Best Start, Best Life kicks off for 2023 with Bambou ELC visit

Victoria’s Minister for Early Childhood and Pre-Prep Ingrid Stitt visited Bambou Early Learning Centre in Glen Waverley yesterday to announce that more than 2,750 early childhood services across the state are offering Free Kinder for Victoria’s three-and four-year-olds in 2023.

Up to 140,000 children and families will benefit from Free Kinder in 2023. Of Victoria’s kindergarten providers, 97 per cent have opted-in to Free Kinder, including sessional kinder and long day-care centres, with 100 per cent of kinder services in 44 local government areas opting-in to the program. 

Under the $270 million initiative, children enrolled in Three-Year-Old Kindergarten will receive between five and 15 hours of funded learning each week, and those in Four-Year-Old Kindergarten will receive 15 hours per week. 

Free Kinder will save families up to $2,500 in fees per child each year and give more than 28,000 Victorians – the majority of whom are women – greater flexibility to return to work if they choose. 

Those services participating in Free Kinder will receive funding directly from the Victorian Government, so families are not out-of-pocket. 

Approximately 8,000 construction jobs across the state will be created as a result of building new kindergarten services to meet the increased demand. The Best Start, Best Life reform will create 50 government-owned and operated childcare centres and establish Pre-Prep, an extra year of play-based learning. 

In the coming weeks, all children enrolled in funded Three-Year-Old Kindergarten will receive a free Kinder Kit full of fun and educational toys, books and resources, helping them to grow and thrive through creativity and play. 

To learn more about the Best Start, Best Life reform, please see here.