The Victorian Government is creating extra kinder places in Wyndham to make sure young children in the area can access and enjoy Three-Year-Old Kinder, thanks to a new council partnership.

Minister for Early Childhood Ingrid Stitt today announced a $47 million Building Blocks partnership with Wyndham City Council ─ the first collaboration of its kind with a local council that will create more than 3,600 kindergarten places across Wyndham by 2029.

The first stage of the partnership will see nine early childhood infrastructure projects delivered by 2025, creating more than 1,800 15-hour funded kindergarten places.

Communities in Hoppers Crossing South, Point Cook North, Tarneit, Point Cook, Wyndham Vale, Werribee West and Truganina will benefit from new integrated early childhood centres in the first stage.

The Government has also provided funding support to deliver an additional eight early childhood infrastructure projects in Wyndham between 2025 and 2029 ─ boosting kindergarten places to over 3,600 for the community.

This new partnership provides greater investment certainty for kindergarten projects and in total will deliver a pipeline of 17 planned new and expanded kindergartens sites in Wyndham to support the roll-out of the landmark kinder reform.

In an Australian-first, the Andrews Labor Government is investing almost $5 billion this decade to provide three-year-old children with access to an additional year of funded kindergarten programs.

From 2022, three-year-old children across the state will have access to at least five hours of kindergarten.
Services will then scale up their hours to reach the full 15-hour program by 2029.

As part of the Three-Year-Old-Kinder roll-out, the Andrews Labor Government is upgrading infrastructure through a $1.68 billion co-investment with the early childhood sector to build and expand kindergarten facilities across the state.

Quote attributable to Minister for Early Childhood Ingrid Stitt

“This council partnership is the first of what we hope will be many to support the roll-out of Three-Year-Old Kinder by delivering a pipeline of works to create new and expanded kinders for local Victorian communities.”

Quote attributable to Member for Werribee Tim Pallas

“We’re proud to be boosting early childhood services in Wyndham – because we know how important the early years are in setting our kids up for the rest of their lives.”

Quote attributable to Member for Altona Jill Hennessy

“This big investment will go a long way in supporting parents of youngsters in the west to access three-year-old kinder – and it’s great to see this type of partnership really serving our local communities.”

Quote attributable to Member for Tarneit Sarah Connolly

“As a working Mum of three children, I know how important being able to access early childhood services are. In fast growing communities like Wyndham, it’s important we keep up with the demand for quality early childhood services, to give our kids the best start in life.”

Quote attributable to Wyndham City Council Mayor Adele Hegedich

“Wyndham City welcomes the Building Blocks Partnership and this major pipeline of investment in Wyndham.”

“About 100 babies are currently being born each week in Wyndham, which means we need long-term planning and funding for kindergarten services to keep pace with this ongoing boom.”