Minimum requirement of 16 hours per week
From 2026, children eligible for Pre-Prep must be enrolled for a minimum of 16 hours per week for 40 weeks of the year (or 640 hours per year) to be eligible for Pre-Prep funding. Services in roll-out LGAs that do not meet this requirement will not be eligible for funding for Four-Year-Old Kindergarten programs, unless there are exceptional circumstances.
If your service or families at your service are experiencing exceptional circumstances that mean you are not able to deliver at least 16 hours per week (or 640 hours per year) of Pre-Prep to eligible children, you are encouraged to contact your local Early Childhood Improvement Branch as soon as possible. Your local Early Childhood Improvement Branch is available to support you and can offer a range of tailored supports to suit your unique circumstances.
Pre-Prep program hours
Whether offering Pre-Prep to children in a roll-out LGA or to a child eligible for Pre-Prep in advance of this, services have the flexibility to choose program hours, between a minimum of 16 hours per week for 40 weeks of the year (or 640 hours per year) and the maximum number of hours specified in the roll-out schedule. Services can commence offering Pre-Prep before delivering 15 hours per week of Three-Year-Old Kindergarten.
Consistent with the current approach, children will be funded for Pre-Prep based on the hours of the Pre-Prep program they are enrolled in, rather than the hours they attend.
Services should ensure that the provision of Pre-Prep and Three-Year-Old Kindergarten reflects the needs of their local community.
Where places are limited, access to a funded kindergarten program should be prioritised over the number of weekly program hours delivered (for example, services are encouraged to support eligible children to access at least 16 hours per week of a Pre-Prep program, rather than fewer children being able to access a higher number of hours).
One funded place
Like Three- and Four-Year-Old Kindergarten, a child can only access a funded Pre-Prep program at 1 service at any one time. If a child is enrolled at 2 services, the parent, carer or legal guardian must nominate which service will receive kindergarten funding for the child. However, where exceptional circumstances may warrant a child accessing a funded place at 2 services, you should contact your local Early Childhood Improvement Branch for funding advice.
Priority cohort groups eligible for Pre-Prep statewide
From 2026, all children across the state:
- identifying as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander
- from a refugee or asylum seeker background, and/or
- who have had contact with Child Protection or are in out of home care
can access between 16 and 25 hours of Pre-Prep, and between 16 and 30 hours from 2028.
The eligibility criteria for the 2026 Pre-Prep priority cohort group will be the same as the Early Start Kindergarten eligibility criteria, except that children must be at least four years old by 30 April in the year they are enrolled to attend the program. In addition, any child who was supported by Early Start Kindergarten or the Access to Early Learning program for Three-Year-Old Kindergarten is eligible for Pre-Prep the following year.
From 2028, children who have (or have a parent or guardian who has) a Commonwealth concession card, and children who are a multiple birth child (triplets or more), can access between 16 and 25 hours of Pre-Prep from 2028, and between 16 and 30 hours from 2030. The concession card holders eligible for Pre-Prep from 2028 are the same concession card holders eligible for priority of access under the priority of access criteria in the kindergarten funding guide.
Workforce requirements
Pre-Prep programs must be developed and delivered by a Victorian Institute of Teaching (VIT)-registered early childhood teacher (ECT). The requirements for teaching qualifications, standards and workforce practices for funded kindergarten programs as outlined in the kindergarten funding Guide as amended from time to time, will apply to Pre-Prep.
Alternative funding arrangements for services that are not able to have a VIT-registered ECT deliver a Pre-Prep program due to exceptional circumstances (for example, Funding by Exception) will be outlined in the kindergarten funding guide.