An Overview of Early Childhood Health and Education Service Provision in Australia

There is widespread recognition that early childhood experiences form the foundation for lifelong health, development and learning trajectories. Reflecting this, numerous services and supports are provided for young children and their families in Australia through the health, education and community services sectors via government agencies, non-government organisations and volunteer groups. Many communities have multiple early childhood services, each separately providing different programs, pursuing different objectives, and drawing on expertise from different disciplines – often at the same time for the same children. This paper provides a high-level overview of the early childhood health and education support service ‘systems’ in Australia. It aims to highlight strengths and identify gaps for future evidence-based advocacy. The paper examines data from a range of government and non-government sources in each Australian jurisdiction including annual reports, budget papers, fact sheets, national and jurisdictional evaluations, and reviews.The key observation arising from a review of the data provided in this paper is that parents and families encounter early childhood ‘health’ and ‘education’ services in a disparate manner. Further, that engagement with the service system depends on parents’ knowledge of their entitlements, capacity to navigate multiple providers and a belief among parents that the benefits of service engagement are worth the effort. Specific observations relevant to the early childhood health sector emphasise a need to develop processes (frameworks and data collection) to support the implementation of cohesive national child and family health services. In relation to the early childhood education sector, key challenges relate to the high cost of provision, particularly in remote localities where needs are greatest