CCC praises Vic Budget as being ‘a clear winner for children and families’

Community Child Care Association (CCC) Executive Director Julie Price has warmly welcomed the “monumental” Victorian 2020/21 Budget as being one which is “a clear winner” for children and families. 

“This landmark investment in early childhood education will carve a learning path for the fast-growing minds of our youngest Victorians,” Ms Price said. 

The Victorian Government’s record investment in early childhood education over the next four years includes:  

• $170 million for free kindergarten programs in 2021 to support families with the costs of early childhood education;  
• $258 million to continue the progressive roll-out of universal three-year-old kindergarten, ensuring that children can access the benefits of two years of play based learning before starting school;  
• $82 million to start new outside school hours care programs at up to 400 government schools; and,   
• $2.5 million to support three-year-old refugee and asylum seeker children to access 15 hours of free or low-cost kindergarten in all parts of Victoria from 2021.

“The Victorian Government is leading the country in providing funding for free kindergarten and new outside school hours care services next year,” Ms Price said, adding that the ongoing commitment to early childhood education “will help reduce the financial pressure that many Victorian families are feeling this year”. 

With research showing that quality early childhood education makes a significant contribution to achieving educational excellence in schools, having access to quality kindergarten experiences will support the youngest Victorians to be successful down the track, she added, saying the state’s most vulnerable children “will be the greatest benefactors of this forward-looking investment in early childhood education”.