Operational policies supporting the Best Start, Best Life reforms

Learn about the policy changes coming with the Best Start, Best Life reforms. Prepare your service for new operational policy requirements.

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What's changing

The roll-out of Three-Year-Old Kindergarten will be completed by 2029. From 2029, children must be enrolled for at least 15 hours per week or 600 hours per year of Three-Year-Old Kindergarten to be eligible for funding.

Pre-Prep started in 6 local government areas (LGAs) in 2025 and is rolling out across Victoria in stages. Pre-Prep is the new name for increased hours of Four-Year-Old Kindergarten.

  • Program hours for children in the year before school is gradually increasing from 15 to 30 hours each week.
  • Pre-Prep programs must run for at least 16 hours per week to be eligible for funding.
  • More roll-out LGAs will be added between now and 2034 in line with the roll-out schedule.
  • From 2026, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, children from refugee or asylum seeker background and children who have had contact with Child Protection can access Pre-Prep across Victoria, not just in roll-out LGAs.
  • From 2028, children who have (or who have a parent or guardian who has) a Commonwealth concession card and children who are multiple birth children (triplets or more) can also access Pre-Prep statewide.

The department’s priority of access criteria is expanding.

  • Changes apply to funded services in Pre-Prep roll-out LGAs from 2026.
  • Priority of access criteria at funded services across Victoria will be expanded in 2027, including for children, parents and carers with additional needs and children currently attending the service.

What you need to do:

  • Offer at least 16 hours of Pre-Prep to eligible children each week (640 hours per year).
  • Identify children from priority cohorts who may be eligible for Pre-Prep from 2026 and 2028.
  • Review your information and advice to families on priority of access to make sure it reflects the expanded criteria.
  • Plan to deliver 15 hours of Three-Year-Old Kindergarten each week by 2029.
  • Contact your local ECIB if you can’t meet the requirements.

When the changes take effect

Program hours

Minimum hours

From 2026, children eligible for Pre-Prep must be enrolled for at least 16 hours per week (640 hours per year) to get Pre-Prep funding.

From 2029, children attending Three-Year-Old Kindergarten programs must be enrolled in at least 15 hours per week (600 hours per year) to be eligible for funding.

What this means for you:

  • Review your current and recent enrolments to understand how many children are likely to be eligible for Pre-Prep.
  • Consider how you will deliver Pre-Prep to children from priority cohorts, even if you don’t have any current enrolments of eligible children.
  • Make sure you can offer at least 16 hours per week of Pre-Prep for 40 weeks (640 hours per year) to eligible children and have a plan to deliver 15 hours per week of Three-Year-Old Kindergarten by 2029.
  • Seek support early rather than waiting and be prepared to explain your circumstances.
  • Work together with your ECIB to find solutions.

Flexible hours program

  • You can choose how many hours of Pre-Prep to offer between the minimum (16 hours per week for 40 weeks or 640 hours per year) and the maximum allowed under the roll-out schedule.
  • Your service can offer Pre-Prep programs of different lengths.
  • Programs should reflect the needs of the community and support eligible children to access a funded kindergarten place.
  • Discuss options for delivering additional hours with your teaching team and invite feedback from families of 3-year-old children.
  • The priority is to give as many Victorian children access to funded kindergarten as possible.
  • Your ECIB will contact you if there is a risk that children in your local area may not be able to access a funded kindergarten place to explore whether more places can be offered. This may include limiting Pre-Prep hours offered to below the maximum funded hours under the roll-out schedule.
  • Where there is no risk children may miss out on a funded kindergarten place in your local area, you are encouraged to offer children from priority cohorts as many funded kindergarten hours as possible, up to the maximum allowed under the roll-out schedule.
  • In 2027, Three-Year-Old Kindergarten programs can be between 5 and 15 hours per week, but program hours can’t be lower than the Three-Year-Old Kindergarten program hours delivered at your service in 2026.
  • If your service is not yet delivering 15 hours of Three-Year-Old Kindergarten, you should prioritise increasing Three-Year-Old Kindergarten program hours over increasing Pre-Prep program hours.

What this means for you:

  • You have flexibility in your program design.
  • Consider your community's needs when setting hours.
  • Prioritise access over extra hours if places in the local area are limited.
  • Contact your ECIB for tailored support if you can’t offer 16 hours of Pre-Prep or maintain your Three-Year-Old Kindergarten program hours.
  • Be clear when communicating timetables before the start of the kindergarten year that they are indicative and subject to change.

Managing enrolments

Reducing places offered

If you plan to reduce the number of places offered in Three-Year-Old Kindergarten or mixed-age groups in 2027 to below 2026 enrolments, you need approval from the department.

  • Contact your ECIB as soon as possible.
  • You will be required to provide strong reasons why you need to make the change.
  • Applications to reduce places will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

If you plan to reduce Four-Year-Old Kindergarten and Pre-Prep places offered, you must notify the department. You can notify the department by either:

  • completing the 2027 Kindergarten Services Intentions Survey (expected in May 2026)
  • contacting your ECIB.

The department will contact you if there is a risk that children in your local area may not be able to access a funded place to explore whether more places can be offered.

What this means for you:

  • Consider how your service can increase program hours while maintaining enrolments at your service.
  • If your planned programming means places will decrease, contact your ECIB for tailored support and to discuss whether approval is required.

Priority of access

The department’s priority of access criteria continues to apply to the allocation of funded places in Three-Year-Old Kindergarten, Four-Year-Old Kindergarten and Pre-Prep programs.

  • The priority of access criteria applies to all children, whether they live inside or outside the LGA where service is located.
  • From 2026, children who meet the Pre-Prep priority cohort criteria also meet:
    • the priority of access criteria for 2026
    • the Tier 1 priority of access criteria from 2027.
  • For services located in Pre-Prep roll-out LGAs, once the priority of access criteria have been applied, priority must be given to children who live in the LGA, and to those who live outside the LGA but whose nearest service is located within it, ahead of other children from outside the LGA.

One funded place rule

Like other kindergarten programs, each child can only get funding at one service at a time.

  • If a child is enrolled at two services, parents must choose which service gets the funding.

What this means for you:

  • Make sure parents understand this rule when enrolling.

Pre-Prep priority cohort criteria

Children from priority cohorts can access Pre-Prep anywhere in Victoria. It doesn't matter whether or not they live in roll-out LGAs.

Workforce requirements

Teacher qualification requirements

All Pre-Prep programs must be developed and delivered by an early childhood teacher. These teachers must have current registration with the Victorian Institute of Teaching (VIT).

The same teaching standards that apply to other funded kindergarten programs apply to Pre-Prep.

What this means for you:

  • Make sure a registered teacher can develop and deliver the program.
  • Follow the same workforce standards as other kindergarten programs.

Alternative arrangements

Services that can’t recruit a VIT-registered teacher to deliver Pre-Prep should contact their ECIB to discuss alternative funding arrangements.

These arrangements are detailed in the kindergarten funding guide.

What this means for you:

  • Don't assume you can't take part if you have staffing issues.
  • Contact your ECIB if you face workforce challenges.

Get help with planning and implementation

Your local Early Childhood Improvement Branch can provide:

  • advice on operational policy settings
  • support with local planning and programming options
  • help in exceptional circumstances, including to recruit to vacancies.

Find your local Early Childhood Improvement Branch.

Resources and guides

Planning and communication tools

Early childhood education and care

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