Building Blocks is the Victorian Government’s three-year-old kindergarten infrastructure strategy.
On this page you will find
What is the Building Blocks Grants (BBG) program
Building Blocks Grants (BBG) bring together new and existing grant streams into one integrated grants program that will support the roll-out of Three-Year-Old Kindergarten across the state throughout this decade and assist the sector to meet ongoing growth in demand for Four-Year-Old Kindergarten.
Building Blocks makes it easier for the sector to seek state co-investment in their facilities, providing greater certainty, greater flexibility and greater investment.
The BBG program aims to contribute to high-quality early years programs by:
- the building or expanding kindergartens so there are more places for three and four-year-old children
- helping integrate community services at kindergartens so families can access early childhood education and care, health and development and family services in one place
- improving access to local and responsive early childhood services for children from vulnerable or disadvantaged families
- building kindergartens at, or next to, schools
The BBG program has four grant streams:
- Planning stream
- Capacity building stream
- Improvement stream
- Inclusion stream
What is the difference between grant streams?
Planning stream
This stream provides grants up to $150,000 for pre-construction work on kindergarten building projects that support the roll-out of three-year-old kindergarten across Victoria. This might include designing, developing the scope or calculating construction costs of the project.
The planning stream is for applicants who will be applying for a construction Building Blocks grant once planning is complete.
Capacity building stream
This stream provides funding up to $9 million for projects that create additional infrastructure capacity for funded Three and Four-Year-Old Kindergarten programs by building new or expanding existing infrastructure. There are four grant categories in this stream:
- Integrated Children’s Centre
- New Early Learning Facility
- Modular Kindergarten Facilities
- Expansion
GrantHelper Success 
| GrantHelper assisted Heatherdale Pre-school based in Mitcham secure a $600,000 expansion grant to fund building an extension to the existing facility to accommodate more children. Check out the story on our client showcase page. |
Improvement stream
This stream provides grant funding up to $750,000 for upgrades and minor expansions to existing early years facilities and investment in IT equipment.
There are three grant categories in this stream:
- Early Learning Facility Upgrades
- Minor Infrastructure
- Information Technology
Inclusion stream
This stream provides grants up to $200,000 for upgrades of existing facilities and the purchase of equipment to provide safe and inclusive environments for children of all needs.
There are two grant categories in this stream:
- Building and Playgrounds
- Equipment
See the resources section below for links to separate GrantHelper posts and the funding guidelines for each stream for further details.
BBG important details that you will need to know
Organisations eligible for BBG support
BBG grants are open to all LGAs and not-for-profit providers across Victoria. Applications are welcome from all such partners in advance of the development of a Kindergarten Infrastructure and Services Plan (KISP) with each LGA. A KISP will allow the Department of Education and Training and an LGA to share information and agree on current supply and demand for funded kindergarten, forecast demand and how demand growth will be accommodated.
Projects eligible for BBG support
While a KISP is not a funding document and would not commit any party to funding specific projects, it is expected that future investment requests through Building Blocks and decisions about any LGA or not-for-profit projects would align with the relevant KISP.
Applying for BBG
Eligible applicants can engage with the grants process at any time, with multiple assessment and announcement processes planned each year.
LGAs and service providers will now also be able to submit funding applications to DET for the capacity building stream at any point in their planning cycles. The capacity building stream will be assessed semi-annually. Urgent requests can be raised with DET at any time.
See the resources section below for links to separate GrantHelper posts and the funding guidelines for each stream for full details of application and assessment dates and processes.
Book a no obligation discovery session with GrantHelper to explore your alignment with this grant and how we can assist you to increase your chances of success.
BBG Program outcomes
The Victorian Government has invested $5.3 million for early childhood infrastructure for 2020 and 2021 roll-out areas, in consultation with LGAs and services.
Funded projects
Below is a sample of funded projects.
| Learning facility | Grant stream | Project | Grant |
| Golden Square Kindergarten | Capacity | Expansion for at least 66 new places | $833,362 |
| Greenville Kindergarten | Capacity | Expansion for 31 new places | $453,000 |
| Mansfield Kindergarten | Improvement | Restoration and expansion of Mechanics Institute building | $300,000 |
| Gunditjmara Aboriginal Co-operative | Planning | Planning of integrated children’s centre | $150,000 |
| West Maddingley Early Years & Community Hub | Capacity | Building of an integrated children’s centre | $2 million |
| Dandenong Ranges Steiner School Kindergarten | Improvement | Building of new office and meeting room | $131,098 |
| Joy Avenue Preschool | Inclusion | Improvements to outdoor play space to make it more inclusive | $199,400 |
BBG Program resources
- Grant Helper – BBG Planning stream
- Grant Helper – BBG Capacity stream
- Grant Helper – BBG Improvement stream
- Grant Helper – BBG Inclusion stream
- Building Blocks: Three-Year-Old Kindergarten Infrastructure Strategy
- Funded projects
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