Goodstart applauds Free Kindy push from Queensland Government for increased access

The Free Kindy reform enacted by the Queensland Government has cut costs for families and increased kindy enrolments, Goodstart Early Learning has said. 

Free Kindy, Goodstart Early Learning CEO Dr Ros Baxter said, has “significantly improved (the) affordability of kindy in Queensland, and led to an increase in enrolments.”

“Kindy in long day care in Queensland is more affordable for the overwhelming majority of families and we have seen enrolments rise in our kindy programs by over 800 children this year as a result, which is a very significant 16 per cent increase” she continued. 

For families accessing Free Kindy in a long day care setting, there is still a cost to access care, to cover initial hours enrolled, however this is “a lot less than it was last year for the vast majority of families,” Dr Baxter continued.

“Goodstart families should have no concerns. The system is working well, and all Goodstart kindy families will receive their full 600 hours of Free Kindy funding from the Queensland Government,” she added. 

Other states have fee subsidy systems which impact families differently. Preschool funding is a complex mixture of Commonwealth and State funding and is currently being reviewed by the Productivity Commission at a national level. 

“Goodstart has always played a national role in making recommendations about how the whole system should look, including federal funding settings,” Dr Baxter added. 

“In our submission to the Productivity Commission, Goodstart has called for a national rethink of kindy/preschool funding to deliver a minimum entitlement of 30 hours a week of high quality early learning for all children in the two years before school that would be free for low income families.” 

The Productivity Commission is due to report to the Federal Government with its findings next month.

For a review of the outcomes of the Commission’s interim report please see here.