Helping rural and regional families access child care

Families in regional and rural communities will have more child care options with the Morrison Government providing funding to support operators to keep their doors open and offer more spaces. 

More than $21 million is available through our Government’s Community Child Care Fund (CCCF) to help child care services, particularly in disadvantaged communities, to improve sustainability, increase local child care participation, and create more child care places. 

Minister for Education Dan Tehan said the latest round of funding opened today. 

“The Community Child Care Fund is part of the Morrison Government’s Child Care Safety Net, which is helping disadvantaged children, including those outside the major metropolitan areas, access early education,” Mr Tehan said. 

“Increasing access to child care through the CCCF is also enabling more parents and carers to move into the workforce, or add extra hours at work, study or volunteering. 

“Our Government’s investment in supporting child care operators in rural and regional Australia is part of our plan to make it cheaper and easier for families to access child care. 

“Since our Child Care subsidy was introduced last year, out-of-pocket child care costs for families have fallen by more than 10 per cent. That’s real money back in your pocket to spend on what you think is important. We can afford to provide support to families because we’re keeping our economy strong and not increasing taxes by $200 billion.” 

$110 million was provided to 700 child care services last year through the CCCF.
 Grant opportunity guidelines, including eligibility criteria, are available on GrantConnect.