Victorian children can now access Three and Four Year Old Kinder programs under the Free Kinder reform.
- All children are eligible for Free Kinder in Victoria in both three- and four-year-old state funded kinder programs at participating services.
- Families do not need to provide any evidence of eligibility to receive Free Kinder.
- Free Kinder is optional for services. Although most services have elected to provide Free Kinder, some have not opted in and will continue to charge fees. Before enrolling a child, ask if the service is part of the Free Kinder initiative so you can understand the cost for families.
- To find a state funded kinder, look for the purple kinder tick or use the online Find a Kinder tool. Check with the service to see if they are offering Free Kinder in 2023.
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NEW RELEASE: First of its kind research in Australia has found that child protection, education and health services are failing to provide culturally safe responses to First Nations children experiencing domestic and family violence.
The new report by ANROWS, Queensland Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Child Protection Peak Ltd, Australian Catholic University found that First Nations voices have been side-lined from decision-making, with devastating effects.
The first of its kind in Australia, the research project engaged 8 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community research teams across regional and remote Queensland and was led by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander chief investigators, in a collaborative process to elevate First Nations voices and find community-led solutions for healing and recovery.
The community-led research project resulted in the creation of the Healing our children and young people framework; a culturally safe, place-based, trauma-aware, healing-informed, children-centred approach to engaging with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children experiencing family and domestic violence.
Click here to read full report
Kids are at the heart of many family law disputes. The “best interests of the child” are enshrined in our family law legislation as the paramount consideration when making parenting arrangements.
Over the past decade, there’s been much debate about whether or not our family law system really listens to how children feel about arrangements that are made for their care. How well are children’s voices heard in family law matters that affect them?
And there’s consensus that reform is needed to how our family law system operates, in order to produce better outcomes for children. The only real question now is: how will change be practically achieved?
When the recent spate of Government family law inquiries was completed, various recommendations and official responses were made on many different aspects of the family law system, including the subject of children’s participation.
Several recommendations on this were made for the Government to consider, and in turn, in its responses the Government flagged the intention to bring about reform in this area, but cited the need for more research to guide policy.