Policy
Politics
WA Premier promises full time kindergarten should his party be reelected
Freya Lucas
Feb 05, 2025
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West Australian Premier Roger Cook has promised to make kindergarten full-time for four-year-olds, should his party be re-elected on 8 March 2025.
The $33.8 million plan to trial free kindergarten five days a week at 10 schools would be an Australian-first, aiming to end the juggle and cost that many parents currently face to split each week between school and long day care.The ten pilot locations announced would include five regional sites and five in metropolitan WA.
“This policy will save many working families literally thousands and thousands of dollars each year in childcare costs. It will help to get parents back into the workforce,” the Premier said.
In order to fund the changes, a re-elected WA Government will also ask the Commonwealth, which currently chips in $190 million under the pre-school reform agreement, to boost its funding.
The announcement was welcomed by a number of key organisations and agencies including the Minderoo Foundation, Child Australia and ELACCA.
“We are really pleased to welcome this important commitment to early learning and care from Premier Cook today, in particular to grow the WA early childhood workforce,” ELACCA CEO Elizabeth Death said.
‘We know the importance of access to high-quality early learning and care to provide children with the best possible start in life. We call on Premier Cook to extend free four-year-old kindy to all high-quality services, utilising latent capacity in non-government early learning and care services as well as government kindergartens,” she continued, adding “WA children and families deserve access to services that best meet their needs and circumstances.”
Along with the commitment to full time Kindergarten the Premier pledged additional workforce strategy measures, something which ELCCA welcomed, along with the establishment of a dedicated Office of Early Childhood Education for WA. ‘ELACCA and our members would be well-placed to support the implementation of these initiatives,’ Ms Death said. In addition, the state government has promised to expand the out-of-school-hours care programs attached to primary schools, which will give parents and families greater support so that they may juggle work and family life.
This commitment, along with the others made by the Premier, was welcomed by Minderoo CEO John Hartman who said there was very clear scientific evidence of the benefit to children and the community of focusing on early childhood development.
“Early childhood experts have long known that the first five years are critical and shape the trajectory of a child’s entire life,” he said.
“As a dad of three young children, I know how much we all want the best start to life for our kids. This kindergarten pilot program puts children’s development at the heart of WA’s early education and care system, and we look forward to it being rolled out across the state so that every child, no matter where they live, will benefit.”
Child Australia labelled the announcement as “visionary” and a landmark commitment which represents a significant step forward in supporting families, strengthening the workforce, and ensuring that all children have access to high-quality early learning experiences.
“We share the government’s optimism for transformative change in ECEC,” Tina Holtom, Child Australia CEO said.
“To realise this vision, we must ensure policies are grounded in the deep expertise of educators, providers, and childhood development specialists. Our collective frontline experience is invaluable in designing systems that work for children, families, and communities.”
“Overall, this is an exciting announcement - an opportunity where bold vision meets lasting change.”
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