Annastacia Palaszczuk flags free kindy proposal in Queensland June budget

Annastacia Palaszczuk is calling for community feedback on a June budget proposal to boost the enrolment of 8000 children across the state.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk with Education Minister Grace Grace on Sunday. Picture: Richard Walker

Kindy could be made free for all children across Queensland and save families up to $4500 each year in a proposal flagged by the state government ahead of its June budget.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk called for community feedback on the initiative which would provide cost-of-living relief for more than 50,000 families across Queensland and help encourage the enrolment of 8000 children across the state.

“These early years are so important for a young child,” Ms Palaszczuk said.

“What we’re hearing from our prep teachers is that there is a big, big gap between those children who have had kindergarten and those that have not.”

The announcement on Sunday follows Ms Palaszczuk’s first ministerial reshuffle in several years on the back of falling popularity. It is expected next month’s budget will include targeted relief to regain support ahead of next year’s election.

A total of 58,000 children across Queensland are enrolled in kindergarten, which provides 15 hours of education each week to kids aged four and above in the year before starting school, to help prepare them for the classroom.

The state’s $1bn Kindy For All program supports free early education to 14,000 families, with a further 26,000 having their costs subsidised.

The cost of the proposal to make kindy free for all across the state was not made public.

Kindy is run separately from childcare, which recently received a boost to subsidies and funding from the federal government.