NT Budget 2025–26: What it means for early childhood education and care

The Northern Territory’s 2025–26 Budget, delivered on 13 May 2025, places a strong emphasis on law and order, with record investments in policing, corrections and justice. However, specific allocations for early childhood education and care (ECEC) are not prominently featured.

Despite the absence of new ECEC-specific funding, the budget continues to support existing education initiatives. Notably, the NT Government has committed to increasing funding for government schools to 100 per cent of the Schooling Resource Standard (SRS) by 2029, in partnership with the Australian Government. This commitment includes a shift to enrolment-based funding, enhancements to the School Resourcing Model (SRM), and implementation of recommendations from the Review of Effective Enrolment.

Additionally, the NT Government has reaffirmed its support for the policy direction set out in the Review of Preschool Funding and Delivery in the Northern Territory, which outlines a vision for preschool as the foundation of a more integrated and diverse early childhood system. While no new budget measures have been allocated to advance this work, the review remains a key reference point for the Territory’s early years strategy.

Implications for ECEC providers

For early childhood education and care providers, the 2025–26 Budget maintains continuity but does not directly address long-standing challenges such as workforce pressures, infrastructure needs or access gaps. The broader commitments to preschool reform and school resourcing signal ongoing alignment with national frameworks but fall short of delivering immediate change at the service level.

Providers may look to these broader reforms as an opportunity to advocate for stronger integration and clearer pathways for early learning in policy and funding conversations.

Legislative update: Portable long service leave scheme repealed

On budget night, the Country Liberal Party (CLP) Government also passed legislation to repeal the previous Labor Government’s plan to introduce a portable long service leave scheme for community services, including ECEC.

Under the former proposal, a wage levy on employers would have funded portable entitlements for workers who changed jobs within the sector. The CLP argued that the model would have imposed unsustainable costs, estimated at $50,000 annually per service, and that these costs would have been passed on to families through increased fees.

Minister for Public Service Jo Hersey said the repeal would prevent unnecessary financial pressure on both providers and families. Treasury had projected an annual sector-wide cost of $20 million, with much of that borne by government funding.

The Northern Territory Council of Social Services also criticised the original proposal, calling it “fundamentally flawed” and warning that it would not have adequately served the workforce.

Looking ahead

While the 2025–26 NT Budget does not deliver new investment in early childhood education and care, it maintains a foundation for longer-term reform. For providers and advocates, the challenge remains in ensuring that preschool and early learning services are recognised as essential to the Territory’s broader education and economic goals.

To read the full budget documents, visit budget.nt.gov.au.