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Operational policies supporting the Best Start, Best Life reforms

Information on flexible hours and other policies for funded kindergarten service providers

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Three-Year-Old Kindergarten in 2026

As Three-Year-Old Kindergarten has been rolled out across Victoria, services have had flexibility to determine how many hours they deliver per week, between a minimum of 5 hours and maximum of 15 hours. This will remain the case in 2026, however, to continue our progress towards 15 hours per week of Three-Year-Old Kindergarten state-wide by 2029, there are some additional requirements that apply to the roll-out of Three-Year-Old Kindergarten.

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In 2026, service providers can determine how many hours of funded Three-Year-Old Kindergarten they deliver per week, between a minimum of 5 hours and a maximum of 15 hours, provided that program hours are not lower than Three-Year-Old Kindergarten hours delivered in 2025.

Services will be funded pro rata for the program hours delivered.

Services are required to seek approval from the department if they are proposing to reduce the number of funded Three-Year-Old Kindergarten hours they deliver in 2026 below what was offered in 2025.

The priority is to give as many Victorian children access to funded kindergarten as possible. Services should prioritise the participation of children in a funded kindergarten program over the number of weekly program hours, where there is a trade-off between the two.

Services proposing to reduce the number of Three-Year-Old Kindergarten places offered at the service are required to seek approval from the department. For service providers that delivered mixed age programs in 2025, or will deliver mixed age programs in 2026, services proposing to reduce the total number of three-or four-year-old places to below 2025 levels are required to seek approval from the department.

If you are considering reducing your Three-Year-Old Kindergarten hours or places offered at your service, you should discuss it with your local Early Childhood Improvement Branch as early as possible. The department will consider proposals on a case-by-case basis.

Pre-Prep from 2026

New operational policy settings will support the transition to Pre-Prep in early roll-out local government areas (LGAs), as well as facilitate access to Pre-Prep for children from specified priority groups at funded kindergarten services state-wide.

In addition, these settings include an important change in relation to eligible children seeking an additional year of funded kindergarten and will apply to all services from 2026, regardless of whether they are delivering Pre-Prep.

These operational policy settings will be monitored as the roll-out of Three-Year-Old Kindergarten and Pre-Prep proceeds. Any adjustments that may be required to the operational policy settings will be communicated to service providers in advance of the policy settings applying, to allow service providers time to factor any changes into planning.

The operational policy settings to apply from 2026 are outlined below.

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Minimum requirement of 16 hours per week

From 2026, children eligible for Pre-Prep must be enrolled for a minimum of 16 hours per week for 40 weeks of the year (or 640 hours per year) to be eligible for Pre-Prep funding. Services in roll-out LGAs that do not meet this requirement will not be eligible for funding for Four-Year-Old Kindergarten programs, unless there are exceptional circumstances.

If your service or families at your service are experiencing exceptional circumstances that mean you are not able to deliver at least 16 hours per week (or 640 hours per year) of Pre-Prep to eligible children, you are encouraged to contact your local Early Childhood Improvement Branch as soon as possible. Your local Early Childhood Improvement Branch is available to support you and can offer a range of tailored supports to suit your unique circumstances.

Pre-Prep program hours

Whether offering Pre-Prep to children in a roll-out LGA or to a child eligible for Pre-Prep in advance of this, services have the flexibility to choose program hours, between a minimum of 16 hours per week for 40 weeks of the year (or 640 hours per year) and the maximum number of hours specified in the roll-out schedule. Services can commence offering Pre-Prep before delivering 15 hours per week of Three-Year-Old Kindergarten.

Consistent with the current approach, children will be funded for Pre-Prep based on the hours of the Pre-Prep program they are enrolled in, rather than the hours they attend.

Services should ensure that the provision of Pre-Prep and Three-Year-Old Kindergarten reflects the needs of their local community.

Where places are limited, access to a funded kindergarten program should be prioritised over the number of weekly program hours delivered (for example, services are encouraged to support eligible children to access at least 16 hours per week of a Pre-Prep program, rather than fewer children being able to access a higher number of hours).

One funded place

Like Three- and Four-Year-Old Kindergarten, a child can only access a funded Pre-Prep program at 1 service at any one time. If a child is enrolled at 2 services, the parent, carer or legal guardian must nominate which service will receive kindergarten funding for the child. However, where exceptional circumstances may warrant a child accessing a funded place at 2 services, you should contact your local Early Childhood Improvement Branch for funding advice.

Priority cohort groups eligible for Pre-Prep statewide

From 2026, all children across the state:

The eligibility criteria for the 2026 Pre-Prep priority cohort group will be the same as the Early Start Kindergarteneligibility criteria, except that children must be at least four years old by 30 April in the year they are enrolled to attend the program. In addition, any child who was supported by Early Start Kindergarten or the Access to Early Learning program for Three-Year-Old Kindergarten is eligible for Pre-Prep the following year.

