South Australia to lead the nation on early childhood development
The government has set an ambitious 20-year goal to reduce the rate of South Australian children who are developmentally vulnerable when they start school from 23.8% to 15%, as measured by the Australian Early Development Census.
To help deliver this reform, the state government is investing $56 million to develop and support the early childhood education and care workforce.
These are key recommendations accepted in the government response to the Royal Commission into Early Childhood Education and Care.
The government has committed to action on all recommendations, whether it be direct state investment and reform, identifying an alternative approach or advocating to the federal government for change.
The government will invest in reforms across 8 areas to increase the availability and quality of early childhood services and supports, with greater flexibility for families. The largest reforms are:
Universal quality preschool
- Up to 15 hours of quality preschool programs available for 3-year-olds progressively from 2026 to 2032. This includes funding for a learning and development program, services to support children’s additional needs, and family outreach for children to enrol and stay in preschool.
- Funding for planning time, professional learning, access to tools and curriculum materials for early childhood teachers.
More support for children who need it
- Funding up to 30 hours of preschool for up to 2000 children aged 3 and 4 who will benefit most from this support for their learning and development.
- Connecting education, health, and other critical child and family support services with early childhood education and care in preschool settings and through integrated service hubs. These hubs will play a key role in delivering additional hours of preschool to those in need.
Growing and supporting the early years workforce
- A new investment of $56 million over 4 years to attract, develop and support the early childhood education and care workforce we will need to deliver this ambitious reform. A workforce strategy will be launched in the first half of this year and will include a significant scholarship program.
- Pursuing changes to the Teachers Registration and Standards Regulations 2021 so teachers with a degree recognised by the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority can register as a teacher in South Australia. This will boost supply and enable a wider range of qualifications, including the development of new degrees, with a stronger focus on quality early childhood education.
Accessibility and flexibility for families
- Trialing preschool out of hours care in government-operated preschool in 2024 at 20 locations, which will inform a broader roll-out from late 2025.
- Supporting communities to access federal support and funding to improve the availability of childcare services in thin markets. In addition to this the Department for Education is actively supporting the establishment of family day care services in priority regional and rural communities.
- Reforming out of school hours care at government schools, on top of recent expanded investment into training, tools, and resources to deliver high quality OSHC services.
Investing in Aboriginal children
- From 2024, 3-year-old Aboriginal children, as well as children in care, at government-operated preschools will be offered 15 hours of preschool, up from 12 hours.
- From 2025, extending the Enter for Success Strategy, that allows Aboriginal children to enrol in any government school in the state, to also apply in preschools.
- Working with Aboriginal communities to co-design and deliver a range of strategies so Aboriginal children receive increased benefits from 3-year-old preschool.
These reforms will see quality funded preschool programs for 3-year-olds offered across long day care, government services and early learning services. Programs will be available progressively each year from 2026. The roll-out will be staged across 2026-2032 to allow time to build up the additional workforce and infrastructure needed for the reforms.
The government will release the staged roll-out schedule, and locations for 2 integrated hub demonstration sites by mid-2024.
The government has made an initial infrastructure investment of $50m, focused on government preschools, to support these reforms.
A new, independent Office for Early Childhood Development has been established to provide stewardship across these reforms, led by Chief Executive Kim Little who commenced in the role on 15 January 2024.