$170.1 million boost to expand early education access across Victoria

A $170.1 million joint investment will deliver around 1,100 early childhood education and care places across Victoria’s outer suburbs and regions with a strong focus on not-for-profit provision and school co-location.

The Albanese and Victorian Governments have reached an agreement to fund the delivery of approximately 1,110 new early childhood education and care (ECEC) places across 11 locations.

The Commonwealth will invest $63 million through its $1 billion Building Early Education Fund, with the Victorian Government contributing $107 million.

The capital funding will support the construction or expansion of not-for-profit early learning services in Kings Park, Wedderburn, Weir Views, Geelong, Whittlesea, Casey, Frankston and Swan Hill, among other locations.

The Building Early Education Fund is designed to expand access to early learning in communities and areas of need, particularly outer metropolitan growth corridors and regional areas.

Services will be delivered progressively over the next four years:

• Three services in Kings Park, Wedderburn and Weir Views opened in early 2026
• Two services will open in 2027
• Four services will come online in 2028
• Two additional services will open in 2029

The staged rollout aims to align infrastructure delivery with population growth and demand projections.

A key feature of the Building Early Education Fund is the co-location of early learning services on or near school sites.

Governments have indicated this model will:

• reduce the burden of multiple drop-offs for families
• support smoother transitions to formal schooling
• strengthen local education precincts

Co-location models are increasingly recognised as a mechanism to support continuity of learning under the National Quality Framework, particularly in relation to Quality Area 6: Collaborative partnerships with families and communities.

Both governments have framed the investment as supporting broader economic and social outcomes, including:

• improved workforce participation
• stronger regional communities
• improved school readiness outcomes

Minister for Education Jason Clare said the fund would help deliver quality early education places in communities that need them most.

“Where you grow up shouldn’t determine whether you can access early education,” Mr Clare said.

Minister for Early Childhood Education Jess Walsh described the agreement as an important step toward building a universal early childhood education system.

Victorian Minister for Children Lizzie Blandthorn said the partnership would focus spending where it makes the biggest difference for families.

The investment sits alongside Victoria’s Best Start, Best Life reforms, which are progressively expanding access to funded kindergarten programs.

The reforms include:

• Free Kinder for Victorian 3- and 4-year-old children at participating services
• transition of Four-Year-Old Kindergarten to Pre-Prep, with children receiving up to 30 hours of kindergarten each week by 2036
• delivery of 15 hours per week of Three-Year-Old Kindergarten by 2029
• establishment of 50 Victorian Government-owned and operated early learning and child care centres in areas of greatest need

For approved providers and service leaders, the capital investment signals continued government commitment to place-based planning and publicly supported not-for-profit growth in priority communities.

As infrastructure expands, attention will remain on workforce supply, service viability and quality assurance to ensure that increased access translates into sustained high-quality outcomes for children.

More information about the Building Early Education Fund is available via the Australian Government Department of Education website.

Further detail is available in the Australian Government’s Ministerial Media release, which outlines the scope of the investment and rollout timeline