The upgrade program is a collaboration between the City of Port Phillip, the Victorian Government, the Victorian School Building Authority (VSBA), and the committees of management, educators, parents and children across participating centres to deliver a coordinated program of early years facility upgrades.
The BBP program represents a $34.5 million investment to upgrade six children's services across Port Phillip. Council is planning to invest over $18 million, with the Victorian Government contributing $16.5 million through the VSBA.
Facilities to be included in the project include:
- Eildon Road Childcare and Kindergarten, St Kilda
- Clarendon Children's Centre, South Melbourne
- The Avenue Children's Centre and Kindergarten, Balaclava
- Elwood Children's Centre, Elwood
- Lilian Cannam Kindergarten, South Melbourne
- North St Kilda Childcare Centre, St Kilda
The partnership supports delivery of the Victorian Government's Best Start, Best Life initiative, including Free Kindergarten for 3- and 4-year-old children. Upgraded infrastructure helps children's services remain fit-for-purpose as demand grows and service models evolve.
Our community has advocated to retain smaller services that reflect the culture and character of the neighbourhoods where they operate. Council is taking a place-based approach that supports the ongoing education and care of our youngest community members, while responding to site constraints typical of an inner-city municipality.
What the upgrades will deliver
Across the six services, the program will focus on improving:
- accessibility and functionality to better support daily service delivery
- flexible and modern learning environments that contribute to quality educational outcomes
- designs that reflect local context, including heritage considerations where relevant
Centre committees and staff are leading the operational insight to support practical, child-centred design outcomes.
When the full program is completed in 2029, it is expected to deliver more than 60 new places across the six sites.
As an inner-city council, Port Phillip faces unique challenges when delivering early years infrastructure, including limited site availability and suitability, and additional constraints such as heritage requirements. These factors can increase development costs compared to greenfield growth areas. Council has been actively advocating for Federal Government funding for the past four years to help address significant cost inflation across the pipeline. At this time, there is no Federal funding commitment.
Council will continue to share updates as key design and delivery milestones are reached across the six-centre program.
