Supporting School Canteens program guidelines
Supporting School Canteens program guidelines
The Supporting School Canteens program aims to enhance the delivery of nutritious and affordable meals to students.
The program offers funding for school canteen projects including the:
- purchase of equipment
- upgrade of canteen facilities.
Funding will be offered from 2026 to 2028 through an expression of interest program.
Round 1 applications are now open and close 8 May 2026.
- Eligibility criteria
- Funding requests
- Electrical capacity
- Assessment of applications
- Apply for the program
To be eligible to receive funding, schools must have:
- adequate space and electrical capacity to accommodate the upgrades and new equipment
- an operational canteen, or evidence you are well progressed in establishing a canteen.
School canteens that are, or will be, operated by an external provider or P&C can also apply for funding.
Please work with the school principal to determine eligibility and to prepare the expression of interest form.
The expression of interest form must be submitted by the school principal in consultation with the canteen operator.
To ensure equitable distribution of funding and to maximise impact, the program has 2 funding streams:
- small projects up to $50,000, excluding GST
- large projects from $50,000 to $250,000, excluding GST.
Funding requests cannot exceed $250,000, excluding GST.
If the proposed upgrades and new equipment have an electrical component, the Department may contact principals to check the school has adequate electrical capacity.
If required, this will occur during the assessment process.
A review panel will assess all applications against the criteria and evaluation weightings.
The panel is comprised of 3 representatives from the Department and an independent external stakeholder.
In the expression of interest form, principals must demonstrate:
- how the proposed funding supports the availability and promotion of nutritious options for students
- how the proposed upgrades or equipment strengthens the canteen to support the ongoing provision of healthy and affordable food options for students.
Applications will be prioritised from:
- schools with an Index of Community Socio-educational Advantage (ICSEA) less than 1000
- canteens managed by the school or P&C, where funds are reinvested into the school community.
Schools that don’t meet the conditions listed above for application priority are still encouraged to apply.
Round 1 applications are now open and close 8 May 2026.
Principals can access the expression of interest form through the Department’s intranet, Ikon.
For more information about the Supporting School Canteens program, phone 9264 4830 or email SupportingSchoolCanteens@education.wa.edu.au.