The Preschool Reform Agreement is a joint initiative between all governments to strengthen the delivery of preschool, increase participation and improve outcomes for children in the year before full-time school.
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What is the Preschool Reform Agreement?
The Preschool Reform Agreement is an agreement between the Australian Government and all state and territory governments to:
- strengthen the delivery of preschool
- better prepare children for the first year of full-time school.
The agreement:
- locks in Australian Government funding for preschool
- commits all governments to a collaborative reform agenda.
The agreement began in 2022 as a $2 billion, 4-year initiative. In December 2025, governments agreed to extend the agreement until the end of 2027.
What does the agreement aim to achieve?
The agreement aims to:
- deliver at least 600 hours of a high-quality preschool program for all children in the year before full-time school
- establish fairer, more transparent funding so benefits follow the child across settings
- increase participation and attendance, especially for children experiencing disadvantage and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children
- improve children’s outcomes, supported by the Preschool Outcomes Measure.
How does funding work?
The Australian Government provides a per-child contribution to states and territories, supporting the delivery of 15 hours a week (600 hours a year) for children in the year before full-time school.
States and territories must pass on the per-child contribution to benefit children in the setting they attend, creating greater funding equity across Australia.
The per-child funding amount is as follows:
| Year | Funding |
|---|---|
| 2027 | $1,651.95 |
| 2026 | $1,611.66 |
| 2025 | $1,444.76 |
| 2024 | $1,410.90 |
| 2023 | $1,377.83 |
| 2022 | $1,345.54 |
The Australian Government also provides funding to states and territories to:
- sustain the 2021 funding levels
- implement projects.
The Australian Government has made available over $3 billion in funding to states and territories over the life of the agreement.
What is the reform agenda?
The agreement commits all governments to a collaborative reform agenda focused on 3 areas:
Enhancing funding equity
The agreement requires jurisdictions to pass on the Australian Government’s per-child contribution to the setting the child attends. This improves equity and transparency and helps ensure families see a consistent benefit wherever their children attends preschool.
Improving participation and attendance
In 2025, preschool attendance hours were set for all children by states and territories, in agreement with the Australian Government. This includes children experiencing disadvantage and First Nations children.
This initiative aims to improve children’s participation so that they can receive the full benefits of preschool. Jurisdictions report progress on this measure through the agreement’s performance arrangements which is tied to the Australian Government funding.
Improving child outcomes
Governments are progressing implementation of the national Preschool Outcomes Measure. It helps teachers and educators support children’s learning and development in the year before full-time school.
The Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) led the development and trial of the Preschool Outcomes Measure, in partnership with Goodstart Early Learning and Ninti One from 2023 to 2025.
The next phase of the measure will commence in 2026.
Data, transparency and performance
To support the reform agenda, governments are working to:
- improve quality and transparency of national preschool data
- collect and publish preschool attendance data for all children and some equity cohorts.