The Australian Early Development Census (AEDC) is a nationwide data collection of early childhood development.

The AEDC provides evidence to support health, education and community policy and planning. AEDC data highlights what is working well and what can be improved to support children and their families. AEDC data are collected every three years. The sixth collection took place in 2024.

Learn more about the AEDC and how it's conducted.

See what impact organisations are having in their local communities with AEDC data.

Access the Data Hub for publicly available data and more information about data applications and agreements.

Search a wide variety of helpful resources.

Read the full AEDC 2024 National Report

The 2024 AEDC National Report is now available. It paints a picture of the early development of children in Australia, as measured through the latest AEDC data collection and across all the AEDC cycles.


Who is the AEDC for?

 

AEDC data can help identify how children’s development is supported in the community - what is working well and where there are gaps.

AEDC data can help early childhood educators shape their programs to enrich children’s development.

By taking part, families add to important knowledge for research and policy that helps to identify the needs of children, families and communities. Parents don’t need to provide any information, and children don’t lose any class time.

When children and families are supported, policymakers and governments build a better future for their communities.

The AEDC provides researchers with robust data about children’s development and can be accessed in de-identified formats and through data linkage.

The AEDC provides schools with data about children’s development, to help strategic and quality improvement planning.

AEDC in action

Mid-Murray Family Connections

The Mid-Murray Council is a local government area in South Australia covering the Riverland and Murraylands to the eastern slopes of the Mount Lofty Ranges. The AEDC results showed an increase in developmental vulnerability on 1 or more domains from 32.8% to 43.2% in 2012. In response, the Mid-Murray Family Connections implemented a suite of services and programs including: delivering wellbeing and resilience courses; child mental health workshops; connecting families to developmental checks; setting up new playgroups and various others.

Bass Valley Primary

Bass Valley Primary School is in a rural farming area in Gippsland’s Bass Coast community, about 110 kms south-east of Melbourne. AEDC results showed developmental vulnerability in the communication skills and general knowledge domain. The Ready, Set, Go! program was developed to improve children’s readiness for school by enriching language and literacy exposure in the early years.

AEDC data for research

The AEDC provides researchers with robust data about children’s development and can be accessed in de-identified formats and through data linkage. See examples of projects that have used AEDC data.

School Stories

Access School Stories to see how other schools across Australia have used AEDC data to improve outcomes for students.

Community Data Explorer

Navigate the AEDC Community Data Explorer and understand the data.

A screen capture of the AEDC Data Explorer in use, which shows statistics