Early-learning strategy started in 2021 as South Australia falls behind with highest number of vulnerable children

Kate Ellis, leading South Australia's learning learning taskforce, with Elizabeth Davis, chief executive of Raising Literacy Australia, promoting the Words Grow Minds campaign.

A 10-year early learning strategy for children under the age of three was launched by the South Australian government in 2021, responding to census data from 2009-18, showing that the state’s children were more likely to be vulnerable on all five measured developmental domains than the national average.

Where other states were reducing the numbers of vulnerable children, South Australia’s rate continued to increase. As part of the early learning strategy, the office of early years within the state government’s education department would be responsible for supporting parents and their children in the early years. The office would continue to lead the department education’s strategic leadership of early childhood policy and services in preschool, children’s centres for early childhood development and parenting (children’s centres), play centres and early literacy programs and child care (including out-of-school-hours care, vacation care, rural care, and occasional care).

The department also funded an early years taskforce headed by South Australia former Labor federal government early childhood minister Kate Ellis. Ellis had been appointed by lead agency Raising Literacy Australia to work with South Australian government departments and non-government organisations (NGOs) who interact with families of young children on developing children aged up to three. Liberal state education minister John Gardner said increased support for organisations like Raising Literacy Australia was included in the Steven Marshall Liberal government’s first $50 million funding towards the early learning strategy.

The Smith Family, Playgroup SA, Health Development Adelaide, Public Library Services, Australian Council on Children and the Media and the Teachers Registration Board of South Australia were also partners in the the early learning taskforce that aimed to bring all the organisations dealing with young children, government and non-government, together for an uniform approach to early childhood development. 

Kate Ellis, well known for her passion about improving early childhood education, said: “We cannot sit back and allow South Australian children to continue to fall behind children in the rest of the country before they have even started school. We know that 90% of a child’s brain development occurs by the time they are five years old. Supporting children and their families during this time is one of the smartest investments that any community can make.”

The new early years learning strategy would include:

• expanded child health and development check partners (including new checks at 12 months and three years)
• easy access to tips and resources including playgroups and parenting groups to support their child’s development
• targeted local services in response to child development needs in each community.