Early Childhood Services Management

Kindergarten Fee Subsidy

The kindergarten fee subsidy payment totals $845, or $211.25 per term. It is paid to kindergarten services as part of normal payment processes.

Funded kindergarten providers should note the Kindergarten fee subsidy/fees policy. This policy provides operational guidelines for services administering the fees subsidy where fees charged are above or below the kindergarten fee subsidy, and can be found in the Victorian Kindergarten Policy, Procedures and Funding Criteria 2010-12

Please note:

  • The kindergarten fee subsidy works to support eligible families by meeting the cost of 10 hours and 45 minutes of kindergarten per week
  • Kindergartens claim on behalf of families to our Department for a fee subsidy
  • Our Department pays the kindergarten a subsidy in order to provide eligible families with 10 hours and 45 minutes of kindergarten for free
  • For 2011 the fee subsidy rate $845 per year (or $211.25 per term)
  • The subsidy is indexed on 1 January.

Eligibility

Eligible families will have one of these cards, visas or documents:

  • Health Care Card
  • Pensioner Concession Card
  • Temporary Protection/ Humanitarian Visas 447, 451, 785 or 786
  • Asylum seekers on Bridging Visas A - F and Refugee and Special Humanitarian Visas holders 200- 217
  • Resolution of Status (RoS) visa, Class CD, subclass 851
  • Department of Veterans Affairs Gold Card.

If triplets or quadruplets are attending kindergarten in the same year the family is also eligible for the subsidy for each child.

All Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander children are also eligible for the subsidy.

In addition to the above eligibility criteria, in 2011, eligibility for the kindergarten fee subsidy has been extended to families directly affected by the recent severe weather events in Victoria.

Families who have received a Department of Human Services Emergency Grant or an Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment as a result of the recent severe weather events in Victoria are eligible to claim the kindergarten fee subsidy for 2011.

For further information, see: Kindergarten Fee Subsidy: Extended eligibility for families affected by the recent severe weather events in Victoria (PDF - 47Kb)

More information

For help with kindergarten fees, see:

For more information about concessions available, go to What are State Concessions?

Interpreter service numbers

If you would like to speak with an interpreter about kindergarten, call the Interpreter Service.

Call 1300 200 680 for assistance with the following languages: Amharic, Arabic, Cantonese, Dinka, Hindi, Khmer, Korean, Macedonian, Nuer, Russian, Serbian, Sinhalese, Somali, Spanish, Tagalog, Turkish and Vietnamese.