Community Languages Program

The Office of Multicultural Interests (OMI) provi​des support to eligible not-for-profit community organisations to teach languages other than​​ English ​for students from Kindergarten to Year 12 out ​of ​school hours.

OMI’s Community Languages Program supports community language schools in Western Australia by providing access to:

  • development support
  • a free professional learning program
  • the Community Language Schools WA website
  • the Community Languages Collection at the State Library of WA
  • grants for new and established schools to support administration and operations.​

In 2023-24 the C​ommunity Languages Program supported 53 schools, over 800 volunteer teachers, teaching 34 languages to 7366 students.

Community ​​Lan​​guage Program — School grants

OMI provides an annual funding round for grants to support community language school administration and operations.

Per Capita grants assist with the costs of operating the school. The per capita amount is up to $120 per student. The full grant amount is based on the number of students enrolled in the school year. To apply for Per Capita funding, community language schools must have achieved Stage 1 — Registration of the Pathways to Improvement Program (PIP).

New School grants provide one-off funding of up to $4000 to new schools to support the administrative costs of setting up the school. To apply for a New School grant, a school must demonstrate it has been operating between 12 and 52 weeks and have completed or be working towards completion of Stage 1 — Registration of the Pathways to Improvement Program (PIP).

Funding for 2024

Grant applications for the 2024 school year were accepted between 1 February 2024 and 5 March 2024. The funding round is now closed.

All grant applicants have been notified of the funding outcome. Read the full list of CLP 2024 grant recipients.

Funding opportunities for 2025 will be announced in early 2025. Subscribe to the OMI newsletter for funding news.

Community language schools that are new to the program and would like information about how to access funding in the future may contact the OMI Grants Officer:  

Phone: 61 8 6552 1603
Email: communitylanguages@omi.wa.gov.au

Reporting for 2024 funding

Community language schools that received funding for the 2024 school year must:

  1. have had their school’s Pathways to Improvement Portfolio (PIP) evaluated and confirmed complete by the PIP consultant no later than 30 November 2024.
  2. submit their Community Languages Program Final Report, 2024 financial report on how the funds were spent and attendance records no later than Friday 31 January 2025.

All reporting should be submitted to communitylanguages@omi.wa.gov.au

Pathways to Improvement Program

The Pathways to Improvement Program (PIP) is a governance and development program for administrators and teachers of community language schools. The PIP has been designed to maintain quality language teaching and learning and encourages best practice governance. The PIP helps administrators, teachers, parents, community members and students understand what makes a good community language school and quality language program.

To apply for Per Capita funding, community language schools must have achieved Stage 1 — Registration of the PIP.

Schools that achieve the registration stage will qualify for future community language school funding, subject to updating and maintaining their PIP portfolio each year. The annual application process requires schools to provide updated school information, student enrolment details, and budget. All other information is gathered through the PIP.

The PIP is delivered by Community Languages Western Australia.

Professional Learning Program

Community language schools can access professional learning workshops for teachers and administrators throughout the year. 

Community Languages Western Australia

Community Languages WA (CLWA) is recognised as WA’s peak body for community language schools in WA. CLWA’s website is a destination for information, resources, networking and collaboration for community language teachers and administrators. It is an excellent resource for the sector and encourages community languages schools to contribute stories and experiences.

Community Languages Collection

The State Library of W​estern Australia (SLWA) houses an extensive collection of teaching materials and resources for more than 40 languages. The collection has been made available to language teachers, particularly those from the community languages sector, through OMI.

The Community Languages Collection comprises a range of hardcopy, digital, audio and visual resources that can be used in classes or in the development of lesson plans, ensuring students are receiving the best possible language education.

The State Library of WA has also developed teacher resources for use by community language teachers. The Community Languages Collection is available at the State Library of WA, Perth Cultural Centre, 25 Francis Street, Northbridge.

Templates

The following templates may be useful for your school's administration, and to submit with your funding application or final report where requested:

Page reviewed 04 December 2024