Australian Government, Department of Employment, Education and Workplace RelationsOutcome 1 - Early childhood education and child care
Outcome 1 reflects the government’s agenda for early childhood development (incorporating education and care), workplace productivity and social inclusion.
The critical importance of a child’s early years to his or her long-term development, health and wellbeing is universally recognised. Providing disadvantaged children with access to high quality early education programs in the year before they start formal schooling is one of the most effective ways to help those children get the best possible start in life. Early childhood education and care services also support vulnerable parents, enabling their children to have the best possible experiences in the critical early years.
There are significant social and economic returns from investing in the early childhood years, so it makes good sense to expand the early childhood education and care system and raise its standards. Early childhood is the foundation for developing the skills necessary for future workplace productivity. Having children enjoy their early childhood, be ready for school and grow up prepared for adult life is critical to their social inclusion. A focus on early childhood development, education and care facilitates future workforce participation, combats intergenerational disadvantage and helps parents and carers to reconcile work and family responsibilities and to participate in work or training.
Providing children with the best start in life requires a partnership between parents, carers, service providers and government. Parents and carers need a comprehensive service system that responds effectively to their needs. It is also critical that the experiences of children in care settings, particularly the most vulnerable children, positively contribute to their learning and development.
The government has an ambitious reform agenda for expanding and improving the quality of early childhood services, starting with the integration of care and education.
Following the machinery of government changes, responsibility for child care policy was transferred to the department from the former Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaCSIA). The early childhood and child care programs and functions transferred include the Child Care Benefit; Jobs, Education and Training Child Care Fee Assistance (JETCCFA); the Child Care Tax Rebate; the Child Care Management System; the Child Care Services Support Program; the National Childcare Accreditation Council; the Accreditation Decisions Review Committee; the Australian Early Development Index; the Home Interaction Program; the Support for Child Care Specific Purpose Payment and the Children’s Services Local Government Area.
The Office of Early Childhood Education and Child Care was established in early 2008 to facilitate the integration of child care and early childhood development and to administer the suite of programs and strategies to support Outcome 1. The aim of the office is to provide the leadership to achieve a nationally consistent system of quality, accessible and affordable early childhood education and child care for all Australian families.
The office is responsible for delivering the government’s early childhood reform agenda. Budget initiatives include:
- universal access to quality early childhood education in the year before formal schooling
- additional early learning and child care places
- the introduction of an Early Years Learning Framework
- a strong quality standards and rating system
- early childhood workforce initiatives
- an increase in the Child Care Tax Rebate (CCTR)
- the Home Interaction Program
- expansion of the JETCCFA program
- rollout of an Australian Early Development Index (AEDI).
Early childhood development has been clearly targeted by the government as part of the Education Revolution and the productivity reform agenda of the Council of Australian Governments (COAG). COAG has endorsed a long-term early childhood development reform agenda and implementation plans focused on the early childhood education and care commitments. The objectives of the COAG early childhood development agenda are:
- to improve child health, learning and development outcomes
- to enhance social inclusion and reduce disadvantage
- to guarantee universal access to quality, affordable early childhood education
- to support parental workforce participation.
The initial focus is on early childhood education and care commitments as part of a broader early childhood development approach.
COAG’s Productivity Agenda Working Group leads this agenda and works in partnership with other COAG working groups, such as the Working Group on Indigenous Reform and the Health Agenda Working Group, to progress the broader early childhood development agenda. Many of the COAG reform processes emphasise the importance of improving the lives of Indigenous Australians. The importance of universal access to quality early childhood education was highlighted by the Hon Kevin Rudd MP, Prime Minister in his speech to Parliament on 13 February 2008, apologising to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
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