The Association of Independent Schools of NSW (AISNSW) has the responsibility of administering the Australian Government's Capital Grants Programme (CGP) for independent schools in NSW. It does this through a separate company called the AISNSW Block Grant Authority Ltd (BGA). Each year the Australian Government allocates a fixed 'block' of money to be administered by the BGA to independent schools in NSW for capital works projects on a needs basis. This is now supplemented with a small allocation from the State Government following the cessation of the Interest Subsidy Scheme.

The specific objectives of the Capital Grants Program are to:

• provide and improve school infrastructure, particularly for the most educationally disadvantaged students
• ensure attention to refurbishment/upgrading of capital infrastructure for existing students, while making provision for needs arising from new demographic and enrolment trends
• pursue the Australian Government's other priorities and objectives for schooling as outlined in the introduction to the Quadrennial Administrative Guidelines.

In term one of each year the BGA invites applications from schools which are approved participants in the AISNSW BGA.  An independent committee known as the Independent Schools Capital Grants Committee (ISCGC) has been established to assess applications on both an educational and a financial needs basis and determine which will be recommended for grant assistance to the Australian Government Minister.

Schools which are not yet participants in the BGA should contact AIS for details of how to apply.

If you require further information, please contact a member of the BGA Team on (02) 9299 2845.