Early Start Kindergarten (ESK)

Who

To be eligible, a child must be three by the 30th of April in the year they are going to start kinder and:

• be from a refugee or asylum seeker background, OR
• identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander, OR
• have had contact with child protection.

‍Eligible children should be enrolled in ESK, even where 15 hours of free 3-Year-Old Kindergarten is offered.

What is available

Children who are eligible for ESK can attend 15 hours of free or low-cost kinder in a stand-alone kinder or long day care setting. The kindergarten program is led by a qualified Early Childhood teacher.

Enrolling children through ESK ensures eligible children have priority of access, and services can receive additional funding and support such as school readiness funding (SRF). Enrolling eligible children in ESK also helps with planning for the delivery of more hours of 4-Year-Old Kinder to eligible children the following year.

Services are encouraged to discuss eligibility for ESK and more hours of 4-Year-Old Kinder with families and referrers directly, in addition to the information collected in enrolment forms.

• ESK enrolments should be placed in a group where they can receive 15 hours per week of high-quality education, preferably delivered by the same teacher to enable continuity of learning.
• A child can be placed in a 3-Year-Old Kinder program, a mixed age program, or a 4-Year-Old Kinder program, and can be enrolled in multiple groups in order to access 15 hours per week.

Which group a child is in will depend on what the individual service has to offer, while the number of hours a child attends kinder will depend on their individual needs. Set up a meeting with the kinder service and the family to support a positive transition, keeping the child’s development and family's needs in mind.

ESK funding

• ESK is paid monthly as a single payment that includes both Per Capita and Free Kinder funding. For more information on Per Capita and Free Kinder funding please see the Kindergarten funding settings.
• ‍Children enrolled in ESK and the Access to Early Learning program are funded from the start of the year, no matter the service type they are enrolled in.
• Where an ESK child ceases at a service during the year:
  
  • If the service is eligible for baseline funding (as per the funding settings webpage), the service will continue to receive funding for the child for the rest of the year.
  • If the service is not eligible for baseline funding, funding for the ESK child is discontinued from the next month following the cease date.

From 2026, ESK extension grants have been replaced by increased hours of 4-year old kindergarten (Pre-Prep). For more information on 4-year old kindergarten (Pre-Prep) funding see Kindergarten funding settings.

ESK in Long Day Care

ESK funding can be used in combination with the Australian Government’s Child Care Subsidy (CCS) and the Additional Child Care Subsidy (ACCS).

Long Day Care services are required to use ESK in the first instance to allow eligible children to attend a kindergarten program for 15 hours per week for a minimum of 600 hours per year at no cost to the family.

Long Day Care services may collaborate with the family or carer to determine how to support the child’s needs. The service may consider how this can contribute to their Quality Improvement Plan.

The service can allocate the funding towards:

• gap fees not covered by CCS or ACCS
• financial expenses whilst accessing ACCS
• resources for children with high, complex needs or those experiencing disadvantage
• employment of a kindergarten teacher
• out-of-pocket expenses such as excursions/incursions
• professional development for staff about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture.

When to apply for ESK funding

• If you are working with a family where a child is 2, start the conversation about ESK now.
• If you are working with a family where an eligible child has turned 3 by April 30 - they can enrol in ESK this year or next year.
• If you are working with a family where an eligible child is turning 3 after April 30 they can start ESK the following year.

This age calculator will help families consider when to enroltheir child in kinder and subsequently, school.

It is optimal for all children to engage in 2 full years of kinder before school, but some is better than none. This is especially the case for children who are experiencing vulnerability. Mid-year ESK enrolment is possible.

How to access

Find A Kinder is an interactive map that can be used to search for a Victorian government funded kinder nearest to a family. Services can be contacted directly via details on the map to ask about their programs and individual enrolment processes.

At enrolment families can:

• verbally notify the service of their ESK eligibility OR
• give their consent for a professional to do so on their behalf

Services will then enrol the child through ESK. There is no need for additional paperwork outside of the typical enrolment processes.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children

Support a family to connect to a culturally safe ECEC service so they feel safe to identify the child as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander at enrolment. No proof of Aboriginality is required to meet the ESK grant criteria and if this is being requested contact a Koorie Education Coordinator (KEC) for support. LOOKOUT Koorie Cultural Advisors may assist for children in Out of Home Care (contact a KEC for further information). More information on cultural safety at kinder can be found at Koorie Kids Shine. The Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency (VACCA) has a great tip-sheet on Starting Kinder and more helpful resources can be found on their website.

Children in Out of Home Care

For additional support for children in Out of Home Care, the LOOKOUT team can provide assistance.

Children from a refugee or asylum seeker background

For additional support for children from a refugee or asylum seeker background, you can contact your local CALD outreach worker or Early Years team at Foundation House. Families are not required to provide visa documentation or other evidence to confirm their eligibility for ESK.

Exemptions may be granted where a child, their parent, carer or guardian, has had a refugee or asylum seeker experience but has not held and is not applying for a refugee or humanitarian visa in Australia. If an exemption is required or there’s any uncertainty around eligible visas, contact your local Early Childhood Improvement Branch.

More details, including eligible visas and exemptions, is available at: https://www.vic.gov.au/early-start-kindergarten-information-professionals#refugee-and-asylum-seeker-children

More information

If you are unsure about eligibility, please get in touch with your local Early Childhood Improvement Branch. Your branch can assist both professionals and families to troubleshoot issues.

Resources

The Department of Education (DE) has multiple resources available to support families access ESK, including:

• Postcards to provide to families when discussing ESK. Contact details of supporting professionals can be written on the postcard, and then shared with kinder services by families to advise of their ESK eligibility. This eliminates the need for the family to verbally identify their own eligibility if they feel uncomfortable to do so.  
• Brochures to promote ESK with families, translated into 6 languages
• Brochures to promote ESK with families from a refugee and asylum seeker background, translated into over 20 languages

To order ESK print material free of charge, set up a free account and order material via the DE webpage.

• More information for families.
• More information for professionals.

Reviewed July 2026.