Central Registration System

4 year old kindergarten allocations

3 year old kindergarten allocations

This will give families an extra weighting for 3 year old and 4 year old sessional kindergarten if they note a service within the precinct encompassing their residential address as their first preference.

All children enrolled in a funded kindergarten program at a participating service are eligible for Free Kinder from 2023.

Free kinder supports families to access a funded kindergarten program by:

• providing a free 15-hour program to four-year-old children enrolled at a sessional service
• providing a free 5-to-15-hour program for three-year-old children enrolled in a sessional service (subject to the length of funded program offered)
• offsetting the funded kindergarten program component of parent fees for three and four-year-old children enrolled at a long day childcare service.

Below is a description of the two types of kindergarten programs to help you find the right program to suit your family's needs.

When choosing a preferred start date, consider that the majority of places become available at the beginning of each year. There is no guarantee a place will be available by your nominated start date.

A child will begin appearing on their chosen services waitlists the month before their preferred start date. From October each year children with preferred start dates up to and including 31 January the following year will appear on the waitlists.

If you change your preferred start date, you would need to be prepared to accept a place any time after the new date in order to secure a childcare place.

Registering through the CRS is the only way your child can access a place at one of the 17 community-managed services who are partners to the system.

We recommend you select up to four different services to increase your chances of being offered a place.

Community managed means the long day childcare and/or kindergarten service is operated by a Committee of Management or an Early Years Manager (not for profit agencies).

No we don't. We administer the CRS and provide and maintain many of the facilities for community-managed services. We also help connect families and children to other support services.

Council does not manage a registration system for private long day childcare centres. We encourage families to make contact with them. This broadens their opportunities of finding a place when they need it.

Registrations can be made at any time after the birth of a child.

Registrations can occur via the online portal or using a paper application form.

We recommend you look at the CRS video and refer to the Families Information Sheet to find out more information.

Related Information

• Download the CRS application form(PDF, 811KB)
• Download the CRS Families Information Sheet(PDF, 1MB)
• Watch the CRS video on YouTube

You can register each child for long day childcare, three year old and four year old kindergarten programs on the same application.

Once registered you can update your preferences and/or apply for a new service through the online portal or by contacting the Maribyrnong City Council CRS Team.

Yes. Each child must have their own application and be individually registered.

The No Jab, No Play" Victorian Government Legislation requires children to be immunised to attend long day childcare and/or kindergarten. You will need to provide a copy of the Immunisation Schedule so your child can enrol in any long day childcare and/or kindergarten service.

Immunisation sessions are offered through the Maribyrnong City Council Immunisation Service.

Related Information

• Visit our Immunisation Services page

Adjustments to the Priority of Access weightings

Introduction of a “Neighborhood Area” weighting

This will give families an extra weighting if they note a service within the precinct encompassing their residential address as their first preference.

The extra weighting for children who attend three year old kindergarten and note the same service as their first preference for four year old kindergarten (residents only) will be retained.

A weighting also applies for children who attend a service that offers both integrated long day and sessional kindergarten programs (i.e. Gowrie Clare Court, Church St Children’s Centre and Angliss Children’s Centre).

Families whose child is in the LDC program and wish to take up the option of the sessional kindergarten program at that service will need to ensure they have registered their preference for the sessional  program through the CRS system. This will enable them to be part of the allocation process.

Families will be given an extra weighting for sessional kindergarten at that service, however a place cannot be guaranteed.

Adjustments to CRS administration process

During the allocation of sessional kindergarten places, the first three rounds will only consider the family’s first preference. Following the first three rounds, allocation rounds will include all listed services. Please note there is no placed and waitlisted option for kindergarten.

Registrations and waitlists are impacted by factors such as:

• Families wanting places in high demand services
• Families accepting or declining places
• The weighting for each child’s registration which is calculated in line with the PoA guidelines

Children eligible for Early Start Kindergarten or with assessed high support needs are given the highest priority at all times.

Due to the above factors we are unable to make assurances to a family on when their placement will happen.