Familes welcome Free Kinder initiatives in Victoria as new learning year begins

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews and Minister for Early Childhood and Pre-Prep Ingrid Stitt visited Will Will Rook Preschool in Glenroy to welcome children and families starting their kinder journey earlier this week. 

The preschool runs a bush kindergarten program and offers a combined kindergarten program for three- and four-year-olds, with all enrolments free. It’s one of more than 2,750 early childhood services across the state offering the Victorian Government’s kindergarten reform of Free Kinder for Victoria’s three- and four-year-olds in 2023. 

Of Victoria’s kindergarten providers, 97 per cent have opted-in to Free Kinder, including sessional kinder and long day care centres. The initiative will see children enrolled in Three-Year-Old Kindergarten receive between 5 and 15 hours of funded learning each week this year, and those in Four-Year-Old Kindergarten receive 15 hours per week. 

At Will Will Rook Preschool, a $1.58 million Building Blocks Capacity Grant has seen an additional classroom constructed to support three-year-old kinder programs, featuring modern indoor and outdoor learning environments. 

Free Kinder will save families up to $2,500 per child each year. Over the next decade, this support will increase further, with Four-Year-Old Kindergarten transitioning to Pre-Prep by scaling up to 30 hours of play-based learning each week. 

Children enrolled in funded Three-Year-Old Kindergarten will also receive a free Kinder Kit featuring fun and educational toys, books and resources, helping them to grow and thrive through creativity and play. 

Learn more about the Best Start, Best Life reforms here.