The
Queensland Kindergarten Funding essentials for long day care providers is a comprehensive guide to all aspects of kindy funding including eligibility, claims and payments, legal obligations, assurance and subsidies.
Watch the
information webinar for an overview of key elements in the long day care funding essentials.
Access
supplementary resources for long day care providers to support your service's operations and planning around the Queensland Kindergarten Funding.
The following information will support your service's operations and planning around free kindy funding.
Eligibility criteria
To be eligible for funding, service providers must meet 2 sets of criteria.
Child eligibility criteria
A child must be at least 4 years of age by 30 June in the year they commence kindergarten. Service providers may only claim funding for each enrolled, eligible child.
Service provider eligibility criteria
To be eligible for, and to receive, kindergarten Funding, a Long Day Care Service must have obtained Approved KPP status.
Eligibility requirements and requirements to maintain Approved KPP status are detailed in Section 3 of the
Queensland Kindergarten Funding essentials for long day care providers.
Access the
eligibility checklist.
Exceptional circumstances
If a service believes that they have exceptional circumstances that have prevented them from engaging a fully qualified early childhood teacher to deliver their approved kindergarten program, they can complete and submit an
exceptional circumstance application form 2026.
Where an early childhood teacher exceptional circumstance is approved, the
progress report declaration form 2026 is to be completed and submitted to the Department of Education twice a year, by30 January and 17 July respectively, to demonstrate the approved ‘working towards’ educator is actively making progress towards the completion of their ACECQA approved early childhood teacher qualification.
Kindergarten funding subsidies
Kindergarten funding is provided to service providers through 1 or more subsidies. These are listed below and detailed in section 8 of the
Queensland Kindergarten Funding essentials for long day care providers.
-
Base subsidy—provided for each eligible child who is enrolled in an approved kindergarten program at a long day care service that has opted in to free kindy.
-
Gap fee subsidy—provided for each eligible child enrolled in an approved kindergarten program in a long day care service that has opted in to free kindy 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.
-
Service location subsidy—provided to service providers that have opted in to free kindy (for each eligible child) where the service is located in an eligible remoteness category using the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) remoteness measure at the SA2 geographic level.
-
Kindy Uplift—funds professional development, programs, resources and supports to build teacher and educator capability, support inclusion and improve children’s learning and development.
-
Inclusion subsidy—provided to service providers to support inclusion of all eligible children in an approved kindergarten program irrespective of diversity of background or additional needs.
-
Per capita kindy subsidy—provided to service providers that have not opted in to free kindy.
Access the
subsidy spending rules and the
eligible activities ready reckoner.
Read the table of
amounts that can be claimed (appendix 4).
Kindergarten funding claims and payments
Long day care service providers are funded through quarterly payments over a calendar year, based on information provided by service providers to the Department of Education through EdGrants.
Service location subsidies are paid to long day care service providers in advance, with an acquittal process completed at the end of each quarter. Payments of the base subsidy are made on receipt of the acquittal.
Payments are made via electronic funds transfer.
Mandatory child safety training grant
From 1 July 2026 the Australian Government will be introducing
grants to support small to medium providers to cover the cost of backfilling roles while staff complete mandatory child safety training.
The Australian Government funding is administered separately and is not part of Free Kindy funding. Long day care services should refer to the Australian Government grant guidelines to confirm eligibility, application processes and funding availability.
Where Australian Government funding is unavailable or fully subscribed, long day care services remain responsible for meeting their regulatory obligations, including managing staffing arrangements and any associated backfill costs.
Legal obligations
Approved providers of long day care services have legal obligations relating to kindergarten funding and must have financial oversight of the use of grant funding provided to each service provider.
Each approved provider of individual or multiple long day care services is the legal entity that enters into a contractual relationship with the Department of Education. Legal obligations include:
- reporting requirements
- accurate submission of claims including agreement to the kindergarten funding terms and conditions
- compliance with the kindergarten funding category guidelines and the kindergarten funding essentials, including service eligibility and other requirements.
Approved providers must enter into a new service agreement with the Department of Education at the beginning of each calendar year to remain eligible to receive kindergarten funding. This agreement is provided under the
Community Services Act 2007 and binds approved providers to the standard terms and conditions, kindergarten funding category guidelines and kindergarten funding essentials.
Approved providers are legally bound to provide forecast and acquittal claims for each service provider, including those service providers submitting a 'nil claim'.
When making quarterly claims, approved providers must ensure claims represent true and accurate information.
Kindergarten funding assurance
The Department of Education conducts assurance reviews of approved kindergarten providers to monitor compliance against the requirements of kindergarten funding.
Assurance reviews are conducted by officers authorised under the
Community Services Act 2007. The
Community Services Act 2007 authorises investigating, monitoring and ensuring compliance of services in receipt of kindergarten funding.
Funding provided by the Department of Education will be recovered (or reimbursed) in full for all periods where:
- the kindergarten funding terms and conditions, service eligibility criteria or requirements have not been met, or there is insufficient evidence to support compliance
- there is insufficient evidence of
- appropriate expenditure of subsidies
- support for claims, particularly where the claim falls outside the normal operating context of the service
- claiming anomalies or deliberate overclaiming have been identified
- subsidies have not been passed on to families
- funding has not been correctly applied
- enrolment of an eligible aged child into the kindergarten program has been denied on the basis of parental choice as to the application of the funding in multiple service settings.
Access the
recordkeeping checklist.