Our investment plan
Bumper investment in South Australian children’s early years
The government is investing $1.9 billion over the period to 2032 in early childhood services and support, to deliver the reform set out in the recommendations from the Royal Commission into Early Childhood Education and Care. This investment:
- gives every child access to teacher-led early childhood education from age 3
- offers convenience for families in how they access early childhood services
- improves learning and development outcomes for children.
A staged roll-out of this generational reform over 7 years allows the workforce to grow and infrastructure to expand in high quality early years services across the state.
The government will be investing $715 million over the next 5 years to implement key reform initiatives. The overall reforms consist of 7 core elements that together, work to achieve our ambitious target to reduce developmental vulnerability from 23.8% to 15% over 20 years.
The core elements of the early childhood reform investment over 5 years include:
$339.7 million over 5 years to deliver universal 3-year-old preschool in government and non-government settings, including long day care centres. The new universal preschool model for 3- and 4-year-olds will include a teacher-led play-based preschool learning and development program.
The funding will support early identification of each child’s needs and bring together education, allied health and other supports. There will also be investment in better connecting children and families into early childhood services.
Infrastructure investment will expand and enhance quality government and other settings, based on detailed local provision planning.
From 2026, South Australians will see early childhood education and care services progressively offer universal preschool for 3-year-olds. The government will begin to partner with long day care providers across the state who meet quality and workforce requirements to deliver this program to children enrolled in their services.
Government and non-government preschools will also phase in the availability of universal 3-year-old preschool places between 2026 and 2030 based on location, starting in remote and regional communities. Aboriginal children will retain their existing access to 3-year-old preschool in government preschools, as will children in care.
Three government demonstration sites will open in metropolitan South Australia in 2026 to provide insights ahead of the full government metropolitan roll-out in 2029 and 2030.
During the roll-out, children will receive a 6 to 15-hour program per week where programs have commenced, with hours building up across the roll-out. All 3-year-old children in South Australia will have access to a 15-hour preschool program by 2032. Every child will still have a guaranteed place in a government preschool in the year before school.
$30.6 million over 4 years to align the support offered through 4-year-old preschool with the enhanced support framework being developed for 3-year-old preschool. This will be introduced in line with the roll-out of 3-year-old preschool so children receiving extra support at age 3 have continuity and consistency during both 3-year-old and 4-year-old preschool.
$127.3 million over 4 years to deliver 30 hours of preschool a week for 2000 children at greatest risk of developmental vulnerability at age 3 and 4 in local settings and integrated hubs. This includes the creation of integrated hubs to be co-designed with local communities opening progressively over the life of the reform, including 2 initial demonstration hubs opening in late 2025. Two integrated hubs will be Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation-operated.
$14.0 million over 4 years to empower Aboriginal children, with this investment to reach full scale from 2029. This investment will include undertaking a genuine co-design process with Aboriginal communities, starting in 2024-25, to retain and increase the benefits Aboriginal children get from existing 3-year-old preschool. We are also investing in the Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation sector and aligning Closing the Gap initiatives and outcomes for early childhood.
$96.6 million over 4 years, including a $56 million early childhood workforce development fund and support for quality teaching and learning in readiness for universal preschool delivery. Further details can be found in the Early Childhood Workforce Strategy released in June 2024. Funding will also support the Education Standards Board to increase the frequency of assessment and ratings.
$10.8 million over 4 years to expand early childhood parenting groups through the Child and Family Health Service from 2025-26. We will also deliver ongoing funding for Words Grow Minds to support families with their child’s development. This funding will also support the development of referral pathways to ensure children at risk of child protection and children in care are connected with early childhood services, as well as the provision of expert advice and resources to support the inclusion of children with additional needs and developmental vulnerabilities.
$96.1 million over 4 years to support the Office for Early Childhood Development in its role as system steward of the early childhood development system in South Australia.
We’re investing in cross government child development activities including system research and strengthening data systems. Local teams across the state will work to mobilise government and non-government services in every community to access quality preschool with support service integration.