Planning Better Responses
Governments, local communities and the public need to know how children and young people are faring, and particularly which families, children and young people are likely to need greater assistance, so that we can plan for the future.
Data on children and families, as well as on early childhood services, schools and other systems of support, is being made available to help such planning. Higher-need population groups: Aboriginal children and families; recent/high need immigrant (including refugee) children and families; families affected by chronic disadvantage and with complex needs (including children in out of home care); and families affected by disability are being given particular attention.
Investigation into the increase in births in Victoria
This is a preliminary report on recent births in Victoria. Further work is currently being undertaken and a final report will be published at a later date.
For more information, see:
Local government involvement in early childhood
In 2005 the Department of Human Services (Office for Children) Municipal Association of Victoria Partnership Working Party identified the need to obtain an overview of the extent of local government involvement in early childhood services trough a survey. This report of the survey provides, for the first time, a snapshot of the many types of support provided by local councils to families with young children.
See the publication Support for Early Childhood Services: A Survey of Victorian Councils, April 2007 (PDF - 1.3Mb)
Aboriginal Charter and 10 Year Plan
Dardee Boorai: the Victorian Charter of Safety and Wellbeing for Aboriginal Children and Young People defines key actions and measures of progress required in improving the safety, health, learning, development and wellbeing of all Aboriginal children and young people. The Charter describes the roles and responsibilities of families, communities, community controlled organisations and mainstream services in making a positive difference in the lives of Aboriginal children.
The 10 Year Plan for Aboriginal Children and Young People will build on, and complement, existing plans and frameworks for Victoria’s population as a whole. The Plan will outline key directions, strategies and evidence based interventions to improve safety, health, development and wellbeing outcomes for Aboriginal children and young people. Completion of the plan is expected in early 2010.
For more information, see Dardee Boorai: the Victoria Charter of Safety and Wellbeing for Aboriginal Children and Young People.
National Reform Agenda
Victoria's plan to improve outcomes in early childhood is the third document that Victoria has released to explain how it plans to implement different elements of the National Reform Agenda. Earlier plans covered action on type 2 diabetes and action to improve literacy and numeracy.
More details on the National Reform Agenda are available on the website for the Department of Premier and Cabinet