Queensland Government approved kindergarten programs deliver a high quality learning program for children, who are at least four years old by 30 June in the year they participate, for at least 15 hours per week and 40 weeks per year.
Kindergarten program providers are encouraged to prioritise enrolment of kindy-aged children and provide an inclusive program that reflects their community s diverse needs, including those of children with a disability.
Kindergarten services can apply for funding under the Disability Support Funding Program to support teachers to make educational adjustments to their kindergarten program so children with a suspected or diagnosed disability can participate. Services are encouraged to contact their central governing body for advice about inclusive programs and adjustments they can make to their program.
Long day care services with an approved kindergarten program can access funding for children with a disability through the Australian Government's Inclusion and Professional Support Program.
Services approved to receive Child Care Benefit on behalf of eligible families are required to apply the national priority access guidelines set out in the Commonwealth Government's Child Care Services Handbook.
Under the Queensland Government Funding Scheme, kindergarten program providers are required to seek evidence of date of birth from each child's parent of carer prior to enrolment. The form of this evidence may vary across services but would generally include provision of a birth certificate.
Services aligned with a central governing body are required to adhere to the policies and procedures determined by their central governing body. This will include advice about what documented evidence of proof of date of birth services are required to collect and retain.
All kindergarten services should retain the evidence required as it may be needed for audit purposes.
The table below highlights the age requirements for children enrolling in a kindergarten program:
The Queensland Kindergarten Funding Scheme provides subsidies to support the participation of children in one approved kindergarten program at a time, in the year prior to Prep.
Services are required to instigate practices that minimise the likelihood of a child claiming two funded programs simultaneously. This may require families to identify if they are attending another service and if that service offers an approved kindergarten program. This can be done through the service's enrolment form.
Where a parent identifies that the child is enrolled in another approved kindergarten program service providers can ask the parent to nominate which service they wish to access for their one funded kindergarten program.
Only the service nominated by the parent can include the child in its claim for funding under the Queensland Kindergarten Funding Scheme.
Kindergarten services through their central governing body may choose to identify a separate fee structure for families that have nominated another service to access their one funded kindergarten program.
Should a service provider become aware that a child is attending another approved kindergarten program they are required to instigate remedial action by contacting the Department.
Services claiming the health care card subsidy to offset kindergarten program fees for low-income families are required to retain a copy of the family's current Health Care Card, Pension Card with Health Care Card entitlement or other Government document confirming eligibility. This document should be retained by the service for audit purposes. In particular, services should note the expiry date of the card and adjust payments accordingly.
It is the family's responsibility to update the service provider of any change to their eligibility for the health care card entitlement.
Service providers are required to notify the Department of Education and Training when they become aware that a family receiving the health care card subsidy is no longer eligible.
For more information visit the Queensland Kindergarten Funding Scheme page.
It is recognised that some children may benefit from starting a kindergarten program at a later age (delayed entry) or completing a second year of a kindergarten program (delayed exit). Find out more about Delayed entry and delayed exit.
A central governing body (CGB) is required to provide the Department of Education and Training with data to determine funding entitlements under the Queensland Government Funding Strategy (QKFS). The data required will be collected by the CGB from its member services. The Department may also use the data in reviewing progress towards achieving universal access to quality early childhood education programs.
Under the CGB agreement with the State of Queensland through the Department of Education and Training, the CGB is required to collect the following information from member services.
For data collection and auditing purposes the CGB may need to collect and store personal and private information about staff and the children and parents/carers/guardian of the children attending the kindergarten service.
In collecting and storing this information the CGB must comply with the privacy and confidentiality obligations outlined in their funding agreement with the Department. Under the agreement the CGB is required to have policies, processes and procedures for the effective management of data collection and privacy standards.
A central governing body determines how these guidelines, policies and procedures are implemented to meet the requirements stipulated in the guidelines. The central governing body is responsible for managing service and parent queries regarding their stated expectations.
Central governing bodies are required to work with their member services to:
A standard subsidy is provided for each kindy-age child enrolled in an approved kindergarten program for at least 15 hours per week, 40 weeks per year. Services delivering a kindergarten program may enrol a child for more than the 15 hours per week, however, they will not be eligible for more than one standard subsidy for that child.
This page was last reviewed on 21 Feb 2012
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© The State of Queensland (Department of Education, Training and Employment) 2011.
