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Indigenous Early Childhood Development National Partnership

In December 2007, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) through the National Indigenous Reform Agreement agreed to a partnership between all levels of government to work with Indigenous communities to ‘Close the Gap’ on Indigenous disadvantage.

On 2 July 2009, the National Partnership for Indigenous Early Childhood Development (NP) was agreed by COAG to improve the outcomes of Indigenous children in their early years and give them the best start in life by addressing the high levels of disadvantage they currently experience.

The NP operates under three COAG targets to reduce the gap in developmental outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous children:

  • halve the gap in mortality rates for Indigenous children under five within a decade
  • halve the gap for Indigenous students in reading, writing and numeracy within a decade
  • ensure all Indigenous four-year-olds have access to early childhood education within five years, including Indigenous children living in remote areas.

To achieve the COAG targets the Victorian Government, along with the other states and territories, have committed to a reform program for Indigenous early childhood development. The reform program will be delivered in stages to achieve tangible improvements in outcomes for Indigenous children and generational change over the longer term.

The NP represents the first stage of the reform program, with a focus on Indigenous children aged 0-3 years. Evidence shows that substantial benefits accrue from investments made in the first few years of life and this is even more so for children from disadvantaged backgrounds. A greater focus on interventions in the early years will also contribute significantly to the achievement of COAG targets relating to later life outcomes.

Funding

The NP commits to joint funding of $547.2 million over six years to address the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in their early years. This sum is in addition to $16.8 million already committed over five years to Indigenous Child Care Hubs.

The NP covers the period from 1 January 2009 to 30 June 2014. Funding allocated to Victoria over this time frame is $22 million.

Initiatives

Victoria will implement three initiatives under this NP:

  • Integration of early childhood services through Children and Family Centres

Victoria will establish two Aboriginal Children and Family Centres, one in the City of Whittlesea and one in Bairnsdale, East Gippsland Shire. The centres will provide a dynamic mix of early childhood and family support services, including long day care, kindergarten for three and four-year-old Aboriginal children, visiting professionals such as maternal and child health nurses, counsellors, midwives and other programs including In Home Support, Koori Early Childhood Field Officers and Early Childhood Intervention Services.

The Department will work with the local Aboriginal communities to support them to participate in this initiative.

  • Increased access to antenatal care, pre-pregnancy, and teenage sexual and reproductive health services

While Aboriginal women access antenatal care at comparable rates to non-Aboriginal women, available data shows that they tend to leave their first antenatal visit until much later. In addition, studies have shown that teenage mothers, particularly Aboriginal mothers, are more likely to experience poor pregnancy outcomes, including low birth weight.

In Victoria, the NP provides two discrete initiatives: Koori maternity services, and sexual and reproductive health services. Efforts will focus on improving access to the use of antenatal care by young Aboriginal mothers, and supporting young Aboriginal women to make informed decisions about their sexual and reproductive health. Services will target areas with significant numbers of young Aboriginal women, and high numbers of births to teenagers.

  • Increased access to, and use of, maternal and child health services by Indigenous families

The Victorian component of this initiative focuses on:

  • increasing the proportion of Aboriginal children attending maternal and child health Key Ages and Stages visits, through local government and community health services in partnership with Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations;
  • building support of the existing universally provided maternal and child health service; and
  • building links between Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations, Koori maternity services, maternal and child health services, community health services, and supported playgroups.