Quality Early Education for All

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How Australia’s children are tracking
Authors of the Mitchell Institute’s landmark report, ‘Educational Opportunities’,
concluded that, “Australia’s education system is not working well for the most
disadvantaged young people” (Lamb et al, 2015). There is a cohort of children who arrive
at school developmentally vulnerable and never catch up to their peers.
Lamb et al contend that the disparity in outcomes for these children is compounded by differences in access to
educational services: they attend fewer hours of early education, have lower attendance at school, are more
likely to leave school early and are less likely to go to university or vocational education and training.
The education system clearly struggles to reduce the impact of early disadvantage on educational outcomes and
appears to be maintaining rather than reducing inequality. Early education can play an important role in reducing
the socio-economic gradient evident when children arrive at school. This section reviews recent data on
participation in early education and children’s outcomes.
Participation in ECEC services (0-5 year olds)
Overall more children are entering early childhood education. However, recent Productivity Commission data
(2016) shows that some cohorts of children are clearly under-represented (Figure 1.3):
• Forty-three per cent of children aged under 5 attend ECEC services, up from 34 per cent in 2006.
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children make up 5.5 per cent of the of all 0-5 year olds, but only 2.2 per
cent of ECEC participants.
• Children with a disability make up 4 per cent of 0-5 year olds, but only 2.9 per cent of ECEC participants.
• Children from regional areas make up 26.3 per cent of the population, but only 23.7 per cent of ECEC
participants (declining from 25.2 per cent in 2013).
• Participation of children from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds increased between 2010
and 2013 from 13.7 per cent to 17.3 per cent.
• While they make up 20 per cent of the population, only 11.1 per cent of children from CALD backrounds are
participating in preschool.
• Disadvantaged children make up 19.5 per cent of the community, but only 17.6 per cent of children attending
preschool in the year before full-time schooling.
Participation in preschool (4-5 year olds)
The National Partnership Agreement (NPA) on Universal Access to Early Childhood Education aims to ensure that
“all children have access to a quality early childhood education program in the year before they go to full time
school” (COAG, 2013). Quality is measured by the inclusion of the service in the NQS, regardless of the
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