The Australian Government has announced the expansion of the Connected Beginnings program with six further sites, supporting an additional 4500 First Nations children, Katie Fotheringham writes.
Minister for Early Childhood Education Dr Anne Aly announced the program as part of National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Day celebrations.
New Connected Beginnings projects will be established in:
- Maryborough (QLD)
- Hervey Bay (QLD)
- Cairns (QLD)
- Bundaberg (QLD)
- Rockhampton (QLD)
- Broken Hill (NSW)
The new locations – five in Queensland and one in NSW – will bring the total number of Connected Beginnings sites to 40 across Australia, supporting 16,400 First Nations children.
“All children, no matter their background or where they live, should be able to access the transformational benefits of quality early childhood education and care,” Dr Aly said.
“Children who access early childhood education do better on key measures throughout life, including improved literacy and numeracy skills and better health outcomes, and they go on to higher paying jobs.
“The Connected Beginnings program has been structured so that communities are empowered to design and deliver the program in a way that supports their individual needs and aspirations,” she said.
Community initiative
The Connected Beginnings program is a community-led initiative in partnership with the Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care (SNAICC) National Voice for our Children and the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO).
The program connects First Nations children aged 0-5 with a range of early childhood education, health services and family support services to assist them in achieving the learning and developmental milestones necessary for a positive transition to school.
At current locations, the average attendance of First Nations children in centre-based care has risen by more than 10 per cent from 2019 to 2022.
Additionally, there has been an uptick in the number of children meeting developmental benchmarks across all five Australian Early Development Census domains.
Connected Beginnings collaborates with First Nations communities to ensure that activities are delivered to First Nations people in their own spaces and on their Country.
The funding for new sites is part ofan $81.8 million government investment, aiming to expand the national program to 50 sites by 2025.
To further ensure that First Nations children can access the transformative benefits of quality early childhood education and care, the government has increased the number of hours of subsidised care First Nations children are eligible for to a minimum of 36 hours every fortnight.
An important initiative
IEU-QNT Branch Secretary Terry Burke said it was critical that our government took initiatives like Connected Beginnings to support our First Nations children.
“Programs like Connected Beginnings contribute to the Closing the Gap early childhood education targets,” Burke said.
“Our union is committed to ensuring every child in Australia has access to the same quality of education and care, no matter their cultural background or location.
“The expansion of Connected Beginnings to new sites means more much-needed, place-based and community-led efforts to support First Nations children to thrive in their early years,” he said.