Active Schools Expert Support Service Grant Program

This grant will provide funding to an organisation to deliver the Active Schools Expert Support Service (ESS) to support Victorian government schools in implementation of the Active Schools program, from 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2028.

The grant will fund an organisation to recruit and oversee a workforce of 12 FTE Physical Activity Advisors (PAAs) who will provide expert leadership, professional development and on the ground mentorship to build school capacity to implement and sustain the Active Schools Framework across its 6 Key Priority Areas.

The ESS will support schools through its tiered support model, prioritising schools in disadvantaged communities (as indicated by the Student, Family, Occupation and Education Index) across Victoria that receive Active Schools funding, and each year includes:

• 100 Victorian government schools receiving an Active Schools Grant of $30,000 to implement the Active Schools program and create an environment that encourages students to be active
• 200 Victorian government secondary schools receiving an Extracurricular Boost of $14,000 to put towards physical activity opportunities before or after school, or during break times.

Initially funded in the 2019-20 Victorian State Budget and subsequently extended through the 2022-23 Budget, Active Schools has received a total investment of $87.8 million. Ongoing funding of $10.7 million each year in the 2024-25 Budget underscores the government's commitment to this program.

The Active Schools Framework outlines 6 Key Priority Areas of an Active School, recognising that shifting inactivity requires a multifaceted and systemic effort, rather than a single solution. The 6 Key Priority Areas are Quality Physical Education, Quality School Sport, Active Classrooms, Active Travel and Active Recreation. The sixth priority is a supportive school environment that relates to the design of the school environment and influences how active students will be during class and break time, as well as before and after school.

The Expert Support Service (ESS) is a key component of Active Schools. Since the program inception in 2020, the ESS has supported over 500 schools to implement strategies that increase and sustain student physical activity. While prioritising schools in disadvantaged communities that receive Active Schools Grant and Extracurricular Boost funding, the ESS supports all Victorian government schools (where possible) to build an Active School and ensure equitable access to program resources and guidance. The ESS aims to maximise the program's impact by enabling schools to develop and implement whole-of-school strategies that foster lasting physical activity habits among their students.

The ESS Agreement with the current supplier concludes on 31 December 2025. To ensure transparency and value for money, provider sourcing through an open market competitive grant process is required for the continuation of this service.

Activity start date and end date

1 January 2026 - 31 December 2028

Who will benefit most from this activity?

The main beneficiaries of the grant program are students in select Victorian government schools that are supported by the ESS through a tiered support model. The supports will be provided to schools across all types of school settings.

Local Jobs First policy

The funding meets the threshold for Local Jobs First (LJF) policy implementation. Successful grant recipients will be required to:

• consult with Industry Capability Network (ICN) regarding opportunities for local businesses after the Grant Funding Agreement has been executed
• submit an Interaction Reference Number Form (IRN Form) through IRN submission process
• negotiate with ICN to determine how opportunities for local businesses will be provided for in the project
• provide IRN and Reference Letter from the ICN to the Department of Education
• monitor compliance with Local Jobs First commitments.
  

More information regarding LJF requirements can be found in the LJF Policy Supplier Guidelines.

Service to children

As this funding arrangement involves services to children, the selected organisation will be required to comply with the Victorian Funding Guideline for Services to Children by providing relevant incorporation and insurance evidence. For further information, refer to the Victorian funding requirements for services to children fact sheet (DOCX, 803KB).

To be eligible to apply, organisations and/or their workforce must meet the following criteria:

1. Education system, schools and curriculum knowledge:
   • extensive understanding of the Victorian education system
   • ability to connect school-wide health promotion principles with the Victorian Curriculum, particularly the Health and Physical Education (HPE) curriculum
   • knowledge of whole school approaches to improving student health and wellbeing and how to build a supportive school environment to encourage students to be physically active.
2. Capacity building and professional development:
   • expertise in delivering tailored professional development and capacity building activities to school staff
   • experience in resource development, including case studies that showcase program impact
   • ability to support schools to implement high quality, evidence-based and inclusive physical activity opportunities.
3. Sport, active recreation and health sector expertise:
   • extensive knowledge of and connectedness with sport, active recreation and health sector organisations
   • demonstrated stakeholder engagement and partnership-building capability.
4. Project management expertise:
   • capacity to effectively project manage the delivery of services
   • track record of successful project delivery within agreed scope and timeframe
   • expertise in data collection, monitoring and analysis.
5. Organisational alignment:
   • clear alignment between Active Schools and the supplier’s strategic objectives.
6. Compliance with the Local Jobs First (LJF) policy – refer to LJF Policy Supplier Guidelines.
7. Compliance with the Victorian Funding Guideline for Services to Children (VFGSC) - refer to Victorian funding requirements for services to children fact sheet (DOCX, 803KB).

