Toy Library Grants Program

There are two grants available:

• Existing Toy Library Grants – existing eligible toy libraries operating in Victoria can apply for a grant of up to $10,000 to replenish their toy and equipment stock, promote the benefits of membership, enhance member experience and accessibility and other one-off costs.
• New Toy Library Establishment Grants – eligible organisations can apply for a grant of $40,000 to establish a new toy library.

Please note: this is a multi-year grants program with a fixed number of grants available per year.

Toy libraries provide families with access to high quality educational toys and equipment, helping to create a rich home learning environment for children.

Play-based learning provides opportunities for children to foster imagination and creativity, improve gross and fine motor skills, and foster cognitive and sensory development.

Toy library membership ranges from small (catering to 20 families) to large (supporting over 500 families).

Access to toy libraries is important for Victorian families because it can:

• provide children with a diverse range of fun and educational toys including sensory and culturally relevant toys
• provide opportunities for children to foster imagination and creativity, improve gross and fine motor skills, and foster cognitive and sensory development
• support parents to create rich home learning environments that fosters play-based learning
• provide cost-of-living relief as an alternative to buying new toys
• promote sustainability and Victoria’s circular economy
• act as an important community hub that provides parents and caregivers with access to social and emotional support, and pathways to other community services.

Applicants must be a registered not-for-profit organisation operating in Victoria to apply for this grant program. Any of the following entities operating in Victoria are eligible to apply:

• not-for-profit organisations that are community service organisations; or Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations (ACCOs)
• local councils
• state government entities, authorities or organisations that provide services to families and children
• charities registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission
• existing toy library operators.

Eligible applicants will have their application assessed as follows:

This is a competitive expression of interest process that will fund 2 new toy libraries per year for 4 years.

If the New Toy Library Establishment Grants round is oversubscribed, only eligible applications that receive as assessment score of 60% or higher will be considered. Priority will then be given (in order) to applications for proposed toy libraries located in:

1. the following growth corridor local government areas: Cardinia, Casey, Hume, Melton, Mitchell, Whittlesea and Wyndham
2. a socio-economic area of disadvantage (defined by SEIFA)
3. regional or rural areas
4. an area that does not currently have adequate access to a toy library.

The New Toy Library Establishment Grant provides a one-off payment. Funding must be expended on the categories outlined in the table below.

Toys and equipment must meet Australian child safety standards and where possible, successful applicants should source toys and equipment from local suppliers and made from sustainable materials.

The New Toy Library Establishment Grant provides a one-off payment. Funding must be expended on the categories outlined in the table below.

Toys and equipment must meet Australian child safety standards and where possible, successful applicants should source toys and equipment from local suppliers and made from sustainable materials.

What can the grant be used for?

• New educational toys, books, equipment and resources.
• Fit out and fixtures costs including furniture and shelving, signage maintenance/repair works, cleaning fees. In the case of mobile toy library, vehicle and associated costs are included.
• Equipment for the storage, cleaning or maintenance of toys and the toy library.
• Computers, software and equipment for managing toys and member administration (such as Mibase or SELTS toy management system).
• Marketing, website, communications and social media to promote the toy library and build membership.
• Project costs to launch and establish a sustainable toy library operating model. For example: free/subsidised memberships for priority cohorts.
• Project costs to establish the member experience and member accessibility within the toy library.
• One-off operational and administrative expenses incl. consulting and project management expenses.
• One-off costs related to the administration of the grant. For example: expenses incurred for grant coordination and acquittal.
• Other expenses, by written approval from the department.

What can the grant not be used for?

• Ongoing operational expenses – staff salaries, utility bills, site acquisition, lease costs, cleaning fees, rent and insurance.
• Reimbursement for toys and equipment purchased prior to grant funding being awarded.

As a condition of funding, successful applicants must complete an acquittal.

Organisations that successfully obtain grant funding in 2024-25 will be contacted by the department with information about acquittal requirements and timing. The acquittal process is planned to conclude no later than June 2027.

Successful applicants are advised to keep receipts for purchases made using grant funding and may be required to provide this to the department on request.

To be eligible for the grant, a toy library must be:

• a registered not-for-profit organisation; and
• operating within Victoria; and
• covered by comprehensive insurance through membership with Toy Libraries Australia (TLA) or hold public and products liability insurance with at least $10m in coverage; and
• Toy Libraries that have not previously received an existing Toy Library Grant from 2023 - 2024 and 2024 – 2025.

Where a toy library organisation operates in more than one location (branch), each branch may apply for a grant. For example, ABC Organisation operates a large toy library that has branches in the Victorian suburbs Yellow, Blue and Orange. All 3 branches, Yellow, Blue and Orange, are eligible to apply for an existing toy library grant.

Mobile toy libraries will be considered as one toy library regardless of the number of communities they serve.

Eligible toy libraries will have their application assessed as follows:

If the Existing Toy Library Grants round is oversubscribed, priority will be given (in order) to toy libraries that are:

1. located in the following growth corridor local government areas: Cardinia, Casey, Hume, Melton, Mitchell, Whittlesea and Wyndham
2. located in socio-economic areas of disadvantage, as defined by the Australian Bureau of Statistics Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA)
3. located in regional or rural areas.

The Existing Toy Library Grants provide a one-off payment. Funding must be expended on the categories outlined in the table below.

Toys and equipment must meet Australian child safety standards and where possible, successful applicants should source toys and equipment from local suppliers and made from sustainable materials.

What can the grant be used for?

• New educational toys, books, equipment and resources.
• Equipment for the storage, cleaning or maintenance of toys and the toy library.
• Equipment for managing toys or member administration, such as a computer, computer hardware or software.
• One-off costs to improve the member experience and/or member accessibility and/or increase membership size. For example: furniture or equipment to improve accessibility and member experience, subsidised memberships for priority cohorts, website development, advertisement, promotional collateral, and signage.
• One-off costs related to the administration of the grant. For example: expenses incurred for grant coordination and acquittal.

What can the grant not be used for?

• Ongoing operational expenses – staff salaries, utility bills, site acquisition, lease costs, maintenance/repair works, cleaning fees, rent and insurance.
• Reimbursement for toys and equipment purchased prior to grant funding being awarded.

As a condition of funding, successful applicants must complete a simple acquittal. Successful applicants will be supported to submit acquittals to the department.

Toy libraries that successfully obtain grant funding in 2025 will be contacted by the department with information about acquittal requirements and timing. The acquittal process is planned to conclude no later than June 2027.

Successful applicants are advised to keep receipts for purchases made using grant funding and may be required to provide this to the department on request.

Successful grant applicants will be notified by email and issued a Victorian Common Funding Agreement to complete, sign, and return to the department for countersigning. They will also be asked to provide a PDF including the organisation name, bank account details and ABN. Once the signed agreement and PDF have been provided, the department will process the grant payment.

The department is collecting information for the primary purpose of processing and assessing applications for the Toy Library Grants Program. Information collected will be dealt with in accordance with the Public Records Act 1973 and the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014. Information will be securely stored and only accessible by those department staff involved in the grants process. Applicants can access and amend the information provided upon request. For more information about privacy obligations, please see the department’s Privacy Policy(opens in a new window).