All approved and suspended services under both the National Quality Framework (NQF) and the Victorian Children’s Services Act 1996 (CS Act) must pay an annual service fee.
Earlier this year education ministers across Australia met and agreed to increase the annual service fees charged to approved providers in all jurisdictions (other than Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory) on top of annual indexation, from 1 July 2026.
These fee increases are necessary to support child safety through increased regulation of the sector. Recent major reforms have strengthened the National Law meaning regulators have more powers to make sure that the safety, rights and best interests of children are paramount in all early childhood settings.
Fees increased by indexation (CPI) and have an additional increase of:
- 3.3-fold for all sessional kindergartens regardless of provider size
- 3.3-fold for services operated by small not-for-profit providers
- 5.5-fold for services operated by small for-profit providers
- 7.7-fold for services operated by large not-for-profit providers
- 11-fold for services operated by large for-profit providers.
Below is a summary of annual service fees for 2026-27, by provider type. Please see The Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) website for the full fee schedule.
Fee schedule summary
| Standalone Kinder | LDC, FDC and OSHC services | ||||
| Service size* | All provider types | Not-for-profit: Small provider | For-profit: Small provider | Not-for-profit: Large provider | For-profit: Large provider |
| Small | $1,087 | $1,087 | $1,811 | $2,536 | $3,623 |
| Medium | $1,642 | $1,642 | $2,737 | $3,832 | $5,474 |
| Large | $2,184 | $2,184 | $3,640 | $5,096 | $7,280 |
| Extra-large | $2,732 | $2,732 | $4,554 | $6,376 | $9,109 |
Service size explained
A new tax system under the family assistance administration ACT 1999 – section 4A defines a provider as a large childcare provider if at any time in the financial year:
- the provider operates 25 or more approved childcare services; or
- the provider is one of two or more related providers who together operate 25 or more approved childcare services; or
- the provider proposes to operate or is one of two or more related providers who propose to together operate, 25 or more approved childcare services.
The table below defines how a service’s size is calculated:
| Service size* | Centre-based services | Family Day Care services |
| Small | 24 places or less | 5 educators or less |
| Medium | 25 – 80 places | 6 – 20 educators |
| Large | 81 – 100 places | 21 – 60 educators |
| Extra-large | 101 places or more | 61 educators or more |
Approved providers are invoiced for each service approval they held on 1 July 2026. ACECQA intends to issue invoices for annual service fees in early October. Once invoices are issued, the payment can be made, but not before.
What providers should do
- Check the 2026–27 annual service fee amounts on ACECQA’s website.
- NQF providers: login into the NQA ITS portal to download and pay your NQF invoice, when available.
- CS Act providers: If you have not received the CS Act invoice email, please contact vecra.licensing@education.vic.gov.au
Further information
- Visit the ACECQA website for more information about indexed fees.
- Contact the VECRA General Enquiries line on 1300 307 415 (Monday to Friday between 9am and 5pm) or by email at vecra.licensing@education.vic.gov.au if you have any questions.
Updated