Dear early childhood education and care services
The Victorian Budget 2024/25, handed down on Tuesday 7 May 2024, reaffirms the government’s commitment to high-quality and accessible early childhood education. It invests a further $128.6 million towards the Best Start, Best Life reforms, bringing the total investment to $6.3 billion.
With this Budget, we remain in a strong position to continue these landmark reforms to support Victorian children to have the very best opportunities to learn, explore, connect and thrive. The progress we have already made in delivering these reforms is a credit to you and your colleagues, and we know that these reforms have been welcomed by Victorian communities.
Together, we have much to celebrate. In 2024, more than 80% of services across the state are offering 15 hours a week of funded Three-Year-Old Kindergarten. Last year, almost 89% of children in Victoria were enrolled in a Three-Year-Old Kinder program. That means some 67,413 children were able to benefit from all those additional hours of quality play-based learning, and the rollout of Three-Year-Old Kindergarten continues, working towards 15 hours per week for all children by 2029.
Following the Budget, Free Kinder continues for all children, benefiting 140,000 families this year, with savings of up to $2,563 per child offering immediate relief to many families. There is no change to the delivery of Free Kinder at participating services across the state.
As we’ve outlined further in this month’s edition, Pre-Prep will continue to be introduced in stages, with an adjusted timeframe that will now be completed in 2036. There is no change to the delivery of Pre-Prep in 6 local government areas in 2025.
In relation to infrastructure, the Victorian Government will continue to build new kinders on or near school sites, and kinders at non-government schools. By 2032, we will see 50 government owned and operated early learning and childcare centres in the areas of greatest need. Further, an extra 4 early learning and childcare centres (ELCCs) are set to open in 2026 – adding to the 10 sites already slated for construction.
Looking ahead, the Budget will support us to keep our energies focused on what matters most: our children and families who will benefit the most from kinder, supported by world-class infrastructure and a talented and committed workforce.
Last week, we acknowledged National Sorry Day on Sunday 26 May 2024, leading into National Reconciliation Week (Monday 27 May to Monday 3 June 2024).
These important dates give us the opportunity to acknowledge the injustices of the past, the strength of Stolen Generations survivors and reflect on how we can all be part of the healing process to build a better future for the First Peoples of this land.
The Victorian Government’s strategy for improving educational access, inclusion and outcomes for Aboriginal learners is set out in Marrung Aboriginal Education Plan 2016–2026 (Marrung). Marrung establishes a vision that Victoria will be a state where every Koorie person achieves their potential, succeeds in life, and feels strong in their cultural identity.
The National Reconciliation Week theme for 2024, ‘Now more than ever’, is a reminder that we can support this vision in early childhood education through reconciliation action plans (RAP). By developing a RAP, kindergarten services can take meaningful action in support of their local Aboriginal community, advance reconciliation and embed cultural inclusion. A RAP documents how your service will strengthen relationships, respect and opportunities in and around the service and with the community.
Early childhood services can use the Narragunnawali online platform to develop their RAP, with additional professional learning, curriculum resources, subject guides and webinars to support implementation of reconciliation initiatives.
In relation to the unfinished business of reconciliation, there are many opportunities for each of us collectively and individually to take action and make change. I look forward to progressing the department’s part of this critical work.
Bronwen FitzGerald
Deputy Secretary
Early Childhood Education
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