Universal Access to Early Childhood Education (UAECE)
From the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development's Universal Access to 15 hours of Early Childhood Education: Frequently Asked Questions:
All states and territories have committed to moving to 15 hours of early childhood education for children in the year before school through a National Partnership on Early Childhood Education with the Commonwealth Government, to be implemented by 2013.
The National Partnership was signed in December 2008 with the aim that:
• By 2013 every child will have access to a preschool program in the 12 months prior to full-time schooling.
• The preschool program is to be delivered by a qualified early childhood teacher, in accordance with a national early years learning framework, for 15 hours a week, 40 weeks a year.
• The program will be accessible across a diversity of settings, in a form that meets the needs of parents and in a manner that ensures cost does not present a barrier to access.