Closing the loop
Thank you very much to everyone who participated in this engagement!
Your feedback has helped us improve the way we offer kindergarten places to children in Glen Eira. Read on to learn more about the feedback and what's changed, or read the engagement report for a summary of the feedback.
Who we heard from
The engagement ran for three weeks from late January to mid February 2026. We heard from 359 contributors, including:
- 218 online survey responses.
- Meetings with representatives from Bentleigh West Kindergarten, Ormond Kindergarten, Glen Education and the Department of Education.
- 137 drawings from children attending community kindergartens.
Survey respondents
What we heard about access to kindergartens
Across all feedback, several clear messages came through. Click through the headings below to learn more about the community feedback, or read the Engagement report for more detail.
Families want kindergartens close to home to support their daily routines and local connections. This was the most common priority for families when they choose a kindergarten, selected by 77 per cent of respondents.
This was also a consistent theme in comments about the registration system, and 63 per cent of people suggested that we should prioritise people who live close to their kindergarten. All kindergarten providers also suggested this in their feedback.
The quality of the kindergarten service, programs and activities was the second most common priority for families when they choose a kindergarten, selected by 63 per cent of respondents.
Many families want their children to attend the same kindergarten as their sibling, even when there is a gap between enrolments.
This was a common suggestion for how the registration system should work, and was mentioned by 44 per cent of respondents in their comments.
All kindergarten providers also suggested that sibling connections should have a higher priority.
There was strong support for prioritising children who live in Glen Eira, which was agreed with by 89 per cent of respondents.
There was low support for prioritising people who work or study in Glen Eira. Only 37 per cent of respondents agreed with our registration process including this priority.
People want simpler, clearer information about how registration works and what to expect. This was mentioned by 47 per cent of respondents when we asked about how we could better support families.
Drawings from children provided insights into their experience of kindergartens. Across 137 children's drawings, children showed their love for playing in their kindergarten playgrounds (44 per cent), playing in nature (22 per cent), and creating art (18 per cent).
You can see these drawings in Appendix 2 of the Engagement report.
What's changing
The Kindergarten Central Registration Scheme Policy has been updated to reflect what the community told us, while continuing to manage high demand and limited places fairly.
Kindergarten places are allocated by first applying the Department of Education’s Priority of Access, followed by Council’s Local Area Criteria.
Key changes to Council’s Local Area Criteria include:
- A priority has been introduced for families who live within 2km of a kindergarten.
- Sibling priorities have expanded. Children are now prioritised for two calendar years after their older sibling leaves kindergarten.
- Working or studying in Glen Eira is no longer considered a priority.
These changes respond directly to community feedback and aim to balance local access, fairness and transparency. While the updated priorities in the policy will guide how places are offered, they do not increase capacity or guarantee a place.
The way that families register their children will stay the same. For the full guide on how to register, please visit our webpage about access to kindergarten.
Next steps
The updated policy applies to registrations from 1 May 2026 onwards. This means that enrolments for 2027 will fall under the priorities identified in the new policy.
We will:
- Share clear information about the updated policy with families and services.
- Support families with reminders and guidance around the registration process.
- Review the impact of the changes to ensure the system remains fair and equitable.
Council will continue to monitor the impacts of changes to the policy, listen to the community and review the policy over time as demand, capacity and early years education changes.
Community engagement archive
We support community kindergartens by operating a central registration system. This system gives families a smooth pathway to enrol in and attend community kindergarten.
Demand for places at community kindergartens is higher than the available places, and demand is predicted to keep increasing.
Community kindergartens in Glen Eira
Community kindergartens play a vital role in supporting families and shaping our community. They offer fully funded inclusive, high-quality early learning to families.
You can learn more about the 14 community kindergartens that we support on our website. There are also more than 50 other education and care services that offer a funded kindergarten program in Glen Eira.
How the policy works
We are now reviewing the Policy that guides how registration works for the 14 community kindergartens, and we want your feedback to help shape it. We updated the Policy in April 2025 so that siblings attending kindergarten in the same year at the same kindergarten are now prioritised.
Because demand is greater than available places, a clear and fair registration system is very important — and we'd like your help to make sure it's working well. We need to get the balance right so families are not inadvertently disadvantaged.
A key part of the Policy is to set the criteria for which children are offered places.
The main criteria for offering places
The Department of Education requires that the first places should be offered to vulnerable families. From 2027 onwards, the Department will also prioritise children enrolled in 3-year-old kindergarten to continue on at the same kindergarten.
After the Department of Educations' criteria are met, Council's main criteria are:
- Residents of Glen Eira
- Parents/guardians who work/study in Glen Eira
- Siblings who attend the same kindergarten in the same year.
Your feedback will help
Your feedback will help ensure that our Policy allocates places in a transparent, consistent and equitable way.
The policy review will also be informed by relevant legislation, service data, consultation with the Department of Education and other kindergartens, and a Gender Impact Assessment to make sure the policy considers different impacts across our community and supports fair outcomes.
We think there should be more community kindergarten places and we’ll continue to advocate to the Victorian Government to encourage this. Your feedback can help us show community interest and advocate to the Victorian Government for more kindergarten places in Glen Eira.
Share your thoughts about the registration system by Tuesday 17 February 2026.
To let us know what you think, you can:
- fill out the survey by clicking the green button above
- email engagement@gleneira.vic.gov.au
- call us on 9524 3333
- send a letter or visit us at Glen Eira Town Hall, corner Glen Eira and Hawthorn Roads, Caulfield.
