Priority of access policy

Who

Under this policy, the following children are eligible for priority enrolment into kinder:

• Children at risk of abuse or neglect, including children in out-of-home care

• Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander children

• Asylum seeker and refugee children/ families

• Children who meet the eligibility criteria for the Kindergarten Fee Subsidy

• Children with additional needs, disability or developmental delay

Fina a detailed criteria and guide to demonstrate eligibility here. Find eligibility information for the Kindergarten Fee Subsidy here.

What is available?

• To ensure eligible children have priority enrolling into kinder, eligible services must apply this policy when the number of enrolments received is greater than the number of kinder places available. This applies to applications made through a Central Registration and Enrolment Scheme (CRES) or to an individual service.

• When taking enrolments, services must apply these criteria first, before applying any locally agreed upon criteria such as proximity to the service.

• Where there is no capacity for enrolment in a kinder program, under this policy, services should support the enrolment of eligible children in collaboration with other local kinder services and their Early Childhood Improvement Branch.  

Considerations

• If encountering difficulties professionals may wish to ask for the service’s priority of access policy, which should align with the above criteria.

• If this is not the case, professionals can contact their local Early Childhood Improvement Branch for assistance. They may also work with the service to support their understanding.

• This policy applies only to enrolment in a state funded kinder program and not to additional days or hours of Commonwealth supported Child Care. More information on this can be found here.

• Children who are experiencing disadvantage or vulnerability may also be eligible for Early Start Kindergarten or the Access to Early Learning Program.

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