A critical part of the Best Start, Best Life reforms is Free Kinder, which supports access to 2 years of quality kindergarten programs for Victorian children.
Free Kinder is available for funded Three-Year-Old Kindergarten, Four-Year-Old Kindergarten and Pre-Prep at participating services in standalone (sessional) services and long day care centres. In 2024, 97% of services offered Free Kinder.
Free Kinder is for everyone. Families don’t need to be permanent residents or Australian citizens to access a free kindergarten program.
Let families know that participating services receive funding directly from the Victorian Government, so they won't have to claim the savings back.
Free Kinder at standalone (sessional) kindergartens
- Families with children enrolled in participating standalone (sessional) kindergarten services in 2026 receive a free program.
- For Three-Year-Old Kindergarten, this means a free program of between 5 and 15 hours per week.
- For Four-Year-Old Kindergarten, this means a free program of 15 hours per week.
- For Pre-Prep, this means a free program of between 16 and 30 hours per week.
- Where additional hours are offered over and above the free program, these hours are optional and will incur a fee.
Free Kinder at long day care centres
- Families with children enrolled in participating long day care centres in 2026 will receive a fee offset.
- The funding rates for Three- and Four-Year-Old Kindergarten and Pre-Prep can be found on the department website (see second listed webpage in the ‘Resources’ section).
- Most families will still pay some fees for their child’s attendance across the week, depending on the number of days attended and their Commonwealth Child Care Subsidy entitlement.
Children who are eligible for Early Start Kindergarten (ESK) should still be enrolled in ESK, even where Free Kinder or 15 hours per week of funded Three-Year-Old Kindergarten is offered. Enrolling children through ESK ensures they have priority of access to kindergarten and also means services can receive additional funding and support.
It is important that families understand they can only access a funded kindergarten program and Free Kinder at one service at a time. Services are required to have a completed ‘one funded place’ form for all families. This form can be included with any enrolment materials provided to families.
Resources
- Free Kinder: for more information about Free Kinder
- Kindergarten funding rates: for information about Free Kinder funding rates
- Kindergarten funding guide: for information about kindergarten funding and policies
- Communicating about kindergarten to your community: for information about Free Kinder that can be shared with families
- Free Kinder funding requirements: for sessional services
- Free Kinder funding requirements: for long day care services
- Resources for funded kindergartens: for the ‘one funded place’ form.
Updated