Free Kinder Funding Victoria 2025
Kindergarten funding – also known as kinder funding – can be a helpful financial assistance when planning childcare. In this article, we will discuss whether you could be eligible for funded kindergarten, how you receive payments and answers to frequently asked questions.
Is Kindergarten Free in Victoria?
The ‘Free Kinder‘ initiative is available at participating standalone (sessional) kindergartens and long day care (childcare) centres. If you are unsure whether a local kindergarten or childcare centre operates under the ‘Free Kinder’ initiative, we recommend contacting them directly.
What is funded kindergarten?
Funded kindergarten is a scheme that allows parents to claim up to 15 hours of an approved kindergarten program per week. These kindergarten services are designed to provide a smooth transition to full-time primary schooling.
Who is eligible for funded kindergarten?
The funded kindergarten initiative is available for all 3 year-old and 4 year-old kindergarten programs – the child must be 3 years old or 4 years old by 30 April in the year they start.
What are the requirements for a funded kindergarten?
Children can access these kindergarten hours over a fortnight if services deliver a minimum of 600 hours of kindergarten per year.
Little Learners Daycare Centre is proud to offer acclaimed daycare for infants aged 6 weeks – 5 years. We participate in the funded Kindergarten program and run both our 3 year-old & 4 year-old programs from 9am – 5pm daily – learn more about our Kinder programs here.
Our kindergarten program offers an inclusive, educational and welcoming atmosphere, and it is delivered by bachelor-qualified teachers. Our specialised kindergarten programs for 3 and 4-year-olds focus on equipping your child socially, emotionally and cognitively for school.
If you have any questions about our kinder program, we invite you to get in touch with our friendly team, who would be more than happy to answer any of your queries.
Free Kinder in Victoria (Updated 2025)
If you claim free kinder, it’s important to know how the subsidy is applied to your kinder bills. Let’s explore.
How do you receive payments for the Kinder program?
The Victoria government will directly subsidise your kindergarten fees with the service provider. This means your kindergarten provider will apply the Free-Kinder offset to your fees regularly across the year (ie weekly or fortnightly).The deducted amount will be listed clearly on your invoice as the ‘Victorian Government Free Kinder offset’.
For details on how the offset is applied to your fees and how it appears on your invoice, get in touch with your kindergarten
Kinder Funding FAQ
It is normal to have questions about how you can access the Free Kinder Initiative. In these FAQs, we’ll address commonly asked questions.
You must tell all the kindergarten services where you wish to receive your kinder funding from. You will then need to sign a letter confirming which kindergarten service you would like to access Free Kinder in Victoria through.
No, you do not need to be eligible for the childcare subsidy – the 15 hours of weekly free kinder is available for all 3 year-old & 4-year-olds in Victoria.
No. Funded kindergarten refers to the funded initiative, where 15 hours of kindergarten is subsidised across the week by the Government. The funding is designed to alleviate childcare costs for parents while preparing children for primary school education.
Funded kindergarten will be delivered by qualified teachers in either a long day-care setting or in a sessional kinder setting. The advantage of opting for kinder through a long day care centre, is the Kinder program is integrated into long day care providing more flexible hours for working families. In sessional kinder, the daily hours are much shorter, with the 15 hours often spread across several days.
Some children move from one service to another during the kindergarten year. In these cases, the Free Kinder will move with the child, with the regular payments made to the new service for the rest of the year (or the duration of time that the child remains at that service). The service the child moves to must also be a participating service to continue receiving the Free Kinder Initiative.
General Enquiries
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