Early childhood is a time of rapid development that provides the foundation for lifelong health and wellbeing.
Understanding how children are faring helps to ensure the right kinds of services, supports and resources are available to help children and families thrive.
The AEDC provides evidence to support policy, planning and action to improve children’s health, development and wellbeing. The data can help governments develop flexible approaches to policy and planning that address the changing needs of children and families.
With data collected every three years, we can track national progress towards improving the development of children in Australia. Each new wave of data collected provides a more comprehensive picture of early childhood development in Australia.
Communities can influence the earliest years of children’s lives. AEDC data gives a snapshot of children’s development as they begin school, helping communities understand where strengths and challenges exist in their local context.
This provides an opportunity to think about what’s working well and what can be improved to help children and families thrive. AEDC data creates a common language which can help community organisations form partnerships to deliver programs and services to improve children’s wellbeing.
Once children fall behind in their learning, it gets more difficult to help them catch up. Gaps in school performance start early and stay mostly constant after a child turns eight. After that, it’s much harder for schools to reduce these preventable gaps (Heckman 2012).
Investing in children’s early years brings lifelong benefits to the whole community. The AEDC provides useful data about where this investment is best placed to help improve children outcomes for children.