The Building Blocks — Action to Close the Gap
Closing the Gap: Early Childhood
COAG has committed to halving the gap in infant mortality within a decade and to extending early childhood education to all Indigenous four year olds in remote areas by 2013.
This Government has consistently recognised the importance of the early years, including the prenatal and neonatal periods, in the development of healthy children who go on to have successful and fulfilling lives. The wellbeing of Indigenous children is our foremost priority. The life expectancy gap will not be closed without better maternal and child health and the education and employment gaps will not be closed without the best possible start for young lives.
Our investments in this area are working to provide more quality services in areas such as preschool education, child care, family support and parenting and maternal, antenatal and early childhood health.
In November 2008, all Australian governments signed the National Partnership Agreement on Early Childhood Education which, from 2013, aims to provide universal access to early childhood education to all Australian children in the year before formal school. Indigenous children living in remote communities are a specific focus of this agreement. Bilateral agreements setting out actions, strategies and performance benchmarks have been finalised with each jurisdiction.
The Australian Government also provides funding of around $12.0 million each year to preschools to support the participation of Indigenous children in early childhood education programs. Preschools recognised by the state are eligible for funding, which is provided based on the number of Indigenous children enrolled.
The National Partnership Agreement on Indigenous Early Childhood Development is establishing 36 Children and Family Centres across Australia to integrate services in areas such as child care, early learning and parent and family support. States and Territories have been undertaking extensive community consultations on site selection, building design and service models and the locations have been announced. Twenty one centres will be located in regional and remote locations, with the majority of the centres operating by 2012.
Other elements of this National Partnership Agreement are expanding health education, treatment and care services for Indigenous mothers, babies and children, including the monitoring of sight, hearing and other developmental milestones. Teenage sexual and reproductive health services are also being expanded. States and Territories have begun recruiting new staff to support the delivery of expanded programs.
In 2010‑11 up to 10 additional primary health care services will receive funding under the New Directions Mothers and Babies Services initiative, which now forms part of the National Partnership Agreement. This is in addition to the 57 sites already approved for funding. This initiative provides Indigenous children and their mothers with increased access to antenatal and postnatal care to support improved outcomes.
In 2010‑11 the Australian Nurse-Family Partnership Program will be delivered in up to seven locations across Australia including Alice Springs, Cairns, Wellington-Dubbo and Melbourne. This program provides regular home visits to mothers of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander children throughout pregnancy and until their child is two years old.
The Indigenous Mothers' Accommodation Fund, with capital funding of $10.0 million over three years from 2008‑09, is expanding affordable accommodation options for Indigenous women needing to travel to cities or regional centres to receive care before, during and after the birth of their child. A 24 bed facility began construction in Cairns in December 2009, at a capital cost of $5.0 million, and is scheduled for completion in July 2010. I have also approved $4.1 million for the construction of a 10-15 bed facility in Darwin. The facility is scheduled for completion by June 2011. Extensions to an existing 10 bed facility in Katherine are under way.
The Child Care Services Support Program provides $43.0 million each year to around 269 Indigenous early childhood education and care services in areas where the market would not otherwise provide these services. These services include playgroups, crèches and outside school hours care services.
The Indigenous Parenting Support Program, an election commitment, provides additional early childhood services and informal parenting support services. At April 2010, 11 services, three of which are in Remote Service Delivery priority communities, were operational assisting over 240 families. A further 23 sites will be set up in Remote Service Delivery communities once community consultations are completed. A further 16 sites nationally will commence from July 2010.
As part of the Northern Territory Emergency Response, the Government committed $15.5 million over four years from 2007‑08 in capital and operational funding for nine new crèches and the upgrade of 13 existing crèches. As at 30 April this year, eight of the nine new crèches were operational and a further 11 existing crèches had been upgraded. Other childrens' services have been provided through the Northern Territory Emergency Response, including expanded access to playgroups. Three additional playgroups were funded in last year's Budget, and are being established in Remote Service Delivery priority communities in the Northern Territory.
To support the development of the early childhood workforce in remote Indigenous communities, 29 traineeships are being fully funded at a cost of around $3 million from 2009‑10 to 2012‑13 for participants to gain a Certificate III or IV.
The Australian Government is building a better understanding of the needs of Indigenous children through the Footprints in Time study and the Australian Early Development Index (AEDI). Footprints in Time first begun in 2003 and was provided with $12.0 million over four years from 2007‑08 to continue developing the study. The AEDI complements this work, measuring the development of children in a community by the time they reach school age. The AEDI Indigenous Adaptation Study reviewed the AEDI questions, processes and materials to ensure that they are culturally inclusive and relevant for Indigenous populations. In 2007‑08 the Government invested $21.9 million to 30 June 2011 for the first national rollout of the AEDI.
Budget measure: Improvements to Budget Base Funded services - improved standards
Funding of $59.4 million over four years from 2010‑11 will be provided to improve the quality of around 140 Budget Base Funded early childhood services, including around 100 Indigenous services, to meet key aspects of the new national quality system for early childhood education and child care by 2014. Children attending the centre based early childhood services will benefit from improvements to the level of qualifications of staff at the service, physical environment of the service where this is required and governance and administrative capacity.
These services are directly funded by the Australian Government to provide child care and early learning opportunities to vulnerable and disadvantaged children in areas where the market would otherwise fail to deliver child care.
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