More than 200 long day cares services across South Australia will partner with the Malinauskas Labor Government to deliver three-year-old preschool from next year, as part of the first stage of the landmark early childhood reforms.
The services, located across metropolitan, regional, and rural South Australia, will be joined by 45 government preschools in regional and remote communities, along with three government metro demonstration sites.
This will support more than 6,000 three-year-olds to access a teacher-led, play-based learning program in the first year of the rollout alone.
Research has shown that two years of quality preschool supports children to ensure they are ready to learn on their first day of school.
This announcement marks a major milestone in the State Government's plan to deliver 15 hours of three-year-old preschool to every South Australian child by 2032 and is part of the Government's $1.9 billion Flying Start reforms – the most significant commitment to early childhood in a generation.
Long day care services partnering in 2026 have been prioritised based on; their quality, including their National Quality standards rating and ability to deliver a teacher-led program, and their location, to ensure a broad geographic spread, with a focus on reaching communities where children are likely to benefit most from access to three-year-old preschool programs in the early years of the rollout.
In the 2025-26 State Budget, the Malinauskas Labor Government is delivering a further $27.7 million investment in the State Budget to accelerate the roll out of three-year-old preschool in a long day care.
This initiative is in response to the overwhelming interest and response from the long day care sector during the competitive expression of interest process – a clear sign of the early childhood sector's strong commitment to these reforms.
The funding will provide over 2000 additional places from 2026 and bring forward the long day care roll out by 12 months.
The rollout will expand each year, with additional services joining annually until universal access is achieved by 2032. This staged approach allows time to grow the workforce, infrastructure and strengthen quality delivery, supporting every child no matter where they live.
The standard offering for three-year-old preschool will be for 15 hours per week, or up to 600 hours per year.
The Australian Early Development Census (AEDC) shows nearly one in four South Australian children start school with some form of developmental vulnerability. Three-year-old preschool aims to reduce this figure by supporting children to build foundational skills such as confidence, curiosity, and social skills in the years before school.
The rollout is supported by investment into the early childhood workforce and infrastructure to support quality delivery across the sector. The investment also includes Preschool Boost, a new funding stream helping partner preschool services to do more to address developmental vulnerability, by accessing allied health and other evidence-informed supports.
Families can now visit www.flyingstart.sa.gov.au to learn more about the rollout of three-year-old preschool, explore partnering services in their community, and check when their child will be eligible to participate.
As put by Peter Malinauskas
Three-year-old preschool sets children up with the skills and confidence they need to ensure they are ready to learn as soon as they head to school.
There is no bigger reform in improving the long-term trajectory of our state, socially and economically.
This is a reform grounded in research and follows the recommendations provided by the Royal Commission into Early Childhood Education and Care – led by former Prime Minister Julia Gillard.
We know that two years of quality preschool are better than one, particularly for those children in disadvantaged and low-socio economic areas.
We have been unapologetic in our ambitious goal to reduce the rate of South Australian children entering school developmentally vulnerable.
As put by Blair Boyer
The very first recommendation of the Royal Commission into Early Childhood Education and Care was to reduce the rate of South Australian children entering school developmentally vulnerable from 23.8 per cent to 15 per cent within 20 years – well below the national average of 22 per cent.
Three-year-old preschool is the most effective way, we as a state, can achieve that ambitious goal.
These outcomes will be significant for decades to come.
The response from providers has been overwhelmingly positive, with hundreds of services stepping forward to express their interest in partnering with us to deliver quality three-year-old preschool to South Australia's children.
Today's announcement reflects the sector's commitment to quality early childhood education and their readiness to deliver for children and families.
