Parents of preschoolers will save thousands in childcare fees as part of a $1.4 billion package to be included in next week's NSW budget.
Premier Dominic Perrottet said the government would spend the money over four years to subsidise fees for parents using public and private preschool providers.
"Preschool is where the building blocks for lifelong success are established, so it is vital that quality early childhood education is more accessible for families in NSW, no matter what their circumstances or where they live," the premier said on Wednesday.
From next year, all NSW families will be eligible for up to $4000 a year in fee relief for three, four and five-year-olds attending a community or mobile preschool.
For the first time, parents with children in long private daycare will be included in state childcare subsidies, with up to $2000 a year available in fee relief for four and five-year-olds.
The equivalent of five days a fortnight of affordable preschool fee relief will be available for all children in Department of Education preschools.
A two-year pilot program will invest $64.1 million to support more three-year-olds attending preschool in long day care.
The announcement, to be included in Tuesday's budget, comes a day after the government committed $5 billion over the next decade to expand access to affordable child care.
The fund will be used to entice private childcare providers to create 47,000 places a year in areas where demand is the greatest, with providers having to tender for funding.
The premier also announced a four-year $376.5m 'brighter beginnings' budget commitment to, among other initiatives, help ensure children get their free developmental checks before starting school.
Currently almost half of four-year-old children do not get all their recommended checks, which are designed to ensure better behavioural and academic outcomes at school.
"The first 2000 days of a child's life are critical to their development and success and we want to ensure they get the best start possible," Mr Perrottet said.
The 'brighter beginnings' package includes:
* $111.2m for health and development checks for preschoolers
* $98.7m to expand Aboriginal Child and Family centres
* $70.9m for more home visits from antenatal nurses
* $57.2m to digitise baby book, which documents every child's immunisations and developmental check-ups
* $38.6m to make pregnancy family conferencing available to more vulnerable parents.
