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Preschool partnership arrangements consultation summary

In August and September 2024, the Office for Early Childhood Development (OECD) hosted a range of consultation sessions to help shape the preschool partnership conditions and support the refinement of key policy and operational positions for the roll-out of universal 3-year-old preschool.

We were also seeking to understand sector readiness and interest in partnering with the OECD to deliver the new model of preschool.

Sessions were well-attended by government and non-government service providers and policy leads, sector peaks, unions, and other interested parties, with about 340 attendees across the sessions.

Thank you for your attendance and engagement at these sessions, your participation is always appreciated.

Consultation key themes

What we heard at the consultations.

  • Participants were generally inquisitive and keen to understand how 3-year-old preschool will work in their particular setting.
  • There was significant interest in understanding the additional supports proposed to be available as part of partnering with the OECD, including participation in professional networks and the chance to collaborate across local services, especially for services that do not currently have access to external professional supports. We also heard about the importance of designing these in a way that maximises the value to participants.
  • There was support for a quality improvement program, as an important mechanism to provide quality assurance to families and communities engaged with services that are ‘working towards’, and interest to learn more about the types of support and how services can access it.
  • There was feedback in relation to child age and service type eligibility, and the need for communications tools to make this simple for staff and families exploring the new preschool system.
  • There is a need for wide and deep communication about what 3-year-old preschool is and where you get it, to build community awareness of quality teacher-led, play-based learning being offered across a wide range of service types.
  • A number of services will be well-positioned to meet the proposed partnership conditions from 2026.
  • There are a range of ways services embed cultural safety and broader inclusive practices in their services, and there was broad recognition that accessibility and inclusion should be part of how we operate as a system.

Next steps

Advice and feedback received through consultations was used to inform the draft Policy and Funding Guide for 3-year-old preschool (draft guide). Read more about how long day care services can deliver 3-year-old preschool from 2026.