Frequently Asked Questions
Welcome to the Office for Early Childhood Development's frequently asked questions.
What's changing?
The Government of South Australia is investing an additional $1.9 billion over 9 years to improve outcomes for young children in the state. This investment will expand the offering of quality 3-year-old preschool in South Australia, build the infrastructure and workforce needed and offer integrated support for families that’s aligned with the needs of children.
Research tells us that investing in the early years pays the biggest dividends for children and society. More than 90% of a child’s brain development occurs before the age of 5. There is broad evidence that 3- and 4-year-olds who attend preschool tend to have better life outcomes, including being better prepared to start primary school. This investment is key to reducing the rate of South Australian children entering school developmentally vulnerable – from 23.8% to 15% over 20 years.
A preschool program (also called kindergarten or kindy) is play-based, age-appropriate learning that occurs before a child starts full-time school. It’s an opportunity for children to learn through play-based programs that are led by qualified early childhood teachers and delivered as part of a long day care program or in a separate preschool setting.
3-year-old preschool will be rolled out in stages from 2026, with all 3-year-olds having access to a full 15-hour program in government and non-government settings (including long day care centres) by 2032. We’re doing this as quickly as possible, in line with the recommendations of the Royal Commission headed up by former Prime Minister Julia Gillard.
From 2026, the government will partner with long day care providers across the state who meet quality and workforce requirements to deliver 3-year-old preschool to children enrolled in their services. This will enable thousands of children to access the program from the early stages of the reform. Government and non-government preschools will also phase in the availability of 3-year-old preschool places between 2026 and 2032 based on location, starting in remote and regional communities. Participation and hours will grow over the life of the reform. Aboriginal children will retain their existing access to 3-year-old preschool in government preschools, as will children in care.
For parents and carers
If your 3-year-old child is attending a long day care that has partnered with government to deliver the new preschool model, they will receive the preschool program there. As more services partner with government to deliver preschool, there will be more opportunities for children in long day care to access preschool within the services they are currently attending.
If your child is not enrolled in a long day care offering 3-year-old preschool, they can attend a government or non-government preschool or long day care service offering the program. For 4-year-old children, there will continue to be an entitlement to a place in a government preschool, as well as long day care and non-government options. Aboriginal children will retain their existing access to 3-year-old preschool in government preschools, as will children in care.
3-year-old preschool costs will mirror those in 4-year-old preschool, with costs set by the preschool provider. The costs in long day care services are expected to be influenced by the outcomes of national reviews, including the ACCC and Productivity Commission reviews.
The introduction of 3-year-old preschool is a major expansion to the early childhood sector and needs to be introduced in stages to allow time to build necessary workforce and infrastructure. Some children will access preschool earlier in the roll-out, and numbers will grow over time. By 2032, every child in South Australia will have access to a preschool place in the two years before school, in either a long day care or a separate preschool setting.
Commencing the roll-out with a flexible approach to hours delivered allows as many children as possible to access the benefits of 3-year-old preschool as quickly as possible. Participation and hours will grow over the life of the reform, as we grow our workforce and build infrastructure.
Wherever possible, services will provide an offering of 15 hours per week. In some cases, workforce and infrastructure constraints will mean reduced hours are offered in the short term as a transitional step towards reaching the full roll-out in 2032.
For providers
The early childhood education and care workforce is critical to the delivery of the state’s vision for the early childhood system, but we are experiencing a national shortage of early childhood educators and teachers.
On 21 June 2024, the government released the Early Childhood Workforce Strategy. The strategy contains a suite of initiatives that are designed to address the barriers and challenges contributing to early childhood workforce shortages in South Australia.
By investing in the early childhood workforce, we can ensure we attract and retain the teachers and educators needed to deliver better support to families and universal preschool for 3-year-olds, so that more children are developmentally on track at school entry.
The government will invite services to apply to become a 3-year-old preschool provider under the new model, with funding conditions focussed on ensuring quality preschool provision. Consultation and engagement regarding the partnership approach to commence in the second half of 2024.
Many children will access 3-year-old preschool in long day care services where they are enrolled, using existing infrastructure. We also know from the work of the Royal Commission that there is additional capacity already available in services. This existing infrastructure will be leveraged early in the roll-out.
We will also need more capacity to achieve universal 3-year-old preschool by 2032. Statewide supply and demand modelling has been undertaken to give an indication of where more infrastructure is likely to be needed. We will be working with services in the second half of 2024 to get a detailed understanding of available capacity at the local level and place based additional infrastructure needs. This will include consultation with the sector on the development of an infrastructure strategy.
Working in early childhood
The Early Childhood Workforce Strategy addresses the challenges and barriers to growing and sustaining the early childhood workforce, in preparation for the roll-out of universal 3-year-old preschool in South Australia. The strategy is part of the government’s $96.6 million investment over 4 years, including a $56 million early childhood workforce development fund and support for quality teaching and learning in readiness for preschool delivery. The funding will also support the Education Standards Board to increase the frequency of assessment and ratings.
The Early Childhood Workforce Strategy will be implemented over 4 years, with many initiatives set to start from 2024, including financial assistance for early childhood study, supported learning pathways and co-design of the Aboriginal early childhood workforce strategy.
For information about the suite of workforce initiatives available through the Early Childhood Workforce Strategy, visit Working in early childhood and subscribe to our newsletter for updates.
Financial support for early childhood qualifications
You should assess your financial situation, as you are responsible for additional expenses beyond the awarded amount. You should also seek independent advice on potential impacts on taxation and government benefit schemes.
This depends on your personal circumstances. See below for general advice from the Australian Taxation Office in relation to tax on scholarship payments.
For a scholarship to be exempt from income tax:
- a person must be a full-time student at a school, college or university,
- the person must be in receipt of a scholarship and the scholarship must be provided principally for education purposes, and
- there must be no condition that they are an employee of the scholarship provider or enter into any contract with the scholarship provider that is wholly or principally for labour.
You are advised to seek your own independent financial advice in relation to your tax circumstances. Should you determine that your scholarship payments are subject to tax, you can provide a tax file number declaration (available from the ATO website) to the Program Administrator and tax will be withheld accordingly.
Inform the Administrator of any changes in your employment status, conditions, or location to maintain eligibility for retention/employment payments by emailing OECD.ECWorkforceSupport@sa.gov.au
The Administrator will review your situation individually so you receive the support you need to successfully complete your studies. Any repayment of financial support payments will be considered based on an evaluation of your circumstances and supporting documentation. We aim to provide flexibility within the program to accommodate your needs while maintaining your academic progress.