The Andrews Labor Government is making it easier for hundreds of Victorian childhood services to open sooner, with a new online platform streamlining approvals and assessments.

Minister for Regulatory Reform Danny Pearson and Minister for Early Childhood and Pre-Prep Ingrid Stitt today announced a new online tool has been introduced to replace an old paper-based test, potentially saving more than 350 new early childhood education and care services time and hassle.

Backed by the Labor Government’s $40 million Regulation Reform Incentive Fund, the online form will save new applicants seeking to operate a service up to four hours on their assessment test – and they will no longer need to travel to an office to sit the test.

It means faster approvals and new services opening sooner to serve parents and children across the state.

A second regulation reform project will digitise elements of the assessment and rating process for early childhood services, including reporting and submitting a Quality Improvement Plan. When implemented, these changes are anticipated to save more than 13,000 days of staff time across the sector each year.

These are just two of 57 Regulation Reform Incentive Fund initiatives underway across Victoria to reduce red tape, simplify processes and speed up approvals to deliver up to $200 million in ongoing annual benefits and potential time savings of more than 280,000 days each year.

Additional funding of $10 million was included in the Victorian Budget 2022-23 for the Business Acceleration Fund, to reduce the regulatory burden for Victorian businesses and to help new businesses open sooner.

The Labor Government is investing $9 billion over the next decade in programs to make three- and four-year-old kindergarten free from 2023, and to build 50 government-owned childcare centres to ensure children thrive and women are supported to return to work.