Victoria is the first Australian state or territory to give children universal access to 2 years of funded kindergarten programs before they start school. Victoria’s expansion of Three- and Four-Year-Old Kindergarten gives children the ‘gift of time’ with qualified early childhood teachers and educators, during a period of rapid brain development. Providing a longer program in the year before school gives more time for children of all backgrounds and abilities to deepen their learning
and development, and for services to deepen their relationships with families.

Teachers and educators can also provide deeper and more deliberate play experiences, which will give children opportunities to embed their learning. All children stand to benefit from attending a quality play-based kindergarten program.
From 2025, Four-Year-Old Kindergarten will gradually transition to Pre-Prep, with funded hours increasing to between 16 and 30 hours each week by 2036.
It is also recognised that kindergarten will have an especially big impact for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, children from refugee or asylum seeker backgrounds, and children who have had contact with Child Protection services, and encouraging families within these cohorts to enrol in kindergarten is particularly important. That is why these children will be prioritised for access to between 16 and 25 hours of Pre-Prep per week from 2026 onwards, increasing to between 16 and 30 hours per week from 2028.