East Gippsland children are set to enjoy new and upgraded kindergarten facilities, while local families will soon benefit from the roll-out of funded Three-Year-Old Kindergarten, thanks to the Andrews Labor Government.

On Wednesday 6 November, Parliamentary Secretary for Early Childhood Education, Sonya Kilkenny, visited Gippsland Lakes Community Health’s Children’s Centre at Lakes Entrance, to announce the Labor Government is providing a $378,000 grant for the installation of a $448,000 relocatable building, enabling them to offer Three-Year-Old Kindergarten for the first time, and creating 22 new kindergarten places for East Gippsland children.

Angela Ellis, Executive Manager of the Community Health Services Unit at GLCH said this grant will contribute to the long term health and wellbeing of our local community. She added, “The importance of education from a young age cannot be underestimated in supporting the long term health and wellbeing of individuals and communities.”

This grant is part of the Children’s Facilities Capital Program (CFCP) Major Grants Program, which is delivering more than $1.1 million worth of upgrades to two local kindergarten services.

In Bairnsdale, Westdale Kindergarten will build a second room, bathroom and kitchen upgrades, staff room and shared playground, thanks to a $732,000 project expected to increase capacity by more than 20 additional places. The Labor Government is contributing $500,000 through a CFCP grant.

Gippsland Lakes Community Health’s Children’s Centre and Westdale Kindergarten are among Victorian organisations receiving funding to deliver new or upgraded services.

In an Australian-first, the Labor Government is investing nearly $5 billion over the next ten years to deliver two years of funded kindergarten for all Victorian children.

The Labor Government is also upgrading infrastructure through a $1.68 billion co-investment with the early childhood sector to build and expand kindergarten facilities across the state in preparation for the rollout.

East Gippsland families will enjoy the benefits of Three-Year-Old Kindergarten in 2021, when it is part of 15 further regional LGAs included in the progressive roll-out across Victoria.