Tunstall Square Kindergarten is part of the Victorian Department of Education’s Free Kinder Scheme
Information for our families:
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2025 Free Kinder funding requirements for sessional services
Funded sessional kindergarten service providers accessing this funding are required to:
- offer a free 15-hour kindergarten program for Four-Year-Old Kindergarten enrolments or a free kindergarten program of between 16 and 30 hours for Pre-Prep enrolments and a free kindergarten program of between 5 and 15 hours for Three-Year-Old Kindergarten enrolments
- not charge any compulsory out-of-pocket fees or levies to families, except for:
- one-off excursions (i.e. entry and transport costs) or one-off incursions (e.g. an external provider attends the service to deliver a one-off activity/presentation) for children that are not identified as being part of a priority group (as outlined in the Kindergarten Funding Guide(opens in a new window). Children whose families are unable to make these payments due to financial hardship, must not be excluded from the activity.
- Registration fees (also sometimes called waitlist or administration fees) where this fee is solely administrative and is not tied to delivery of the kindergarten program. To avoid imposing financial barriers to families seeking access, providers are strongly encouraged to exempt families in priority groups from registration fees.
- Late pick-up fees if this is the service’s policy and has been clearly communicated to parents.
- one-off excursions (i.e. entry and transport costs) or one-off incursions (e.g. an external provider attends the service to deliver a one-off activity/presentation) for children that are not identified as being part of a priority group (as outlined in the Kindergarten Funding Guide(opens in a new window). Children whose families are unable to make these payments due to financial hardship, must not be excluded from the activity.
- Not charge for regular excursions (including Bush Kinder) or regular incursions (e.g. fortnightly music or weekly sport programs) that are a core part of the kindergarten program.
- refund enrolment deposits upon the child’s commencement in the funded kindergarten program
- Free Kinder:
- a free 15-hour program (or 16-30 hour program where a service offers Pre-Prep) is available without any need or expectation to purchase additional hours
- Priority of Access (PoA) provisions apply, with all PoA children to be given priority over all other children regardless of whether they are enrolling in more than the relevant Free Kinder hours
- that any donations are voluntary and not required for participation in the kindergarten program
maximise use of licensed capacity as required to meet demand for three- and four-year-old enrolments.