Statewide flexible hours continue
In 2025, service providers can determine how many hours of funded Three-Year-Old Kindergarten they deliver per week, with a minimum of 5 hours and a maximum of 15 hours, within set parameters.
The priority is to give as many Victorian children access to funded Three-Year-Old Kindergarten as possible. Services will be funded pro rata for the program hours delivered.
Services should prioritise the participation of children in a funded kindergarten program over the number of weekly program hours, where there is a trade-off between the two.
Services should not increase their Three-Year-Old Kindergarten program hours beyond what was offered in 2024 if this lowers the number of three-or four-year-old places offered in 2025. For service providers that delivered mixed age programs in 2024, program hours should not be increased if this would reduce the total number of 3- and 4-year-old places to below 2024 levels.
An adjusted flexible hours policy will apply to services in 2025 Pre-Prep roll-out areas and service providers should refer to direct communications from the department and contact their local Early Childhood Improvement Branch if they have any questions
Eligibility for an exception to the Three-Year-Old Kindergarten flexible hours policy
Exceptions to the flexible hours approach can be granted if:
- it is not feasible for the service provider to make program modelling adjustments to maintain or increase the number of places offered; and
- either:
- there is sufficient capacity to accommodate children in funded kindergarten places at other local services; or
- where there is not sufficient capacity at other services, it is not feasible to reduce the number of planned program hours so that the number of 3- and 4-year-old places offered is equal to more than 2024 enrolments; and
- the service has sufficient existing staff to deliver any planned increase in program hours, including through relying on alternative funding arrangements; and
- any Early Start Kindergarten or Access to Early Learning funded children can access 15 hours of funded kindergarten and the Department’s Priority of Access guidelines are applied.
If you are considering seeking an exception, you should discuss it with your local Early Childhood Improvement Branch as early as possible.
The Department will consider exceptions on a case‑by‑case basis.
Exception decisions will commence by mid-2024.
What this approach means for my service
Many services will not be affected by this requirement.
If offering more than your 2024 Three-Year-Old Kindergarten program hours does not reduce the number of enrolments in both your Three-Year-Old and Four-Year-Old Kinder programs, you do not need an exception to increase your hours.
You can use the following diagram to help understand whether an exception is required for your service or whether there are other options that would allow for places offered to be maintained while hours are increased.
Three-Year-Old Kindergarten flexible funding
Per capita funding
Funding for Three-Year-Old Kindergarten will match the rates of Four-Year-Old Kindergarten, with funding provided on a per rata basis.
Both sessional kindergarten services and long day care centres can be funded to deliver kindergarten programs for three-year-olds. Learn more about kindergarten funding rates.
Services delivering fewer than 15 hours will be funded for the hours they operate. For example, a kindergarten delivering a five-hour Three‑Year-Old Kindergarten program will receive one-third of the applicable rate of funding available.
The kindergarten fee subsidy will continue to be a part of all funded kindergarten programs for three and four-year-olds. The eligibility criteria will be the same as the current funded kindergarten programs as provided in the kindergarten funding guide.
Early Start Kindergarten
Early Start Kindergarten (ESK) will continue to be available to eligible children in 2024, providing 15 hours of kindergarten each week for two years before school.
To be eligible for ESK, children must be 3 years of age by April 30 in the year they start kindergarten and either:
- identify as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
- be from refugee or asylum seeker background
- or be from a family that has had contact with Child Protection.
It is important that service providers ensure children eligible for ESK are enrolled for the full 15 hours of funded kindergarten as an ESK enrolment. Children accessing ESK can be enrolled in a three-year-old group, a four-year-old group, a mixed-age group, or a combination of groups to access 15 hours of kindergarten.
Enrolling children through ESK ensures these children have priority of access, and services can receive additional funding and support.
Service providers are expected to continue to provide the full 15 hours funded through ESK even where three-year-old groups are being offered fewer than 15 hours. Applications can be submitted through the Kindergarten Information Management (KIM) system.
Learn more about Early Start Kindergarten.
