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Childcare, early education advocates sound alarm as development census results decline
Nearly half of Australian children are not considered on track with their development, according to the latest Australian Early Development Census (AEDC).
The teacher questionnaire looks at children in their first year of school, and found just 52.9 per cent were on track in all five development areas surveyed in 2024.
The results are an improvement on the first census taken in 2009, but a deterioration from the last survey in 2021.
The percentage of children considered to be facing "significant challenges" to their development increased marginally in all areas, between 0.2 and 1.5 per cent.
Chief executive of Early Childhood Australia Samantha Page told RN Breakfast the COVID-19 pandemic had played a major role in the latest result.
"Play-based learning is really important for developing social competence and emotional maturity."
Both those areas are assessed in the AEDC, along with physical health and wellbeing, language and cognitive skills, and communication skills and general knowledge.
Ms Page stressed it was possible for developmentally vulnerable children to catch up, but that it took "a lot of resources".
She said she supported the federal government's goal of a universal early education system, but the focus must be on disadvantaged children.
Children from First Nations, non-English speaking, rural and remote, and low socio-economic backgrounds recorded worse results overall in the AEDC.
The Labor government has promised to build more childcare centres in areas of need, and reforms to childcare subsidies, regardless of how much parents work or study, come into effect in January.
"I think a country as well off as Australia really should have more than just over half of its children developmentally on track in the first year of school, and we really would like to see a concerted effort in response to this," Ms Page said.
In the regional Victorian city of Ballarat, CEO of the Eureka Community Kindergarten Association (ECKA) Jo Geurts said the AEDC results could not be explained by the pandemic.
"Early childhood was one of the only services that continued to operate all the way through COVID … in our region," she said.
"I think it's more than that."
She pointed to long waiting lists for health services, and workforce pay and training as areas in need of more investment.
"The development of the brain in children in the years before they're eight years old is dramatic … so we need really high-quality educators," she said.
Ms Geurts would like to see a shift in the language around the industry.
"Yes, it's about workforce participation, particularly for women, but it's also got to be very much about children in a rich learning environment."
Nearly one-quarter of Australian children live in a "childcare desert" — where three or more children compete for a place.
That includes parts of the Wimmera, where early childhood advocacy group By Five works to close childcare gaps, and improve health outcomes by linking families with specialists and bringing allied health workers into schools.
By Five executive officer Jo Martin said support must be tailored to community needs, and should be more flexible across departments and governments.
"It's really important that we don't let … borders get in the way of getting the best outcomes for children," she said.
Louise Middleton is a maternal child health nurse working in north-east Victoria, and has seen firsthand the challenges for people living more than 100 kilometres from key services.
She told ABC Statewide Drive that developmental delays were exacerbated by long waiting lists.
"If we [maternal child health nurses] pick up any issue with the child for their school readiness, we are absolutely unable to get them assessed in a timely manner," she said.
"It's taking six to eight months just to get their in-home assessment, and then it's taking another six months for them to get NDIS or any other referrals and assistance."
The federal and Victorian education ministers have been contacted for comment.
