On Friday 20 February 2026, Education Ministers agreed to increase fees charged to early childhood education and care (ECEC) providers. The increase will contribute to the costs of regulation. It will come into effect in the 2026-2027 financial year, with the date to be confirmed.
Commonwealth, State and Territory Education Ministers have been clear that child safety is paramount. Effective regulation is critical to monitoring how providers deliver safe and high-quality services.
In recent months, major reforms in early childhood have strengthened the National Law, given regulators more powers, and made it harder for bad actors to put children at risk. The Victorian Government has invested $137 million in its response to the Rapid Child Safety Review. It also established the Victorian Early Childhood Regulatory Authority (VECRA) on 1 January 2026, with more authorised officers making more compliance visits more often.
What the increases mean for Victorian service providers
Increases in Victoria will be scaled for different types of providers and services.
The New South Wales (NSW) Government is also making these changes, creating consistency in the states with the most services.
It is intended that revenue from fee increases will be paid to the Victorian and NSW regulatory authorities.
For services in Victoria and NSW, fees will increase by CPI and 10% alongside changes for Australian Capital Territory, Tasmanian and South Australian services, but also have an additional increase (based on service size, provider size and type). Combined, these mean that in Victoria the increases will be:
- 3.3-fold, for sessional kindergartens and services run by small not-for-profit providers
- 7.7-fold for services run by large not-for-profit providers (note that sessional kindergarten services run for large not-for-profits will only have a 3.3-fold increase)
- 5.5-fold for services run by small for-profit providers
- 11-fold for services run by large for-profit providers.
Service size categories
- For centre-based services: small (≤ 24 places); medium (25-80 places); large (81-100 places); extra-large (≥101 places)
- For family day care services: small (≤ 5 educators); medium (6-20 educators); large (21-60 educators); extra-large (≥61 educators).
Provider size categories
- small (fewer than 25 services)
- large (25 services or more).
Find out more
The full detail of these fees for the 2026-27 year will be published on The Australian Children’s Education & Care Quality Authority website. If you wish to discuss how to manage any specific impact on your service, please contact your local Early Childhood Improvement Branch.
Updated