Funded Four-Year-Old Kindergarten programs across Victoria are gradually increasing from 15 to 30 hours each week by 2036 through the roll-out of Pre-Prep.
Led by qualified teachers, additional hours of Four-Year-Old Kindergarten will give children greater opportunities to socialise and learn through play, and create stronger connections with children and families. The additional hours mean even greater access to the many benefits of early childhood education.
This program will be delivered through sessional kindergartens and long day care centres.
The staged roll-out allows time to grow the necessary workforce and infrastructure, and for services to get ready to run expanded programs.
The Expanding your early childhood education programs – Change Management Toolkit has information to support services plan and deliver 15 hours of Three-Year-Old Kindergarten and increased hours of funded Four-Year-Old Kindergarten. This includes advice about program model options and examples.
Roll-out in 2026
Pre-Prep will make Four-Year-Old Kindergarten available for between 16 to 25 hours per week statewide for children:
- who identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander
- from a refugee or asylum seeker background
- who have had contact with Child Protection services.
While all children stand to benefit from the reforms, this program will have an especially big impact for these children.
Four-Year-Old Kindergarten programs of 16 to 20 hours will be available to children in the following local government areas (LGAs) in 2026:
- Benalla Rural City
- Buloke Shire
- Corangamite Shire
- East Gippsland Shire
- Horsham Rural City
- Loddon Shire
- Mansfield Shire
- Mitchell Shire
- Pyrenees Shire
- Strathbogie Shire
- Wangaratta Rural City
- Wodonga Rural City.
See when your LGA is rolling out by looking at the Pre-Prep roll-out schedule.
Early Childhood Improvement Branches offer tailored support for services in the 2026 roll-out, including about modelling options.
For information on the operational policies supporting the reforms, refer to: Operational policies supporting the Best Start, Best Life reforms.
Find out more
For more information, refer to the Pre-Prep roll-out schedule.
For further enquiries, contact your local Early Childhood Improvement Branch.
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