Focus areas and foundations

1.1 Three-year-old kindergarten: Continue to roll out kindergarten programs for 3-year-olds across the state, growing to 15 hours by 2029.

1.2 Pre-Prep: Transition 4-year-old kindergarten to ‘Pre-Prep’, increasing to a universal 30-hours a week program of play-based learning for every 4-year-old child in Victoria.

1.3 New early learning centres: Establish 50 Victorian government-owned and operated early learning centres, in areas of greatest need.

2.1 Best kindergartens for Victorian kids: Provide grants for kindergartens to procure new or improved toys and equipment, Bush Kinder programs, toy libraries and expansion of bilingual kindergartens.

2.2 Early years assessment and learning tool: Provide teachers and co-educators with a new online observation-based tool that supports assessment of children’s strengths, interests and abilities.

2.3 Intensive school support: Establish teams of regionally based executive-class principals and leading teachers partnering with schools that have challenging and complex settings to deliver improvements.

2.4 Lifting student attainment:

• Deliver the Middle Years Literacy and Numeracy Support program to provide intensive learning support to at-risk students in Year 10.
• The Tutor Learning Initiative provides targeted small-group learning support to students who need it most and the Student Excellence Program supports greater achievements for high-ability students.
• Develop high-quality, sequenced lesson plans in priority curriculum areas to reduce administrative burden and ease workload pressure for teachers.
• Implement the refreshed Victorian Teaching and Learning Model 2.0.

2.5 New Tech Schools: Build 6 new Tech Schools to provide hands-on and immersive STEM learning experiences to more than 62,000 secondary schools students.

2.6 Senior secondary pathways reform: Implement the Victorian Certification of Education Vocational Major and the Victorian Pathways Certificate, deliver high-quality VET to all Victorian students, develop pathways for students to engage with emerging industries and improve vocational and applied learning pathways to pursue senior secondary education.

3.1 Inclusion in kinder: Implement disability inclusion reforms, including more Pre-School Field Officers, continuing the specialist equipment program, strengthening current assessment processes, and designing and piloting a new strengths-based approach to support.

3.2 Kinder participation: Improve local kinder participation through strengthened local and state-wide strategies, leverage existing initiatives such as School Readiness Funding, and create a new kindergarten attendance data system.

3.3 Student mental health reforms: Includes establishing a Schools Mental Health Fund supported by a menu of evidence-based initiatives, expanding the Mental Health in Primary Schools program, funding mental health and wellbeing leaders in every government and low-fee non-government school, and embedding mental health practitioners in every government secondary school.

3.4 Disability inclusion: Roll out the Disability Inclusion tiered funding model and system capability-building initiatives to help schools better identify and respond to the needs of students with disability.

3.5 Engaging students: Strengthen strategic focus on improving school attendance and student engagement, supported by targeted efforts to increase the scale and scope of the Education Justice Initiative for students in (or at risk of) contact with the youth justice system and Navigator program for chronically disengaged students, continue LOOKOUT centre support and individual education supports for students in Out of Home Care.

3.6 Re-engaging early school leavers to remain in learning: Enhance data infrastructure to identify and support students who leave school early or are disengaged from the education and training system.

3.7 Providing students with essentials: Continue to deliver school breakfast clubs, affordable school uniforms, glasses for kids and free period products.

3.8 School Saving Bonus: Deliver a one-off $400 School Saving Bonus that families can use to cover the cost of uniforms, textbooks, camps, excursions and other extracurricular activities through the year.

3.9 Child safety: Strengthen child safety policy, guidance, training and support for schools and early childhood education and care services, so that children and young people are safe, and staff are equipped to identify and respond to risk or harm.

4.1 Cultural safety and inclusion in kinder: Work with Victorian Aboriginal Education Association Incorporated (VAEAI) on new approaches to establishing a culturally safe environment in all services, which values and respects Aboriginal culture, children and families.

4.2 Roll out Pre-Prep to Aboriginal children as a priority: From 2026, children who identify as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander will be eligible for between 16 and 25 hours a week of Pre-Prep.

4.3 Marrung – Aboriginal Education Plan 2016–2026: Strengthen cultural inclusion and safety, and ensure equitable access to early childhood and education supports so that First Peoples learners achieve their potential, succeed in life, and feel strong in their cultural identity.

4.4 Dhelk Wukang – Aboriginal Inclusion Plan: Strengthen Aboriginal inclusion, self-determination and cultural safety at all levels within the department, including the Victorian public service and Government teaching service.

4.5 Self-determination in education reforms: Strengthen self-determination for First Peoples learners and their families through building school capacity and practice in partnership with First Nations communities.

4.6 First Peoples workforce: Attract and retain new and returning First Peoples to the schools workforce and continue to work with VAEAI on supporting First Peoples to become early childhood teachers and educators.

