Fee support for NSW preschoolers in $1.4 billion program

Parents who send their preschoolers to long day-care will for the first time receive subsidies from the NSW government,with fee relief for four- and five-year-olds being extended to privately run centres.

Under a $1.4 billion package,families will receive up to $2000 per child each year,which will be paid directly to the service and deducted from fees,in a bid to make preschool more affordable.

Premier Dominic Perrottet at the Goodstart Early Education centre in West Ryde. The NSW government will offer fee relief for preschoolers as part of its push to make childcare more affordable and accessible.

Premier Dominic Perrottet at the Goodstart Early Education centre in West Ryde. The NSW government will offer fee relief for preschoolers as part of its push to make childcare more affordable and accessible.Pool/Jeremy Piper

The subsidies will not be means-tested and will be based on the number of hours of attendance.

Until now,the state government has provided fee relief for public preschools,which it funds,and the federal government has been responsible for fee subsidies for private long day-care centres.

As part of the package,there will also be up to $4000 per year in fee relief for three-,four- and five-year-olds attending community or mobile preschools funded by the NSW Department of Education.

About 740 community and mobile preschools have been offering free places since 2020,when the government introduced the measure to encourage preschool attendance during the pandemic.

However,the government will also offer some fee relief to parents who send their children to long day care centres with preschool programs. Long day-care fees are often higher than preschools.

The package,to be spent over four years and included in next week’s state budget,is part of the government’s drive to make childcare and early education more affordable and accessible.

As part of the government’s signature budget policy,it will offer private childcare operators funding to expand or build new centres,creating an extra 47,000 places across the state.

The$5 billion package over 10 years will be the first time NSW has intervened in childcare,which until now has been run by the federal government through fee subsidies.

NSW Early Childhood Learning Sarah Mitchell,Treasurer Matt Kean and Minister for Education and Premier Dominic Perrottet,.

NSW Early Childhood Learning Sarah Mitchell,Treasurer Matt Kean and Minister for Education and Premier Dominic Perrottet,.Steven Siewert

To increase the number of childcare places,the government will run a competitive tender process,where the private sector will bid to receive funding,which will be dependent on operators increasing the number of affordable places on offer to families.

NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet said the preschool program would ease cost-of-living pressures for families and ensure more children receive high-quality early education.

“Preschool is where the building blocks for lifelong success are established,so it is vital that quality early childhood education is more accessible for families in NSW,no matter what their circumstances or where they live,” Perrottet said.

NSW Treasurer Matt Kean said evidence clearly shows the positive impact quality preschool can have on a child’s life outcomes and on the economy.

“Every $1 invested in early childhood education delivers a $2 boost to the NSW economy – it is a great investment for any treasurer,” Kean said.

Minister for Education and Early Learning Sarah Mitchell said one of the biggest impacts on educational outcomes at school was to improve early childhood education.

“A significant body of research shows that children who participate in quality preschool programs have improved lifelong educational,social and economic outcomes,” Mitchell said.

The government has also set aside $376.5 million in the budget for child development checks and making the newborn “blue book”,which are the health records for all babies.

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Alexandra Smith is the State Political Editor of The Sydney Morning Herald.

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