The State Government is opening more kinders and adding more free kindergarten hours for families across Victoria – adding to the $630 million that busy Victorian families have already saved through Free Kinder.
Premier Jacinta Allan and Minister for Children Lizzie Blandthorn today visited Lollypop Creek Kindergarten in Werribee to announce the locations for new kinders on school sites and the opening of kinder enrolments for 2026.
The Labor Government will open a new kinder at Seville Primary School,in 2027.
“The 2-room kindergarten will have space for 66 children when it opens in 2027 and will be newly built on site.”
“Co-locating the kinder at Seville Primary School will have many benefits for families including making drop-off time simpler and more convenient for some families by allowing them to avoid the dreaded double drop off. It will also help some students transition to school more smoothly,” a Department of Education spokesperson said.
All three will be on school sites – helping more families ditch the dreaded double dropoff and increasing the number of kinders on school sites by 13 in 2027, creating more than 1,900 kindergarten places.
In 2026, the Government is also opening Pre-Prep – additional hours for Four-Year-Old kinder – to 12 new local government areas. This means another 3,000 children at 130 services eligible for up to 20 hours of kinder per week.
The Government is also giving up to 25 free kinder hours each week to priority demographics, no matter where they live. This will help more than 5,000 children including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, children from a refugee or asylum seeker background and those who have had contact with Child Protection.
It’s important. With 90 per cent of a child’s brain developing before the age of five, early education has a profound effect on the way children develop and gives them the best start in life.
Since Free Kinder started in 2023, the Labor Government has picked up the bill for Victorian families and saved them about $630 million in education fees. Next year, they’ll save another $350 million.