From 2028, children who have (or have a parent or guardian who has) a Commonwealth concession card, and children who are a multiple birth child (triplets or more), can access between 16 and 25 hours of Pre-Prep from 2028, and between 16 and 30 hours from 2030. The concession card holders eligible for Pre-Prep from 2028 are the same concession card holders eligible for priority of access under the priority of access criteria in the kindergarten funding guide.

Workforce requirements

Pre-Prep programs must be developed and delivered by a Victorian Institute of Teaching (VIT)-registered early childhood teacher (ECT). The requirements for teaching qualifications, standards and workforce practices for funded kindergarten programs as outlined in the kindergarten funding Guide as amended from time to time, will apply to Pre-Prep.

Alternative funding arrangements for services that are not able to have a VIT-registered ECT deliver a Pre-Prep program due to exceptional circumstances (for example, Funding by Exception) will be outlined in the kindergarten funding guide.

The gradual transition to Pre-Prep is intentional. It allows time for the sector to grow the required workforce and necessary infrastructure.

The Best Start, Best Life reforms mean that existing services will, over time, generally enrol fewer children for more funded kindergarten hours. To support Victorian children to access and participate in Three-Year-Old Kindergarten and Pre-Prep, more services will open across the state to meet future demand

While the sector continues to grow the required workforce and necessary infrastructure, the department will closely monitor the delivery of kindergarten across the state to identify any areas where there is a risk that children may not be able to access a funded kindergarten place.

Prior notification required to reduce 4-year-old enrolments

Services are encouraged to consider how Pre-Prep can be delivered while maintaining the number of 3- and 4-year-old enrolments at the service. This may mean implementing program modelling changes. The most suitable model for delivering Pre-Prep at your service will depend on the needs of your community, and preferences about how kindergarten programs are delivered.

If, after considering program modelling changes, your service is proposing to reduce 4-year-old enrolments to accommodate Pre-Prep you must notify the department. This includes services reducing 4-year-old places offered to deliver Pre-Prep hours for the first time and those reducing 4-year-old places offered to increase Pre-Prep program hours delivered.

This notification requirement will help us effectively monitor reform implementation across the State.

Notification process for 2026 Pre-Prep roll-out

Services proposing to reduce the number of Four-Year-Old Kindergarten and/or Pre-Prep places offered for 2026 were required to notify the department by 18 April 2025. Any services proposing to reduce enrolments at a service after this date are encouraged to contact their local Early Childhood Improvement Branch as soon as possible.

Meeting the demand for Pre-Prep enrolments

Service providers will be informed when a risk emerges that children in a service’s local area may not be able to access a funded Pre-Prep place. In these circumstances, the department will work with services in that local area to increase the number of enrolments.

Service providers should be clear when communicating proposed timetables to Central Registration and Enrolment Scheme providers and/or families that timetables are indicative and subject to change. This will mean families are aware that services may be required to adjust their programs.

The department’s priority of access criteria requires service providers to prioritise funded kindergarten places to specified cohorts of children. This helps to support children experiencing vulnerability or disadvantage access a kindergarten place.

The department’s priority of access criteria, as amended from time to time, will continue to apply to the allocation of funded kindergarten places to 3- and 4-year-old children.

In Pre-Prep roll-out LGAs, children residing in the LGA and children residing outside the LGA whose closest service is located within the LGA will be prioritised for a place over other children from outside the LGA. Where there are places available after these children are placed in a program, children from outside the rollout LGA can be allocated a place. The department will work closely with you to support children who live outside of a rollout area, but whose ‘local’ service is in the rollout area, to enrol in a funded Pre-Prep program.

As under current policy, once all children have been accommodated in accordance with the priority of access criteria, local criteria can be applied to prioritise children such as those enrolled from a previous year, those with a sibling in the service, and/or those living closest to the service.

Currently, a second year of funded Four-Year-Old Kindergarten may be considered when a child shows delays in learning and development outcome areas in the Victorian Early Years Learning and Development Framework, and when:

From 2026, across Victoria, children can access an additional year of either:

This change applies to children attending Three-Year-Old Kindergarten in 2025. The information for early childhood education professionals on how to determine if a child is eligible for a second year of funded Four-Year-Old Kindergarten will be updated to reflect the availability of an additional year of either Three-Year-Old Kindergarten or Pre-Prep by mid-2025.

For responses to some frequently asked questions, see:

Early Childhood Improvement Branch contacts

Find your local Early Childhood Improvement Branch contact for specialist resources and tailored advice to support the roll-out of Three-Year-Old Kindergarten and Pre-Prep.

Early childhood education and care

Updated 27 March 2026

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