Those discussions would include how and where to begin. “It will be a combination of[having facilities on] school sites where we can[and] supporting existing services,” Mitchell said. “It’s pretty major reform,so it is going to take us a few years to roll it all out.”

The government will also look at how to offer before- and after-hours care to children attending pre-schools that keep shorter hours.

The extra pre-school year will also help identify health and development issues that might have made learning difficult for students when they began school,said Mitchell,for whom this policy is the culmination of years of work in the early childhood and education portfolios.

“A lot of the conversations that I have … particularly with our primary teachers,is even though more kids are going to early childhood education,there’s still a lot that walk into the door on the first day of kindergarten where that transition hasn’t been strong,” she said.

“The earlier you get in and help address some of these issues,the more likely you are to be able to correct anything that can be treated.”

Researchhas also shown the high cost of childcare has been forcing many parents to send children to school before they were ready.

Early Learning and Care Council of Australia chief executive Elizabeth Death said the policy was a “game-changer in Australia”,especially as at least one in five children was beginning school developmentally vulnerable.

“We know that children who start behind often stay behind and we know that learning starts at birth,so extending the universal education system to include the early years makes perfect sense,” she said.

However,the reform was directly dependent on recruiting and retaining early childhood educators and teachers. “We need urgent discussions with governments at all levels to support the uplift of wages and conditions for teachers and educators,” she said.

Ben Edwards,associate professor of child and youth development and longitudinal studies from Australian National University,said the announcement was “huge”.

“Parents will absolutely love it,” he said. “It’s not without challenges. The biggest challenges will be bricks and mortar,which could be worked out by working with the school system. That leads to a stronger connection to kids being socialised into schools.

“My concern would be maintaining high-quality care with qualified preschool teachers.”

The government is also spending $376.5 million over four years on giving children a full suite of developmental checks. It has also pledged more than $280 million to train early childhood teachers and carers.

Mitchell said the reform was a culmination of years of work.

“What will happen in this budget is really the culmination of having good women in parliament at the right time in the right portfolios supported by good men who see the benefit of this,” she said.

Previously,the NSW government directed most its early childhood education funding to preschools.

Preschools – which generally offer school hours – have been free or low-cost for three- and four-year-olds to attend for 15 hours per week for the past few years.

The vast majority of funding for students in long daycare has come from the Commonwealth. Around two-thirds of children do their pre-school program in long daycare.

The NSW governmentis also spending $5 billion over 10 years to allow private childcare operators to be paid to expand or build new centres.

It is the first time NSW has intervened in long daycare,which until now has been run by the federal government through fee subsidies.

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