Support for children with disabilities or additional needs
Services will receive additional funding to ensure that three-year-old children with disabilities, developmental delays or additional needs can access and meaningfully participate in kindergarten programs. This includes through Kindergarten Inclusion Support and additional Pre-School Field Officers.
Pre-purchased places
Pre-purchased places are kindergarten places the Department funds for children experiencing vulnerability or disadvantage.
Eligible services providing Three-Year-Old Kindergarten can apply for pre‑purchased places.
School readiness funding
School Readiness Funding has been extended to support both three and four-year-old children enrolled in all funded kindergarten programs. Funding is allocated based on levels of educational disadvantage.
State-funded Three-Year-Old Kindergarten programs with eligible children can also access Kindergarten Inclusion Support and Pre-School Field Officer programs, in the same way as it occurs in Four-Year-Old Kindergarten.
Learn more about School readiness funding.
Base rural funding
All rural services will receive base funding if their total three and four-year-old enrolments are below 18 equivalent enrolments for 15 hours per week.
Services will receive child-level funding for every hour they deliver. For example, if three-year-old children are enrolled in a kindergarten program for 7.5 hours per week, two children will make up one equivalent enrolment.
If three-year-old children are enrolled for five hours of kindergarten per week, three children would make up one equivalent enrolment. Each enrolment over 18 equivalent enrolments will receive per capita funding at the rural rate.
For more information, refer to the Kindergarten funding guide.
Priority of access guidelines
Our Priority of access guidelines require funded kindergarten services to prioritise specified children where there is a higher demand than places available. This helps to ensure that children who are vulnerable, disadvantaged or who have a disability are supported to access a kindergarten place.
Services must first apply the Priority of Access (PoA) criteria. Then locally developed criteria can be applied.
In mixed-age groups, the PoA guidelines equally prioritise three- and four-year-old children considered vulnerable under the policy. Where programs for three- and four-year-olds are provided separately, PoA criteria are applied separately for each age group.
Eligible children residing within the early roll-out local government areas will be prioritised for access to Three-Year-Old Kindergarten in those areas. This means that these children must be allocated a kindergarten place before applications from families living outside the local government area are considered.
Children who are eligible for Early Start Kindergarten funding continue to have PoA to a place in a 15-hour week kindergarten program, regardless of where they live.
Children's starting ages
In line with the school starting age in Victoria, which stipulates children born between January and April can start school at four years of age, some children will be two years old when their Three-Year-Old Kindergarten year starts.
Under the National Quality Framework, the minimum educator to child ratio for children under three is 1:4, while for children three and older the ratio is 1:11.
For services that can cover the required ratios, eligible two-year-old children will be able to attend a program from the start of the year. For others they will be able to attend once they turn three. The Department will fund these children for the full duration of their enrolment, even before they are able to attend.
If a deposit is charged, it must be offset against fees once the child starts kindergarten. Service providers are strongly encouraged to waive any deposits for families experiencing vulnerability or hardship.
Every child's development is unique, and services should work with families to consider the best time for a child to start kindergarten. Families are encouraged to talk to their service's kindergarten teachers and other early childhood professionals, such as Maternal Child Health nurses to inform their decision.
Information to assist families to understand this policy:
- Starting Three-Year-Old Kindergarten (PDF, 626KB)
- Starting Three-Year-Old Kindergarten (DOCX, 2.85MB).
Funding an additional year of kindergarten
Children in a Four-Year-Old Kindergarten program who have developmental delays in two or more key areas of development, and would benefit from an additional year of kindergarten, can access an additional year of funded kindergarten. This requires an assessment by an early childhood teacher.
To assist decisions regarding transitions to school being made as close as possible to school age, all children in Three-Year-Old Kindergarten will be expected to transition to Four-Year-Old Kindergarten in the following year. A funded additional year of kindergarten will only be available for children in the Four-Year-Old Kindergarten program who meet the criteria.
Early Childhood Improvement Branch contacts
Find your local Early Childhood Improvement Branch contact for specialist resources and tailored advice to support the roll-out of Three-Year-Old Kindergarten.
Updated