As Victoria continues to transform early childhood education through the Best Start, Best Life reforms, we are continuing improvements to School Readiness Funding (SRF).
There are 4 key areas of reform:
- reviewing and refining the SRF priority outcome areas definitions
- extending the SRF cycle to a 2-year cycle
- strengthening the SRF Menu
- continuing to streamline planning and administration.
So far, the department has delivered the redefined priority outcome areas and the 2-year SRF cycle which commenced in 2025. We thank services for their engagement during the transition.
Improving the SRF Menu
We are continuing to strengthen the SRF Menu with evidence-informed programs and supports. Further action is now being taken to:
- ensure Menu items are high quality and accessible
- reduce the Menu size to improve user experience and make it easier for kindergarten services to find the right support
- ensure supports are targeted to educators and families
- avoid duplication and ensure alignment with other programs offering support to services.
What has changed
We have completed a comprehensive analysis of SRF implementation since 2019, including all Menu items. In response to feedback from services about reducing the size of the Menu to support better decision making, a small number of items which are not commonly used are being removed. Services who have these items on their current SRF plan can continue to access them, however they will not be available for inclusion in SRF plans going forward.
Please see the table below outlining the removed items.
Items removed from the SRF Menu (as of 23 March 2026)
| Menu Item | Provider |
| ACF Bringing Up Great Kids | Australian Childhood Foundation |
| Billy Sparrow Wellbeing Support Reflective Practice | Billy Sparrow Pty Ltd |
| Brain Power: How our understanding of brain states can support social and emotional development | Play Therapy Melbourne |
| Circle of Security Parenting (COS-P) | Circle of Security International |
| Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) | University of Melbourne |
| Connect Up | Meli Bethany Community Support |
| Family Partnership Model | Centre for Community Child Health |
| Father Inclusive Practice Guide | Department of Social Services (Commonwealth Government) (item has been discontinued by provider) |
| fkaCS Improving Service Orientation and Engagement Kit | fka Children’s Services (fkaCS) |
| Gender Glorious Professional Development | Body Safety Australia LTD |
| Hanen: I'm Ready! Program for Building Early Literacy in the Home | Jo Bristow - Australasian Representative for Hanen |
| Language, Literacy and Critical Thinking Workshop and Toolkit | Raising Literacy Australia Inc |
| Movement Environment Rating Scale (MOVERS) | Early Start, University of Wollongong |
| Nurture in Nature | Nurture in Nature Australia |
| Sustained Shared Thinking and Emotional Wellbeing (SSTEW) Scale | Early Start, University of Wollongong |
| Taking Small BYTES – digital literacy experiences | FUSE (item has been discontinued by provider) |
| The Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale Extension (ECERS-E) | Visit online booksellers to buy ECERS-E manual |
| The Early Childhood Environment Rating Scale Revised (ECERS-R) | Visit online booksellers to buy the ECERS-R manual |
| The Gender Expansion | Gender Inclusion Consulting |
| The Supporting Engagement and Participation Seminar Series | Noah’s Ark Training |
| Working in Partnership | Centre for Community Child Health |
| Working with LGBTIQA+ families | Ethical Interactions |
How this affects services
If a Menu item is removed but has been previously approved in a kindergarten’s 2025-2026 SRF plan, the provider will still be able to offer the item to those kindergartens until the end of 2026.
Flexible Funding arrangements remain unchanged. Kindergartens may be able to use their funding to access any removed items. This is subject to eligibility and approval.
Looking forward: the next stages of SRF Menu reform
We will provide further advice in advance of the 2027-2028 SRF planning process of the new Menu items available for services to include in their plans in September/Term 3, 2026.
Find out more
For further enquiries, please contact your Early Childhood Improvement Branch.
Updated