What should NSW's future First Steps Strategy be?

All early childhood educators and teachers know the enormous impact it can have on all children from birth to 5 years old and beyond.

But not many would be aware of the NSW First Steps Strategy 2021-2025, which is the NSW Government's Strategy for NSW Aboriginal Children's Early Childhood Education.

This existing Strategy has 5 performance measures or targets:

• 95% of Aboriginal children will be enrolled in the year before school starts by 2025.
• 55% of Aboriginal children will be assessed as developmentally on track in all 5 domains of the Australian Early Development Census by 2031.
• 50% of Aboriginal children in ECEC will have access to an Aboriginal language program by 2025.
• 3% of staff working in the department’s ECEC directorates will be Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander.
• 100% of staff working in the department’s ECEC directorates will have completed or commenced cultural awareness/safety training by 2025.

We must also be reminded by the following public statements:

• from the NSW Department of Education (on 12 September 2022): “2 out of 5 children are not developmentally on track upon starting school”; and
• from the Hon Jason Clare MP, Federal Minister for Education (on 6 October 2022): “Last year 55% of four and five year olds were assessed as developmentally ready to start school.”

The above statements is contrasted with ACECQA's NQF Snapshot for Q4 of 2022 (see page 4) that reported 89% of services across Australia were rated Meeting the National Quality Standards or higher.

Hence, ACA NSW is interested in your feedback and input on the above in anticipation of a potential updating of the NSW First Steps Strategy perhaps for 2026 to 2030 for all Aboriginal children.

For any further information/clarification, members can contact the ACA NSW team via 1300 556 330 or nsw@childcarealliance.org.au.

PUBLISHED: 16 DECEMBER 2024