Funded Kindergarten Place Declaration: Long Day Care Services

The Victorian Government provides funding to kindergarten and long day care services to deliver high-quality kindergarten programs in the two years before school. This helps to ensure all Victorian children get the best start in life.

The Victorian Government also provides Free Kinder funding to your service for children enrolled in a funded kindergarten program. This saves you and your family up to $2,050 per year. To pass on this saving, your service will provide you with regular deductions off your fees throughout the year.

Your child can access one funded year in a Three-Year-Old Kindergarten program (between 5 and 15 hours per week) and one year in a Four-Year-Old Kindergarten program (15 hours per week).

Your child can only access one funded kindergarten program at a time. This means that only one service can claim kindergarten funding for your child and pass on the Free Kinder savings. If you accept a funded kindergarten place at more than one service and both services receive funding, you may be required to repay the funding and may lose your child’s place in one program.

Please complete the form below to let {formInput_serviceAllocation} know where you are claiming your child's one funded kindergarten place in {carePeriod}

In {carePeriod}, which program will your child be accessing?*

3-Year-Old Kindergarten4-Year-Old KindergartenMy child will not be accessing kindergarten

Note:
3-Year-Old Kindergarten = They will start primary school in {carePeriodPlusTwo}
4-Year-Old Kindergarten = They will start primary school in {carePeriodPlusOne}

Will your child attend any other kindergarten or long day care services in {carePeriod}?*

No, my child will only attend this serviceYes, my child will also attend another service

Please provide the name of the other service/s*

Will you be claiming your child's funded kindergarten place and Free Kinder at {formInput_serviceAllocation}?*

Yes, I will be claiming at this serviceNo, I will be claiming at another service

Parent/Carer/Guardian Declaration:

I am claiming my child's one funded kindergarten place and Free Kinder at {formInput_serviceAllocation}
My child will not accept a funded kindergarten place at any other kindergarten or long day care service
I understand that if I accept a funded kindergarten place at more than one service, I may be required to repay the funding and may lose my child's place in the kindergarten program
If my child attends any other long day care or kindergarten service, I will let them know where my child is receiving their funded kindergarten place

Service Allocation

Child's Name*

First NameLast Name

Child's Name: {child_Name}
Parent's Name (signing this form):   First Name*   Last Name*
Signature:   Signature*
Date:   Date*

PLEASE NOTE: You have indicated that you will NOT be accepting the Free Kinder Funding for your child at {formInput_serviceAllocation}. Please contact us ASAP to discuss your child's enrolment options.*

Acknowledged

Kindergarten Information Sharing

Information for families with children enrolled in a funded kindergarten program.

Each year, kindergarten providers collect information about the families and children enrolled at their services. This includes sessional kindergarten and long day care services that offer a kindergarten program. This information is shared with the Department of Education (the department) if your child is enrolled in a funded kindergarten program.

How the department uses your information

The department uses your information to:

work out how much funding to pay to your service to help them deliver the kindergarten program.
plan any changes to funding and supports for services and families and help local councils plan their early childhood services.
link kindergarten information with other Victorian Government information to help plan supports for Victorians. Data linkage is done in a safe way to make sure that your child’s name is not linked to the enrolment information used for analysis.
complete the Annual Kindergarten Census. Some enrolment and attendance information is shared with the Australian Bureau of Statistics so that they can report on the numbers of children attending kindergarten in Australia each year. This information is anonymous, meaning your child’s name is not shared.
help academic researchers study part of the childcare or kindergarten system in Victoria. If those researchers are approved, they may have limited access to anonymous information.

Any agency or researcher, whether it’s the Australian Bureau of Statistics, or a researcher at a university, must meet strict criteria on how they use and store this information, even when it’s anonymous.

Information sharing and Free Kinder

Occasionally, data needs to be shared without making it anonymous.

In Victoria, Free Kinder is available in funded kindergarten programs. Many children receive Free Kinder through their long day care service. Accessing Free Kinder means that those families will have their long day care out-of-pocket fees reduced.

To do this, the Australian Government requires that some information about those children is shared with them including a child’s name, gender and Free Kinder funding amount received from the Victorian Government.

If you receive the Child Care Subsidy (CCS), the Australian Government already has most of that information. Sharing this information with the Australian Government simply lets them know that your child is attending a state-funded kindergarten program and the amount of Free Kinder offset applied to your fees.

Information may also be shared with an organisation engaged by the department to monitor and ensure that families are receiving the full benefit of Free Kinder.

The department must share information that is not anonymous where required by law.

Privacy policies

All information is handled in accordance with the Department of Education’s Privacy Policy and relevant privacy legislation including the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 (Vic) and the Health Records Act 2001.

Child's DOB*

Parent / Guardian 1*

First NameLast Name

Parent's email

example@example.com

Start Date of Care Period

Date

Date submitted*

form_name

Form_name_to_trigger_workflow

Care Period

Care Period + 1

Care Period + 2

Program Type