Wednesday, 13 November 2024

Ministers statements: kindergarten funding

Lizzie BLANDTHORN (Western Metropolitan – Minister for Children, Minister for Disability) (12:07): I rise to inform the house about the recipients of the latest round of Building Blocks capacity and planning stream grants. Since Building Blocks launched in 2020, the Labor government has announced over 230 capacity and planning grants to build and expand kindergartens, creating thousands of new kinder places for local children across the state. The most recent round will provide recipients with $16.4 million to build and expand kinders as well as providing $278,700 to support planning for future projects across the state. The $278,700 will provide funding for two organisations to plan kinder infrastructure projects across the state. These grants are crucial in supporting the rollout of three-year-old kinder across Victoria by providing grants for planning and preconstruction work.

We also announced that three services across Victoria will share in $16.4 million to create 475 new kinder places, providing quality early learning when and where it is needed most. This includes the Beis Menachem Community Centre, which I had the pleasure of visiting last week for this announcement alongside the member for Bentleigh in the other place. During this visit I was able to hear about their plans to create a new integrated building that will have four kinder classrooms and multipurpose rooms that will allow the centre to provide a range of professional services to support the children and families in their community. These capacity-building grants are the foundation of the Victorian government’s Best Start, Best Life reforms as they provide the infrastructure needed to support the rollout of nation-leading reforms, including free kinder, pre-prep and three-year-old kinder.

We are proud to be a government that can talk about the essential reforms that are underway, which continue the provision of quality early learning to children across every corner of Victoria. The Building Blocks capacity and planning streams are open all year round, and I encourage all eligible organisations to apply and give children the best start to lifelong learning. I look forward to seeing how these grants are utilised to benefit and support the littlest members of our community for years to come.