Starting next year, preschool children across the country will have access to learning a language other than English.
It comes after the Early Learning Languages Australia (ELLA) program was trialed in 2016.
Around 10,000 students were involved in the $9.8 million program, with two-thirds of the participants learning a Chinese language or Japanese.
"The program has undergone an evaluation and we have both research and evidence to show it’s helping children develop language skills," Minister for Education and Training Simon Birmingham said.
"So we know there’s a take home component from this language that demonstrates kids are picking it up."
The $5.9 million additional spend will give all preschools access to the app-based digital program, on an opt-in basis.
The learning modules require each student has their own laptop or iPad equivalent, and funds will also provide $500 devices for children at 1000 schools in disadvantaged areas.
The minister said concerns that this form of app-based program was not contributing to the issue of children having too much 'screen time', because the technology was being used in a constructive way.
"So it actually gives discipline to focused activities that are about understanding and developing foreign language skills," he said.
"We hear that from the educators, that these young kids are learning skills - how to self regulate, when to hand over to the next child in terms of using the application and they’re only getting access for certain times a day," he said.
Kaarin Wilkinson, director of Waite Campus Children's Centre, said there were also social benefits to the program.
"It certainly makes group learning interesting because the children watch each other and they talk to each other so there's that added thing of sharing that learning," she said.
Pre-schools have until the 26th of February 2017 to apply for the ELLA program.
