Best Start, Best Life - ACA Victoria

The Victorian Government’s $14 billion Best Start, Best Life (BSBL) reforms are the most significant change to Victoria’s early childhood sector in a generation.

ACA Victoria’s role is to undertake change management activities for the BSBL reforms in partnership with the Department of Education. These activities will support Victorian long-day-care providers to deliver kindergarten programs for 3 and 4-year old children in line with the roll-out schedule.

As part of the reforms, Four‑Year-Old Kindergarten will gradually transition to Pre‑Prep over the next decade – increasing to a universal 30-hour-a-week program of play‑based learning for 4-year-old children in Victoria by 2032.

Pre-Prep will begin in 2025 with regional Victorian children in 6 local government areas the first to benefit, before gradually rolling out across the state.

The BSBL reforms mean:

Free Kinder: From 2023, Free Kinder will be available for Victorian 3 and 4-year-old children at participating services in both standalone (sessional) services and long day care (childcare) settings – a saving of up to $2,500 per child, every year.

Pre-Prep: Over the next decade, Four-Year-Old Kindergarten will transition to ‘Pre-Prep‘ – increasing to a universal 30-hour a week program of play-based learning for four-year-old children in Victoria by 2032.

Three-Year-Old Kindergarten: The roll-out of Three-Year-Old Kindergarten continues, programs will increase to 15 hours a week across the state by 2029 – providing Victorian children with two years of a quality kindergarten program before school.

Early Learning Centres: The State Government is establishing 50 Victorian government-owned and operated early learning centres. These centres will be built in areas with the greatest need, and will make it easier for families to access childcare. The first of the centres will be available in 2025.

Kindergarten infrastructure: Significant investment in infrastructure across the state, including new kindergartens on or near school sites. Substantial grants are available to build, expand and maintain kindergarten services.

Kindergarten workforce: Increased investment to attract, upskill and retain early childhood teachers and educators – scholarships, incentives, traineeships and career advancement programs are available to support our skilled workforce.

Your questions answered

We’ve compiled some answers to member queries and concerns relating to kindergartens on school sites.

Enrolment

Any child from the local community can apply to enrol in the kindergarten. Kindergarten enrolments are not subject to the same zoning restrictions as primary and secondary schools, which prioritise enrolment of children residing within the Designated Neighbourhood Zone.

The kindergarten service provider will advise enrolling families that the criteria used to assess eligibility to enrol in the kindergarten and the school are different, and that enrolment at the kindergarten does not automatically result in an enrolment at the primary school.

Parents who want their children to transition to the co-located school must formally enrol through the normal departmental processes. Government schools must adhere to the Department’s Enrolment Placement Policy.

Kindergartens at schools service offering

Kindergartens at schools are designed to provide kindergarten services to three- and four-year-old children. While most services are generally sessional, it may be possible to integrate LDC or OHSC on the sites in consultation with the Department. Kindergartens at schools are generally run by an Early Years Management organisation or other approved not for profit kindergarten provider.

Early learning and childcare centres

In addition to kindergartens at schools, 50 government-owned and operated early learning and childcare centres (ELCCs) will be established in locations where they are needed the most. The first confirmed centres will be co-located at schools and will offer childcare, Three and Four-Year-Old Kindergarten and then eventually transition to include Pre-Prep.

New Kinder Resources

New resources have been designed to help services promote kindergarten initiatives across your networks. These resources include factsheets, brochures, social media tiles and links to additional resources. Click on the buttons below to download the resource.