Victorian Early Years Awards – Australia

Deadline: 14-Jun-23

Applications are now open for the Victorian Early Years Awards (VEYA) to celebrate leadership, outstanding achievement, exceptional dedication and innovation in improving outcomes for children aged birth to eight years and their families.

This year, there are 2 new award categories. One recognises the importance of Aboriginal inclusion and perspectives in ensuring all services are accessible to Koorie children and families and commemorates the work and legacy of Aunty Rose Bamblett (dec) and the other recognises that educators make a vital contribution to early childhood services and children.

The 9 award categories focus on improving engagement in learning, supporting parents, building collaborative community partnerships, improving child health and wellbeing, exemplary practice in early childhood education, leadership and significant improvement on learning and teaching practices.

Winners are recognised as the best in Victoria for their category and go on to develop and share their inspiring work with their communities. Winners of each category will receive a grant of $15,000 for professional development or to support their nominated initiative. The finalists in each category are also eligible to win the prestigious Minister’s Award, selected by the Minister for Early Childhood and Pre-Prep.

Award Details

Recipients will be required to enter into a written common funding agreement in standard form with the department prior to receiving any funding.
Winners of the following award categories will receive a $15,000 grant to further their initiative:
- Improving Access and Participation in Early Learning
- Supporting Parents to Build Their Capacity and Confidence
- Creating Collaborative Community Partnerships
- Promoting Children’s Health and Wellbeing
- Continuity of Early Learning
- Aunty Rose Bamblett Koorie Early Years Legacy.
This can include resources to further develop the initiative, professional development, back fill costs while staff develop the initiative. This may include:
- providing paid time release, backfill, travel, or accommodation expenses to attend professional learning related to the research or development of the initiative. Travel/accommodation costs should be calculated using the ATO reasonable travel and meal expenses rates as a guide. The total amount provided by the department will not exceed the dollar value specified above.
- formal professional learning. This might include (but is not limited to) attendance at conferences, workshops, seminars, online courses, subscriptions to journals/research articles, textbook resources on topics specific to the initiative.
The grant may not be spent on the following: salaries for staff while they are not working on the initiative, usual business overheads such as utilities, rent, insurance, that are not directly related to the initiative.
- Winners of the following award categories will receive a professional learning grant of $15,000 to further their professional learning:
  - The Early Childhood Teacher of the Year
  - The Emeritus Professor Collette Tayler Excellence in Education Leadership (if the category is won by an educational leader)
  - The Educator of the Year
  - The Minister’s Award (if the category is won by an educational leader)

Eligibility Criteria

Awards are open to all early years professionals or early childhood education and care services operating or working in Victoria who meet the selection criteria detailed in the VEYA Nomination Guide, or as confirmed by the Department of Education (the department).
Nominees for the Early Childhood Teacher of the Year Award must be a provisionally or fully registered early childhood teacher with the Victorian Institute of Teaching and currently employed in a Victorian licensed children’s or approved education and care service that receives state government funding to provide a kindergarten program.
Nominees for the Educator of the Year Award:
- must have an ACECQA recognised certificate III or diploma qualified early childhood qualification.
- be currently employed in a Victorian licensed children’s or approved education and care service that receives state government funding to provide a kindergarten program.
- do not have to be working in the kindergarten program to be eligible for this category.
- who are upskilling and are already leading a kindergarten program under alternative funding arrangements are eligible to apply within this category.
Nominees for the Emeritus Professor Collette Tayler Excellence in Educational Leadership Award must either be
- an approved early childhood education and care service or service provider that receives state government funding to deliver a kindergarten program
- an early childhood educational leader working in an approved early childhood education and care service that delivers a Victorian funded kindergarten program.
Nominees may not enter the same initiative in more than one category.
Previous individual award recipients are ineligible to be nominated for the current year awards in any individual category until the third year following their win. For example, a person who received the Early Childhood Teacher of the Year Award in 2022 is not eligible to be nominated until 2025 (and those nominated in 2019 are now eligible to be re-nominated).
Early childhood service/organisation award recipients are not eligible to be nominated for any award category until the third year following their win. For example, an organisation that received an award in 2022 are not eligible to be nominated in any category until 2025.
Award recipients of other state, national or international professional awards are eligible to be nominated for VEYA if they meet the eligibility criteria of the award category.