• Recruit and oversee a workforce of 12 FTE Physical Activity Advisors (PAAs). Their expertise will draw from existing experience in Health and Physical Education (HPE), prior teaching experience and understanding of the education system and school environment. The PAAs will confidently and capably lead change, as well as build school capacity to implement and sustain the Active Schools Framework.
• Ensure ongoing professional development and capacity building to maintain the PAAs expertise and best practice in health promotion, physical activity and community engagement. Professional development includes awareness building of environmentally sustainable practices that can be applied to reduce the environmental impacts of the program.
• Build practice of excellence in health and physical education through working proactively with school principals, HPE teachers and other school staff to build on their skills and capability to implement the Active Schools program in alignment with the HPE Curriculum.
• Develop and maintain a comprehensive suite of high-quality, accessible resources and guidance to enhance school staff capability in implementing the Active Schools Framework and provide specialist input into HPE Curriculum development as required by the department from time to time.
• Deliver a tiered support model to Victorian government schools and provide:
  • Dedicated expert support to schools receiving Active Schools funding each year (currently up to 300 schools), including:
    • undertake a comprehensive needs analysis of the schools’ current alignment with the Active Schools Framework across its 6 Key Priority Areas
    • deliver tailored support mechanisms for schools, including professional development, resources and mentoring, to enhance outcomes within the Key Priority Areas (DOCX, 17KB)
    • monitor and track school initiative developments, spending of funds and progress against school action plans
    • develop strategic stakeholder engagement plans with schools to strengthen sustainable outcomes against the Key Priority Areas and build relationships with local sport, recreation and community organisations
    • deliver support to schools to embed a whole-school approach to physical activity and incorporate the Active Schools Framework into school policies and plans.
• On-demand support to Victorian government schools that don’t receive Active Schools funding each year (where possible, depending on capacity), including:
  • provide expert advice on implementing physical activity initiatives linked to the Active Schools Framework
  • support previously funded schools with the ongoing implementation of Active Schools action plans
  • information on program resources and local supports.
• Collect high-quality program monitoring and evaluation data, including:
  • qualitative data, including case studies, impact stories and testimonials
  • quantitative data, using a secure data management system with interactive data visualisation and reporting capabilities, including:
    • communication frequency – number of interactions with schools in person, virtually, by email, or phone
    • Key Priority Areas - selected Key Priority Areas and progressive spend of allocated funds for each school
    • school initiative categories - types of physical activity initiatives developed under each Key Priority Area, categorised by their traditional/ non-traditional nature and competitive/ non-competitive structure (where applicable)
    • stakeholder engagement - data on local sport, recreation and community organisations engaged in supporting school initiatives within each Key Priority Area
    • professional learning engagement - focus areas of PAA-led professional learning and the number of participating school staff
    • student population reach – data on program participation across the entire student population and within identified student cohorts.

Applications

The application process is an open-market competitive grants process.

All applicants are responsible for submitting the complete list of required documents for their application to be considered eligible. The documents required are:

• Certificate of Incorporation or company registration
• ACN/ ABN details
• Certificate of Currency for relevant insurance (including public liability)
• most recent annual report, including a Profit and Loss Statement and a Balance Sheet
• risk accreditation (e.g. ANZ standard)
• asset register, demonstrating how assets purchased with grant funds will be recorded and managed and/or how existing assets are leveraged to support the intended outcomes
• policies and processes to meet the Victorian Child Safe Standards (e.g. workforce training and induction, Working with Children Checks, Police Checks or Victorian Institute of Teaching registration for staff)
• privacy systems, including policies and procedures that safeguard personal and sensitive data
• emergency management procedures
• complaints handling system.

Assessment

Eligible applications will be reviewed by an evaluation panel comprised of subject matter experts who will assess and rank each application based on their ability to meet the deliverables and achieve the objectives of the program.

The Department of Education will use the following criteria to assess the application(s):

• Supplier meets the 6 eligibility criteria.
• Governance/ Risk: Supplier can demonstrate governance, financial processes and risk mitigation strategies in place to ensure they are able to meet all implementation, financial and reporting requirements of the program.
• Local Jobs First: Supplier meets the Grant Project requirements of the Local Jobs First Policy.
• Relevant past and current work: Evidence of capability to meet deliverables.
• Additional capability: Evidence of supporting structures, partnerships and capacity that will support program success. Applicants are encouraged to also outline how their organisation plans to incorporate environmentally sustainable practices into service delivery.
• Key Performance Indicators: Evidence of ability to meet the program deliverables for the full funding period.
• Budget: Evidence of financial processes and capability to manage a program at-scale, across the funding period.

Contract

Successful applicants will be required to enter into a Victorian Common Funding Agreement (VCFA) with the Department of Education. Both parties will be required to comply with the Terms and Conditions of the VCFA.

The successful organisation will be required to submit the following reports, outlined in detail in the VCFA, by agreed timelines and using a format agreed between the Department of Education and the organisation. The reports will be signed by an authorised delegate from the organisation.

• Project plan (at contract commencement, for 1 January 2026 – 31 December 2028 period): detail the approach to the 3-year service delivery, including organisation contacts, roles and responsibilities, key objectives, timelines, deliverables, and risks and mitigation strategies.
• Work plan (annual): outlines all planned delivery activities and related expenditure budget to meet the service objectives for the 12-month period.
• Progress report (March, June and September): provides progress updates on deliverables, identifies trends, issues and mitigation measures for the quarter.
• Annual report (annual): provides progress updates for the final quarter of the calendar year as well as reflections on the service delivery against the annual Work Plan. The report will also include annual grant funding acquittal, containing income and expenditure reporting, and identify key program outcomes, successes and learnings.
• Final report (at contract conclusion, for 1 January 2026 – 31 December 2028 period): outlines the service performance against its objectives and budget, reflects on service adaptations, successes and areas for improvement.
• Local Jobs First: Grant Project compliance with the LJF Policy reporting requirements. Refer to Grant Recipient Guidelines.

In addition, the organisation will be required to meet with the Department of Education’s Active Schools project team monthly. Additional ad-hoc meetings may also be requested from time to time.

Register or log in to SmartyGrants.

Complete the online application form.

All applicants will receive an email confirming submission of their application via the SmartyGrants portal.

Please note:

• late applications will not be accepted
• incomplete applications will be considered ineligible.

Each application will be assessed on its merit and how it meets the grant application evaluation criteria.

Contact

During the application period, enquiries can be directed to: active.schools@education.vic.gov.au.

The Department of Education will notify all organisations about the outcome of their application as soon as practical following the close of applications. This process may take 8-10 weeks.