Victoria will transform early childhood education across the state with a $9 billion program which will begin to roll out from next year.
Premier Daniel Andrews has dubbed the 10-year plan the "biggest economic and social reform" he had been involved in over his 20 years in the Victorian Parliament.
New South Wales has announced its own early childhood education reforms, due to be introduced by 2030, with Mr Andrews and Premier Dominic Perrottet announcing the plan in a joint statement.
Here's how early childhood education will change for Victorian families in the decade to come.
Free kinder for Victorian families from next year
Kinder will be made free through new subsidies set to come into effect in 2023.
Children enrolled in eligible sessional kinder services will have access to a $2,500 subsidy, while children attending a funded kindergarten program in long day care settings will be eligible for a fee reduction of $2,000.
It marks a continuation of the childcare subsidies available in 2021 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
All three-year-old and four-year-old Victorian children will be eligible for 15 hours of subsidised kinder.
Families with children born between January and April can choose which year to start three-year-old kinder.
These children can start in the same year they turn three, or in the year they turn four years of age.
Pre-prep program to be doubled from 2025
Victoria will begin to offer 30 free hours of play-based learning a week starting from 2025, in comparison to the 15 hours currently offered.
Families will be required to pay for care after the free 30 hours have been exceeded.
The new pre-prep program will not be mandatory but is expected to have a strong uptake, with 92 per cent enrolment in four-year-old kinder currently.
The government will undertake an employment drive to meet the staffing requirements of the new program.
“I’m not pretending for a minute that it won’t come with challenges in terms of finding that workforce in a very tight labour market," Minister for Early Childhood Ingrid Stitt said.
A task force will be set up to oversee the rollout of the new program and incentivise education workers, with the program to be fully established statewide by 2032.
New government-run centres to alleviate 'childcare deserts'
The government will establish 50 childcare centres across the state to tackle major placement shortages in "childcare deserts".
"Rather than paying subsidies — that’s a choice others have made — we are going to get into this market with a high quality, low fee option," Mr Andrews said.
"That will be very, very low fee. It's not looking to make enormous profits, it will be a very different model."
The government centres will be established in outer suburbs of Melbourne and parts of regional Victoria where demand is highest.
Set to open by 2025, the centres will have capacity for 100 children, will open from 6:30am to 8:30pm and will offer childcare and kinder along with the new "Pre-Prep" program.
The centres will be zoned and will only be accessible to families who live in the area.
The government projects the new centres will increase the overall supply of childcare places by 3 to 5 per cent.
