Preschool vs kindergarten vs daycare: what's the difference?
The same words mean different things in different states. What preschool, kindergarten and long day care each cover in NSW, and how the fees and subsidies differ.
Ask three Australian parents what "kindergarten" means and you can get three different answers. In NSW it is the first year of primary school. In Victoria it is the year of preschool before school. And plenty of Sydney early childhood centres carry Kindergarten in their name even though every child there is under six. This guide sets out what each term covers in NSW, in plain language, with the current school-start rules and 2026-27 subsidy figures.
In this article
What does kindergarten mean in Australia?
In NSW, Kindergarten means the first year of primary school. In Victoria and some other states, kindergarten means preschool: the year or two of early education before school. A child in NSW Kindergarten wears a school uniform, follows the school curriculum and sits in a classroom at a primary school. When a NSW school talks about "starting Kindy", it means starting school.
In Victoria, and in several other states, "kinder" or "kindergarten" means the preschool year: an early education program in the year or two before school begins. A Victorian family moving to Sydney can reasonably ask about "three-year-old kinder" and find that no one knows what they mean, because in NSW that program is called preschool.
The word also survives in the names of many NSW preschools, including two of ours. Roseville Kindergarten and St Ives Chase Kindergarten are early childhood centres for children aged 3 to 6 and 2.5 to 6 respectively. Both names predate the point at which NSW settled on "Kindergarten" as a school year. If a NSW centre has Kindergarten in its name and takes children under five, it is a preschool or long day care centre, and the name simply reflects the older use of the word.
What preschool means
Preschool is play-based early education for roughly ages 3 to 5, in the years before school. There is a planned educational program, guided nationally by the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF), and play-based learning sits at the centre of it. Through play, children build:
- communication and early language skills
- emotional awareness and social skills
- curiosity and inquiry
- familiarity with letters and numbers
- creativity, motor skills and independence
Preschools provide care alongside the program: meals or snacks, supervision and rest are built in. Hours are typically shorter than long day care, often 9am to 3pm, and many standalone preschools follow school terms. Some, including ours, offer extended hours for working families.
What daycare (long day care) means
Daycare, formally called long day care, is education and care built around working hours. The practical differences from preschool:
- Age range. Long day care takes children from as young as 6 weeks. Preschools usually start at around 3 years.
- Hours. A long day care day typically runs 7am to 6pm.
- Days. Families book specific days of the week, for example Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
- Weeks per year. Long day care centres are usually open around 50 weeks a year, while standalone preschools often close for school holidays.
Long day care centres follow the EYLF too, and most run a preschool program in the year or years before school. A four-year-old at a long day care centre can spend the morning in a structured preschool room and still be cared for until 6pm. The choice between preschool and long day care is therefore mostly about hours and age, because the year-before-school education happens in both settings.
When children start school in NSW
The NSW rules are specific:
A child can start school Kindergarten at the beginning of the school year (February) if they turn 5 on or before 31 July that year. Every child must be enrolled in school by their sixth birthday.
This gives many families a choice. A child who turns five in June, for example, can start Kindergarten that February at four turning five, or start the following February at five turning six. A child who turns five in September waits until the following year. Preschool and long day care cover the years before that point, whichever start year a family chooses.
How the fees and subsidies differ
The funding follows the service type, which is another reason the labels matter.
Long day care is approved care for the Child Care Subsidy (CCS). For 2026-27, the subsidy starts at 90% for family incomes up to $88,520 and reduces by 1 percentage point for every $5,000 above that, reaching 0% at $538,520. It is paid up to an hourly rate cap of $15.19 for centre-based care below school age. Since 5 January 2026, the 3-Day Guarantee gives every CCS-eligible family at least 72 subsidised hours a fortnight.
Standalone community preschools sit outside CCS and are funded differently, mainly through the NSW Government's Start Strong program. Start Strong also provides fee relief for eligible 3 and 4 year olds attending long day care.
School Kindergarten is part of the school system, so childcare subsidies no longer apply once a child starts school.
To see what the CCS rules mean at our own centres' fees, our gap-fee calculator runs the 2026-27 rates for you.
How to choose
For most families it comes down to three things:
- Your child's age. Babies and toddlers need long day care. From around age 3, both preschool and long day care are open to you, and both deliver a preschool program before school.
- The hours you need. If you need 7am to 6pm cover, long day care fits. If school-style hours are enough, a preschool timetable may suit.
- The centre itself. Visit each one you are considering. The feel of the rooms, the educators and the daily routine tell you more than any label does.
If you are unsure which model fits your family, contact us and we will put you in touch with the right centre director.