The
Queensland Kindergarten Funding essentials for sessional kindergartens 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 sessional kindergarten funding essentials.
Access
supplementary resources for sessional kindergarten 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 Sessional Kindergarten must have obtained Approved KPP status and be a member or affiliate of a central governing body.
Eligibility requirements and requirements to maintain Approved KPP status are detailed in Section 4 of the
Queensland Kindergarten Funding essentials for sessional kindergartens.
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.
Where an early childhood teacher exceptional circumstance is approved, the
progress report declaration form is to be completed and submitted to the Department of Education (DoE) twice a year
by 30 January and 17 July 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 9 of the
Queensland Kindergarten Funding essentials for sessional kindergartens.
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Base subsidy—provided for each eligible child who is enrolled in an approved kindergarten program at a sessional kindergarten that has opted in to free kindy.
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Free kindy subsidy—provided for each eligible child enrolled in an approved kindergarten program in a sessional kindergarten 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.
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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.
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Kindy Uplift—funds professional development, programs, resources and supports to build teacher and educator capability, support inclusion, and improve children’s learning and development.
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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.
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Per capita 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 6).
Kindergarten funding claims and payments
Sessional kindergartens are funded collectively through a kindergarten funding service agreement with central governing bodies. Each central governing body distributes funding to members or affiliates in accordance with individual kindergarten funding service agreements.
Payments from the Department of Education are made to central governing bodies through 2 block grants in advance over a calendar year, with an acquittal process completed at the end of each term.
Payments are made by electronic funds transfer.
Mandatory child safety training grant
From 1 July 2026, the Australian Government will be introducing wage subsidy grants to support small to medium providers to cover the cost of backfilling roles while staff complete the training. The Australian Government funding is administered separately and is not part of Free Kindy funding.
Where Australian Government funding is unavailable or fully subscribed, sessional kindergartens remain responsible for meeting their regulatory obligations, including managing staffing arrangements and any associated backfill costs.
For more information on the process of developing the training, or grants available, visit the
Australian Department of Education website.
Legal obligations
Central governing bodies have legal obligations relating to kindergarten funding and must have financial oversight of the use of grant funding provided to each service provider.
Central governing bodies are contractually bound to the terms and conditions in kindergarten funding service agreements. Each central governing body is the legal entity that enters into this contractual and legal relationship with the Department of Education. Legal obligations include:
- reporting and governance requirements
- financial accountability
- compliance with Queensland Kindergarten Funding essentials, including service eligibility and requirements.
Sessional kindergartens (affiliates only) are bound to the terms and conditions of respective affiliate funding agreements with their central governing body. Affiliate funding agreements legally bind each central governing body's affiliate to the Department of Education's kindergarten funding requirements.
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
- establishment of fees in accordance with the service's purpose as a not-for-profit association or that the central governing body has not supported these fees
- 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.