Read our policy to ensure families with the greatest need get childcare and kindergarten places first, including children at risk of abuse and neglect.
Learn more about our rules to make sure we offer child care and kindergarten places to families with the greatest need.
About the policy
We want to be clear and transparent when we make child care and kindergarten places available. Our goal is to help children first who are:
- at risk of serious abuse or neglect
- in out of home care
- in a serious situation, including death of a parent, cancer treatment or homelessness
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children
- refugees and asylum seekers
- in need of additional support, including because of disability
- living with a single parent
Our policy also favours families living in Yarra and children with siblings attending the same service.
It applies to all our children’s services, including:
- long day care
- casual and occasional care
- after care
- vacation care
- kindergarten.
Read our Priority of Access Policy 2024 [ PDF, 143.79 KB] .
Please call us right away if your child or your family is:
- at risk of abuse or neglect
- in out-of-home care
- experiencing family violence
- experiencing a sudden change of circumstances which impacts your ability to provide care
Contact Yarra City Council
- Call: 9205 5555
If you are in immediate danger
- Call: 000
We give priority to children and families facing various challenges and hardships, with the top priority going to children at serious risk of abuse or neglect.
How does it work?
If two children fall within the same priority area, the child with the highest 'priority score' will be offered a place first.
Your child gets:
- points for each priority areas it qualifies for (for example, serious abuse or neglect)
- extra points for any of the sub-tiers it qualifies for (for example, having a disability or developmental delay)
Read the policy to find out more [ PDF, 143.79 KB] .
The City of Yarra includes the suburbs of:
- Abbotsford
- Burnley
- Carlton North
- Clifton Hill
- Collingwood
- Cremorne
- Fitzroy
- Fitzroy North
- Princes Hill
- Richmond
- parts of Alphington
- parts of Fairfield
You can also see this map of Yarra.
No. Once your child has been accepted into one of our services, we will not ask them to make way for another child.
We offer places in order of need, not in order of application, so it isn't possible to say how long the wait will be.
We only look at the order in which we received an application when two children qualify for the same priority area and have the same priority score.
You can shorten your wait if you apply for a place in more than one childcare centre.
Please call us on 9205 5555.
Here's a guide to some of the words and phrases that appear in our Priority of Access Policy:
Asylum seeker or refugee | A child or family that originally entered the country on a humanitarian visa. This includes the registered child being born in Australia to parents that are an asylum seekers or refugees. |
Child at risk | A child who is:
|
Child Care Subsidy | This is the main way the Australian Government assists families with their child care fees. The Child Care Subsidy that commenced on 2 July 2018
Learn more about Child Care Subsidy at the Department of Human Services website. |
Chronic or serious health issue
| A physical or mental impairment that impacts of a parent/carer's ability to provide care for their child. Examples include, but are not limited to:
|
Serious change of circumstances | A life event that impacts on a parent/carer's ability to provide care for a child. Examples could include:
|
Disability diagnosis (for a parent/carer or other family member) | A formal diagnosis of a physical or mental impairment that impacts of the parent/carer's ability to provide care for their child. Examples include, but are not limited to:
|
Low income | We use the Commonwealth Government Child Care Subsidy combined family income threshold for the highest subsidy as our low-income benchmark. |
Priority score | If two children fall within the same priority area, the child with the highest 'priority score' will be offered a place first. Points are added for each of the main priority areas your child qualifies for (for example, a child at risk of serious abuse or neglect) and extra points are added for any of the sub-tiers they qualify for (for example, a child with a disability or developmental delay). |