Part 2: Achievements and challenges–performance insights
- Building the evidence base
- Partnerships
- Volunteering
- Indigenous communities
- Stronger Families and Communities Strategy
- More help for families
- Helping prevent homelessness
- Giving children the best possible start in life
- The new Child Care Support Program
- Helping parents support their children—the Child Support Agency
- Work and family
- Encouraging participation
- Reforms to support people with disabilities
- FaCS–Centrelink Business Alliance
- People are a priority in FaCS
- FaCS triple bottom line reporting
Giving children the best possible start in life
Key points
- The National Agenda for Early Childhood and its four key action areas will provide the overarching structure to guide future Australian Government investment to improve outcomes for children and will serve as the vehicle for collaboration with state and territory governments in supporting young children and their families.
- The Stronger Families and Communities Strategy for 2004–08 will have a specific focus on early childhood and is aligned with the National Agenda for Early Childhood's four key action areas
Early childhood is a time of rapid physical, intellectual and emotional growth and provides an important window of opportunity to help start children on positive pathways in life. How we as a society respond to the needs of young children can have a profound impact on their development, both now and into the future. This in turn has consequences for the economic and social growth of Australia as a whole.
The Government is committed to the development of a National Agenda for Early Childhood, to provide a structure for linking together and expanding the work that is being done by many people throughout Australia to improve the lives of young children.
Key messages emerging from extensive consultations held between March and August 2003 are summarised in the report Towards a National Agenda for Early Childhood–What You Told Us released on 25 October 2003. These included widespread support for:
- adopting a national approach to early childhood
- improving the way services are delivered
- assisting disadvantaged children
- supporting parents in their primary role during a child's early years.
Relevant ministerial councils and their advisory bodies have been kept informed of progress under the National Agenda for Early Childhood. The framework document, which has been revised in light of consultation feedback, identifies four key action areas:
- healthy young families
- early learning and care
- supporting families and parenting
- child-friendly communities.
This framework will be the basis for further discussions with state and territory governments with a view to agreeing on priorities for working together.
In developing the national agenda and coordinated early childhood policy, FaCS has been working closely with other departments, through the Australian Government Taskforce on Child Development, Health and Wellbeing, established in September 2001.
During 2003–04, the national agenda has been a focus for a number of activities within FaCS. Significantly, the next four-year phase of the $365.8 million Stronger Families and Communities Strategy 2004–08 will have a specific focus on prevention and early intervention activities to promote optimal childhood development.
In addition, substantial progress has been made in a number of early childhood initiatives, announced in May 2004 as part of $10 million in funding allocated from the first phase of the Stronger Families and Communities Strategy. This includes the establishment of 19 Child Care Links sites across Australia, which will integrate early childhood services in areas of high disadvantage, and completion of a report available to all governments and the community sector to inform the provision of parenting information and support.
Complementary activities included:
- funding for an Australian Early Childhood Development Instrument, a measure of child development before school entry, for use at the community level, announced by Minister Anthony in January 2004
- working closely with other portfolios in organising a national workshop, held in March 2004 and hosted by the Australian Council for Children and Parenting, to explore options for better monitoring how children are faring.
