3 & 4 Year Old Kindergarten Subsidy
Free Kinder supports families to access a funded kindergarten program by:
- providing a free 15-hour program to four-year-old children enrolled at a sessional service
- providing a free 5-to-15-hour program to three-year-old children enrolled at a sessional service (subject to the length of funded program offered)
- offsetting the funded kindergarten program component of parent fees for three and four-year-old children enrolled at a childcare service.
What's Changing?
The Best Start, Best Life reform will help all Victorian children dream even bigger through increased access to quality early childhood education and care. A critical part of the reform is Free Kinder, which will support access to two years of high-quality kindergarten programs for all Victorian children by making this free. All early childhood education and care providers that deliver a funded kindergarten program in Victoria are eligible to receive Free Kinder funding from 2023, subject to meeting specified terms and conditions. To receive Free Kinder funding, service providers will be required to opt in to provide Free Kinder and accept the terms and conditions of funding via the process detailed below.
Child Eligibility
The Department of Education and Training will make Free Kinder payments to participating service providers, not directly to families. These payments will be made through the Kindergarten Information Management System (KIMS) as regular payments to ensure participating services can offer a free program. Families can only access a funded kindergarten program at one service at a time in line with normal kindergarten funding guidelines. This includes requiring that a parent/carer for all enrolled children sign a form (provided by the centre) to confirm that this is their funded kindergarten program.
