See Appendix 1: Funding Rates for 2026.
Information about funding for Preschool Boost, outreach and 30-hour preschool program fee relief will be available before partner services are contracted in 2025.
Funding claim and payments
Teaching and learning
Funding for the non-government preschool program is paid 6-monthly in advance of the teaching period. It is based on preschool enrolment data submitted to the Non-Government Preschool Data System (NGPDS) for children in the 2 years before school. Payments are made via electronic funds transfer.
Each 6-monthly allocation is calculated using:
- confirmed enrolment data for terms 1 and 2 collected in term 4 of the prior year, with payments for the first 6 months made in January.
- confirmed enrolment data for terms 3 and 4 collected in term 2 of the same year, with payments made in July.
Where there are amendments to enrolment numbers after enrolment data is submitted by a service, or changes to enrolment numbers identified in termly data collections, funding may be adjusted if there is a significant decrease in enrolments without reasonable explanation.
If a partner service seeks to increase enrolments after data collection periods, and they would be required to employ additional staff in order to do so, they must make a request for additional funding to OECD.PreschoolFunding@sa.gov.au.
Payment of other funding
Preschool Boost and outreach funding will be paid annually and will not be adjusted based on changes in enrolments during that calendar year.
Fee relief funding arrangements for the 30-hour preschool program will be advised to commissioned services in 2025.