Victorian Early Years Awards

With the permission of family, this information includes the name of an Aboriginal person who has passed.

2026 Victorian Early Years Awards

The Victorian Early Years Awards celebrates the leadership, achievements and innovation of all early years professionals who continue to make a difference to the lives of Victorian children and their families.

The award categories focus on improving engagement in learning, supporting parents, building collaborative community partnerships, improving child health and wellbeing, exemplary practice in early childhood education, leadership and significant improvement in learning and teaching practices.

Winners are recognised as the best in Victoria for their category and go on to develop and share their inspiring work with their communities.

Winners of each category will receive a grant of $15,000 for professional development or to support their nominated initiative. The finalists in each category are also eligible to win the prestigious Minister’s Award, selected by the Minister for Children.

Key dates

• Nominations for the 2026 Victorian Early Years Awards are not yet open. Please check back in mid-April for updates.
• If you would like to be notified when nominations open, you can email early.years.awards@education.vic.gov.au(opens in a new window).

Key links

Further information

If you have any queries in regard to the Victorian Early Years Awards please email early.years.awards@education.vic.gov.au(opens in a new window).