More than 200 long day care services across South Australia will partner with the State Government to deliver three-year-old preschool from next year.

The services, part of the first stage of the landmark early childhood reforms, are located across metropolitan, regional and rural South Australia.

They will be joined by 45 government preschools in regional and remote communities, along with three government metro demonstration sites.

Combined, the services will support more than 6000 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.

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.

In the 2025-26 State Budget, the State Government is delivering a further $27.7 million investment 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 more than 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.

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 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.

Families can now visit Flying Start for kids 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.