First Nations education
Prioritising self-determination and strengthening cultural safety is a key focus of our strategy. Self-determination is a fundamental enabler to lift education and wellbeing outcomes for Victoria’s First Nations children and students.
We want to amplify the voices of First Nations children, young people, families and communities at all levels of decision-making to drive systemic change in early childhood and school education. This will connect, support and deliver better experiences and outcomes for First Nations people in Victoria. This work will continue in partnership with the Victorian Government’s principal partner in First Nations education, the Victorian Aboriginal Education Association Incorporated (VAEAI).
As Marrung: Aboriginal Education Plan 2016–2026 and Dhelk Wukang: Aboriginal Inclusion Plan 2022–2026 enter their penultimate year, we reflect on our progress and celebrate what has been achieved. We also acknowledge there is opportunity and a great need to do more.
The principles of Marrung and Dhelk Wukang provide a strong foundation for ongoing partnership with First Nations communities. In 2025, Marrung will be evaluated to inform the development of a new First Nations education plan. We will also plan a review of Dhelk Wukang to confirm our forward approach for when it concludes in 2026. Our future work will build on Marrung’s vision and our work so far, and be informed by:
- recommendations from the Yoorrook Justice Commission
- Victoria’s Closing the Gap Implementation Plan
- the Strengthening Aboriginal Self-Determination in Education report
- Statewide Treaty outcomes.
The Yoorrook Justice Commission provided us with an important opportunity to learn about the impact of colonisation. We are committed to implementing the Victorian Government’s response to the recommendations.
The Strengthening Aboriginal Self-Determination in Education report reform directions – accountability, partnerships, truth-telling, voice, capacity building, and a culturally safe and responsive school system – will position the education system to strongly support self-determination and elevate the voice of First Nations learners and their communities.
To build on Marrung’s achievements, a crucial next step is legislative change. We are reviewing the Education and Training Reform Act 2006 to inform possible amendments to strengthen First Nations recognition and embed the principles of self-determination.
Under the leadership of our First Nations Strategy, Policy and Programs group, we are supporting Treaty negotiations and agreed commitments.
Our continuing reforms aim to improve learning and wellbeing outcomes for First Nations children and young people, and support community control and choice. As part of the Education State – Excellence in Every Classroom strategy, we are strengthening First Nations history, culture and perspectives in the Victorian Curriculum. In the early childhood sector, we are prioritising Pre-Prep for First Nations children and continuing our partnership with VAEAI to establish culturally safe and inclusive kinders that value and respect First Nations culture, children and families.
Best Start, Best Life
The department is continuing to deliver the Best Start, Best Life reforms that will transform early childhood education in Victoria over the next decade.
Between 2025 and 2036, Pre-Prep will be rolled out across the state in stages. Once fully implemented, Pre-Prep will give children across Victoria access to up to 30 hours a week of kindergarten in the year before school. Led by qualified teachers, it provides greater opportunities to socialise and learn through play. A revised rollout plan provides more time to build the infrastructure and grow the workforce needed to support the reforms. The rollout prioritises children who will benefit the most from additional hours of kindergarten.
Pre-Prep successfully launched in 6 regional local government areas (LGAs) in 2025. In 2026, Pre-Prep will launch in 12 more regional LGAs and become available statewide to First Nations children, children from a refugee or asylum seeker background and children who have had contact with Child Protection.
Free Kinder continues to be available for children enrolled in a kindergarten program, enabling greater participation for children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Around 143,000 families benefited from this program in 2024, with a similar number expected to benefit in 2025. The rollout of the Three-Year-Old Kindergarten reform is progressing successfully: more than 90% of services across the state now offer between 10 and 15 hours per week, and over 90% of all eligible children were enrolled in a program in 2024. We are ahead of schedule for the full implementation of Three-Year-Old Kindergarten by 2029.
The first 4 Victorian government-owned and operated early learning and childcare centres opened in 2025, with a further 14 centres on track to open in 2026. All centres will be open by 2032 in areas of greatest need, co-located with schools or other services such as TAFEs, hospitals and major employers. Where possible, the centres will include space for co-located services such as maternal and child health services and playgroups.
We will continue to deliver on the government’s commitment to provide 180 new government-owned kindergartens, on or near school sites, with 8 of these new or expanded kindergartens already delivered. We will also continue to deliver kinders at non-government schools and support sector-delivered new and expanded early learning centres.
School reform
Our next phase of school reforms will focus on continuing to realise the Education State vision—to deliver excellence in every classroom in every corner of the state.
Over the past 10 years, the department has delivered a substantial number of significant reforms and changes that have enhanced the experiences and outcomes of schooling. Future effort will build on these reforms to drive improved student outcomes.
In 2025, Victoria achieved the best overall National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy results, had the largest improvement across all measures, and saw more Year 7 and 9 students achieving at the highest level in Numeracy. Despite these excellent overall results, there is still work to be done to lift outcomes for many students facing disadvantage across the state.
We will continue to deliver excellence in teaching and learning, with a focus on implementing the Victorian Teaching and Learning Model (VTLM) 2.0 in all government schools by 2028. The VTLM 2.0 is aligned with contemporary evidence about how students learn and has explicit teaching at its core.
High-quality Victorian Lesson Plans, including Phonics Plus, and professional learning programs aligned to the VTLM 2.0, will provide teachers with ready-to-use resources that reduce the burden of lesson preparation and support implementation of the Victorian Curriculum 2.0. We will continue to support government schools to implement Victoria’s reading position by the start of 2027 and the 5 strategies in the mathematics position.
Education State reforms will also focus on supporting every student to succeed. Generational reforms in student mental health and wellbeing and disability inclusion are continuing to be rolled out in schools and will become embedded over the next few years. Supporting families with the cost of education and promoting equal access to education is also a focus for our next phase of reform.
We are continuing the significant senior secondary school pathway reforms that are building the aspirations and skills of young people in Victoria. These reforms to secondary schooling will prepare students to embark on post-school pathways into careers that are rewarding and meet the needs of the modern economy. These reforms have supported growth in the proportion of students successfully completing the VCE (including the VCE Vocational Major) from 91.7% in 2021 to 97.5% in 2024.
Expanding, supporting and recognising our school workforce remains a priority. The Victorian Government's school workforce investment has contributed to there being over 12,000 more registered school teachers in Victoria in 2024 compared to 2020. Victoria’s government teaching service also grew by over 1,500 (full-time equivalent) staff from June 2023 to June 2024. Since 2019, the Teacher Financial Incentives program has supported over 800 teachers to relocate to hard-to-staff roles.
We are also building the capability of teachers, including through the Career Start induction program, which supports graduate teachers through professional learning, mentoring, time release and networking opportunities with peers as they enter the profession.
We will continue to prioritise the wellbeing and safety of our workforce, including by considering the findings and recommendations from the Independent Review into administrative and compliance activities.
We are providing a high-quality, contemporary learning environment through the delivery of modern infrastructure, including building 123 new schools between 2017 and 2026, and delivering over 2,300 upgrade projects. We will also deliver high-quality digital foundations that are cybersafe and enable schools and teachers to deliver a modern educational offering.
The Better and Fairer Schools Agreement Head Agreement, signed by the Victorian and the Australian governments in early 2025, supports delivery of the Education State. The agreement secures 100% of the Schooling Resource Standard for Victorian government schools by 2034 and sets out a suite of national reforms aimed at improving schooling outcomes for all Australian students.
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