mcstu1

Is pre school/ nursery freely available to newly arrived perm residents?? my son will be 3 when we arrive in australia in june.

quoll

All depends on where you will be living. If you mean the part time year before full time school (called preschool here) then generally yes, as long as he is old enough to meet the cut off dates then you should be ok with a place. Generally they have to have turned four or be about to turn 4 (the date depends on the state but usually either by April or July) in the January of the year they start. In most states the preschool sector is part of the department of education and is a non compulsory attendance of about 12 hours a week. As he will be only 3 when you arrive in June then he wont be eligible for preschool at least until Feb 2009 and even that depends on when he turns 4.

If you mean the more casual options for 3 year olds (who are too young for the "preschool year") then they tend to be paid child care places - some states have occasional care so that mums can head off and do the shopping but generally they are programs in child care centres. As to availability - depnds on the area but most centres in the sort of area where people work are in heavy demand and it may not be easy to get a spot. Fees can be quite $$$ too