Deliver 3-year-old preschool from 2026
3-year-old preschool is coming to long day care from 2026
Express your interest to partner with the government to deliver 3-year-old preschool.
Rolling out 3-year-old preschool
We are progressively rolling out 3-year-old preschool from 2026 to improve outcomes for young children in South Australia. Our aim is for all children to have access to 2 years of a 15-hour a week preschool program by 2032. To do so, we are investing in quality preschool programs across a range of services.
The new preschool model for 3- and 4-year-olds will include:
- a teacher-led quality preschool program
- support from allied health and other professionals
- early identification of a child’s developmental needs on site, with organised pathways to interventions
- organised family and community supports for those who need it.
Long day care services
Expressions of interest are now open for long day care services that meet workforce and quality requirements to partner with the state government to deliver 3-year-old preschool programs from 2026.
Services that are interested in offering 3-year-old preschool to children enrolled in their services from 2026 can submit an expression of interest to become a partner service. Future opportunities to express interest will be available as the roll-out progresses.
Government support for services delivering 3-year-old preschool will include funding for workforce supports such as planning time and professional learning across all settings. Curriculum tools and resources will also be available. More information is included below.
A statewide campaign promoting the benefits of early childhood education and 3-year-old preschool will also commence in mid-2025.
In the meantime, for support with roll-out communications, you can:
- register for our information sessions
- subscribe to our newsletter for future updates on the roll-out.
More resources to support your service communicate the 3-year-old preschool roll-out to families and local communities are coming.
Government and other sessional preschool services
The roll-out of 3-year-old preschool in government and other sessional preschools will follow a geographic roll-out schedule – starting with regional and rural areas in 2026 and 2027, the greater Adelaide area in 2028, and metro Adelaide starting in 2029 and 2030. Find out more about the 3-year-old preschool roll-out.
Support the OECD can offer services to meet quality expectations
The Office for Early Childhood Development (OECD) is here to support you to prepare for the 3-year-old preschool roll-out. An outline of current and future initiatives is included below. Further details will be published on this webpage as soon as they’re available.
Growing and supporting the early childhood workforce
The government released the Early Childhood Workforce Strategy in June 2024, to support the recognition, growth and retention of South Australia’s skilled early learning professionals. Visit www.flyingstart.sa.gov.au to explore ways you can support early childhood staff to complete their existing study, upskill to the next level of qualification, undertake their practicum or traineeship with you, undertake professional development, and benefit from good leadership, management and support for wellbeing in your service.
Professional development and networking opportunities
Work will begin in 2025 on providing professional development and networking opportunities across the early childhood education sector. Services will be regularly updated so educators and teachers across the system have access to the latest evidence-based information and professional learning opportunities to support high quality teaching and learning. Subscribe to the OECD sector newsletter to find out when opportunities are available.
Preschool toolkit
The OECD will provide a range of evidence-based resources and tools, and professional development to support services provide high quality, culturally responsive, 3-year-old preschool programs in preparation for the 2026 to 2032 roll-out.
Quality Uplift program
A Quality Uplift program will start in 2025 to support services rated as Working Towards the National Quality Standard on their quality improvement journey. Services must make sure relevant service staff can actively participate in the program to identify, develop and implement improvements to program and practice.