The 20th Victorian Early Years Awards winners were announced at a ceremony on Thursday 6 November 2025.
Radio broadcaster and author Jacinta Parsons hosted the awards, which celebrated the achievements of Victoria’s early years professionals and services.
The 9 winners show the vital work happening in the early years sector.
Each winner received a $15,000 grant, which they can use for professional development or to support their initiative in the early years sector.
To view some highlights from the evening, check out our video below.
Individual awards
The winners for their individual contributions to early childhood outcomes were:
- Early Childhood Teacher of the Year: Megan Hancock, from Southern Rise Children’s Centre. Megan works with Aboriginal families and Elders to create inclusive learning spaces.
- Educator of the Year: Sandra Houlahan, from Shine Bright Elmore Kindergarten. Sandra uses local places to create fun and meaningful learning opportunities. She created River Kinder, a program that helps children learn through nature.
On receiving the Early Childhood Teacher of the Year award, Megan shared her excitement and joy.
‘I’m completely humbled, shocked (and) amazed to win,’ she said.
Megan shared how important these awards are to celebrate the amazing work happening in the early years sector.
‘The awards and all the people here tonight show the commitment that we have to Victorian children - to closing gaps, to ensuring that no one is left behind and to ensuring that all children who are experiencing hardship get quality education and care. I love being one of the teachers able to provide that for our local community.’
Service and organisation awards
The services and organisations that received awards were recognised for:
- supporting parents
- working with others in the community
- improving child health and wellbeing
- achieving high-quality outcomes.
The recipients were:
- Improving Access and Participation in Early Learning: Victorian Aboriginal Community Services Association Ltd
- Supporting Parents to Build their Capacity and Confidence: Hume Community Hub Playgroups – Hume City Council
- Creating Collaborative Community Partnerships: Supporting families through collaborative early intervention – Gowrie Victoria Broadmeadows Valley
- Promoting Children’s Health and Wellbeing: ‘Working Towards’ to ‘Exceeding’ – Connie Benn Early Learning Centre
- Continuity of Early Learning: The Mooroopna Oral Language Initiative – Mooroopna Primary School
- The Emeritus Professor Collette Tayler Excellence in Educational Leadership award: Home Road Kindergarten
- The Aunty Rose Bamblett Koorie Early Years Legacy Award: Harrietville Bush Kinder.
The Minister’s Award
Finalists in each category were also eligible for the prestigious Minister’s Award, selected by the Minister for Children Lizzie Blandthorn.
This year’s winner of the Minister’s Award was Brave Foundation for its Supporting Expecting and Parenting Teens Program. The program provides support to young parents aged 25 years and under who had their first child as a teenager.
Find out more
For more information about this year’s winners and finalists, refer to Winners of the 2025 Victorian Early Years Awards.
For further enquiries, contact the department by email: early.years.awards@education.vic.gov.au
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