OMEP is pleased to announce the winners of the OMEP Project Grants 2025, recognising three outstanding projects that strengthen quality, equity, and wellbeing in early childhood education and care.
The funded projects span diverse contexts across Australia, supporting physical health and wellbeing in a remote Indigenous community, strengthening leadership capacity across the early childhood sector, and amplifying the voices of educators working in rural, regional, and remote settings. Together, these initiatives reflect OMEP’s commitment to equity, professional practice, and improved outcomes for young children and educators.
We are proud to spotlight the winners of our 2025 Project Grants and look forward to sharing more about each project below.
Moving Strong: Goonanawoom Gross Motor Skills and Wellbeing Project
This project will create a safe, culturally responsive indoor–outdoor gross-motor environment for infants and toddlers attending the Goonanawoom Creche in Woorreranginy Community, in the remote East Kimberley. The creche, established by and for the Gija community and operating without government subsidy, supports some of the most developmentally vulnerable children in Australia, with local AEDC data showing very high rates of vulnerability across multiple developmental domains.
By providing soft-fall mats, modular climbing and balance structures, push–pull resources, and climate-suitable natural loose-parts materials, the project will give children daily access to safe movement experiences that build strength, coordination, balance, and spatial awareness. These experiences directly target the AEDC Physical Health and Wellbeing domain and are designed to support self-regulation, confidence in movement, and positive engagement in group play. The project will be implemented in 2026 through a staged process of co-design with families and staff, equipment purchase and installation, and an ongoing daily movement program monitored against developmental milestones.
For Gija children in this remote community, consistent access to high-quality gross motor opportunities is essential to health, school readiness, and long-term well-being. This initiative complements existing healthy eating and oral language programs at the creche, strengthening a holistic foundation for children’s learning and participation in school and beyond.
Educational Leader Network Project
For over fifty years, It Takes a Village Australia (ITAV) has been a respected voice for quality early childhood and school-age education and care across Victoria and beyond. Through advocacy, training, and sector leadership, ITAV empowers educators, services, and communities to deliver and sustain high-quality, not-for-profit education and care confidently.
In 2026, ITAV will launch the Educational Leader Network Project, an initiative designed to strengthen leadership capability and professional confidence among Educational Leaders across the community-managed early childhood sector. Recognising the critical role of Educational Leaders in driving quality improvement under the National Quality Standard, this project will create a dedicated professional network for collaboration, reflection, and shared learning.
Across six sessions held throughout 2026, alternating between online and face-to-face formats, 20 Educational Leaders will come together to connect, share ideas, explore evidence-informed practice, and build leadership capacity. The program will feature workshops, guest speakers, and reflective discussions to foster a vibrant community of practice committed to continuous improvement.
By equipping leaders with enhanced skills and professional support, the project will improve outcomes for more than 2,400 young children and 600 educators in participating services. Stronger Educational Leadership supports richer learning environments, more confident educators, and ultimately, better educational, developmental, and well-being outcomes for every child.
Confident Voices in Rural Early Childhood: Strengthening Teacher Self‑Efficacy Across Australia
This project focuses on understanding and strengthening the professional confidence and self-efficacy of early childhood teachers working in rural, regional, and remote communities across Australia. By investigating how these teachers experience and sustain their professional identity, access support, and navigate local challenges, the project aims to inform strategies that enhance the quality of education and care for children from birth to five, regardless of where they live.
Through a national survey, the research will gather detailed insights into teachers’ access to professional learning, collegial networks, and resources, as well as the contextual factors that shape their day-to-day practice. The study will examine how isolation, workload, and community expectations intersect with protective factors, including strong leadership, collaboration, and locally responsive pedagogy. This evidence will help identify the supports that enable teachers to feel confident, capable, and professionally fulfilled in geographically diverse settings.
The findings will inform future initiatives, policy directions, and professional learning programs to better support the rural early childhood workforce and address longstanding equity gaps between metropolitan and non-metropolitan communities. By centring the voices and experiences of rural, regional, and remote teachers, the project seeks to inform targeted, context-sensitive solutions that strengthen quality across the sector. Ultimately, the research will contribute to more stable, confident teaching teams and richer learning environments for young children, helping to ensure that every child has access to high-quality early learning, no matter their postcode.