5.1 Fighting for students with disability and their families: Provide more support for students with disability and their families, ensuring more students have better access to the services they need.

5.2 Roll out Pre-Prep to vulnerable and disadvantaged children: Priority cohorts of children will be eligible to receive between 16 and 25 hours of Pre-Prep state-wide:

• from 2026, children from a refugee or asylum seeker background and children who have had contact with Child Protection.
• from 2028, children (or guardians) who have a concession card, and children who are a multiple birth child.

5.3 Multicultural, multifaith, culturally and linguistically diverse support: Support multicultural and multifaith communities by strengthening and extending language provision and expanding refugee education support programs and continue support for students of African and Pasifika heritage through the Victorian African Communities Action Plan and Place-based education initiatives.

6.1 School workforce supply initiatives: Support the growing demand for teachers by delivering programs to attract people into the teaching profession and retain the teaching workforce, including Career Start, Initial teacher education and pre-service teacher initiatives, mathematics and science specialisations.

6.2 Improving school staff mental health and wellbeing support and reducing administrative workload: Implement initiatives to improve government school staff mental health and wellbeing and undertake an independent review into administrative and compliance activities in government schools.

6.3 Best Start, Best Life workforce initiatives: Implement the refreshed workforce strategy through initiatives to build workforce supply and support retention of existing early childhood workforce to deliver high-quality early childhood education.

1.1 Victorian Secretaries Board (VSB) Integrity Statement Action Plan: Support a strong culture of integrity by implementing the 2023 VSB Integrity Statement Action Plan through the delivery of work planned as part of the department’s integrity program and the department's Integrity Statement Action Plan.

1.2 Develop a new workforce diversity and inclusion plan: Consolidate the range of existing strategies and plans into one, to focus effort and streamline actions for greater impact.

2.1 Cyber security and Information and Communications Technology (Securing Connected Learners): Create a safe and secure system-wide digital learning environment for students and schools to achieve a globally engaged and competitive education system.

2.2 Child Link and Kindergarten information systems: Continue to roll out a digital register that integrates key information to support individual children’s wellbeing and safety (birth to 18 years old). Establish updated kindergarten information systems for monitoring kindergarten funding applications, data collection and develop new enrolment and attendance collection systems.

2.3 Improve information access and records management practices: Implement a strategic Records Management Program consistent with the Records Management Strategy 2024–2028 to improve access to departmental information, support staff to systematically keep high-quality, digital first records and ensure historic records are safeguarded and preserved.

3.1 Partner with Victorian Catholic Education Authority and Independent Schools Victoria to deliver the Teaching Excellence Program at the Victorian Academy of Teaching and Leadership.

3.2 Continue working closely with local and federal governments on maximising our collaborative impact.

3.3 Continue working closely with the Department of Jobs, Skills, Industry and Regions to improve access to VET Delivered to School Students and senior secondary certificate provision through non-school providers as part of the senior secondary pathways reform.

3.3 Continue working closely with the Department of Jobs, Skills, Industry and Regions to improve access to VET Delivered to School Students and senior secondary certificate provision through non-school providers as part of the senior secondary pathways reform.

4.1 Department of Education Asset Strategy: Develop and maintain a high-performing asset base by targeting investment and improving processes so assets meet demand, are safe and in good condition, are fit-for-purpose and inclusive, environmentally sustainable, and asset managers are accountable and capable across the early childhood and school systems.

4.2 School infrastructure program: Deliver infrastructure to meet demand including new school construction and associated establishment processes, land acquisition, additional permanent, refurbished and upgraded infrastructure at existing schools and relocatable buildings, with the aim of building 100 schools between 2019 and 2026.

4.3 Early childhood infrastructure: Grants and direct delivery to support expansion of places through kindergarten building projects that support the roll-out of Three-Year-Old Kindergarten and Pre-Prep. Building Blocks is also making kinder buildings, playgrounds and equipment more inclusive for children of all abilities.

4.4 Update Kindergarten Infrastructure and Service Plans with all local governments.

4.5 Partner with local government, non-government schools and not-for-profit providers to deliver new early childhood infrastructure and identify school sites for delivery of Kindergartens on School Sites

4.6 Undertake analysis to determine where and when new schools should be built, and additional capacity required at established schools.

5.1 Support Best Start, Best Life provision, planning and change management at the sector and local level.

5.2 Strengthen child information sharing and improve service connections in the early years, working with other departments, local governments and partners.

6.1 Education and training climate change adaptation action plan 2022–26: Build understanding of and guide how to adapt and build resilience to the impacts of climate change.

6.2 Greener Government Schools Buildings: Install solar power systems in schools to lower the cost of electricity and reduce schools’ carbon footprint.