Kindy is free for all Queensland families. Kindy is 15 hours per week, 40 weeks per year.
All approved free kindergarten providers can claim for free kindy funding now.
2025 Queensland Kindergarten Funding essential information
The funding category guidelines and funding essentials apply from 1 January 2025.
Latest 2025 information
Based on sector feedback, the essentials contain key changes in a more user-friendly format. Here are some of the key highlights for 2025.
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Maintaining Approved Kindergarten Program Provider (KPP) status: Updated processes for maintaining Approved KPP status without an early childhood teacher.
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Enrolling non-eligible children: For sessional kindergartens, non-eligible children can now be enrolled in a kindergarten program starting from Term 1.
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Managing delayed exits: Additional information about managing delayed exits from kindergarten programs.
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Clarification about children on visas: Clearer information on how children on visas are treated under the funding model.
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Managing enrolments: Additional information on absences and children returning to kindergarten from Prep.
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Managing early childhood teachers: Change to policy to allow a grace period if ineligible exceptional circumstance long day care services have lost their teacher. Additional requirement that ‘working towards’ exceptional circumstance applications and ineligible exceptional circumstance long day care services must have a workforce plan.
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Workforce programs: Information about workforce programs, and professional development opportunities.
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Subsidies: Clearer information on spending rules and inclusions and exclusions.
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Calculating the gap fee subsidy: Updated advice for long day care services with calculating the gap fee subsidy for a 5-hour day.
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Kindy Uplift: Inclusion of cut-off dates for kindy uplift eligibility and plan submission, and information on the transfer of funds during changes of ownership.
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Per capita kindy subsidy: Change to policy so that services receiving the per capita kindy subsidy will no longer be eligible for other kindergarten subsidies or supports such as kindy uplift.
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Exclusion of childcare management company fees: Kindergarten subsidies cannot be used by long day care services for payment of childcare management company fees, including base subsidy, inclusion ready subsidy, service location subsidy and kindy uplift.
2025 supporting documents:
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Statement of fees template—free kindy
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Example parent fees letter template
Note: Each approved provider or long day care service must identify the gap fee subsidy (free kindy amount) paid by the Queensland Government on each family's fee statement. Where this is not possible, the family fee statement must include the 'kindy tick' and free kindy logo to demonstrate to the family that they have received free kindy
- Early childhood teacher (ECT) annual plans
Funding
Funding is provided to eligible service providers to assist with the costs of delivering a kindergarten program through 1 or more subsidies.
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Base subsidy—provided for each eligible enrolled child. The base subsidy is paid to services to provide improved entitlements, including additional pay on top of their award, for the early childhood teacher and up to 2 diploma educators delivering the kindergarten program.
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Gap fee / free kindy subsidy—provided for each eligible child enrolled in an approved kindergarten program and covers the parent fee component of the kindergarten program for at least 15 hours a week for 40 weeks, or 600 hours a year.
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Service location subsidy—provided for each eligible child to service providers in regional and remote locations (as defined by the Australian Bureau of Statistics remoteness measure at the SA2 geographic level).
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Kindy Uplift—provided to eligible service providers as determined by the Department of Education to respond to children's learning and developmental needs through evidence-based initiatives.
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Inclusion subsidy—provided to service providers to support the inclusion of eligible children, irrespective of diversity of background or additional needs.
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Per capita subsidy—provided to service providers that have not opted in to free kindy.
To qualify for Queensland Kindergarten Funding, long day care services or sessional kindergartens must be an
approved kindergarten program provider.
Governance and assurance
Queensland Kindergarten Funding governance and assurance fact sheet
Technical help
Services are encouraged to contact their childcare management system support desk if they require any assistance with their childcare management systems and the application of free kindy for families.