What is Early Years Support?

Early Years Support works alongside Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled organisations to strengthen service quality, sustainability and community leadership across early learning and care, ensuring that high-impact early childhood development services are accessible and delivered to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families.

Early Years Support plays a pivotal role in the advocacy, development and representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled early childhood services across New South Wales, Western Australia and Victoria, and has a growing national footprint across Queensland, South Australia and the Northern Territory.

Early Years Support is designed to respond to local community priorities, tailoring its approach to strengthen service provision at every level. This includes support for:

• service design, governance and operational readiness,
• quality improvement and compliance with national standards,
• workforce development, retention and wellbeing,
• access and equity for children and families,
• funding, sustainability and service growth, and
• advocacy at local, state and national levels.

Early Years Support works collaboratively with governments to influence policy, grow workforce capacity and support service sustainability and governance. This approach expands the influence and reach of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander early years sector, supporting progress in resource and workforce development, compliance support, support for remote communities, funding and advocacy for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, families and communities.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled early learning services provide culturally safe, holistic environments that support children’s identity, wellbeing and development, while strengthening families and communities. By supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled organisations to lead early years services, Early Years Support ensures that early childhood education and care is designed by, and accountable to, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

Our Role

Early Years Support operates through three state-wide intermediaries in New South Wales, Western Australia and Victoria, while advancing a coordinated national strategy for the growth of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled early years services across Australia.

Through Early Years Support, SNAICC – National Voice for our Children:

• engages with Commonwealth and state governments and services,
• advocates for the needs and priorities of community-controlled early years services,
• supports the formation of partnerships that strengthen the collective voice of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities,
• facilitates co-design processes to ensure support is tailored to the unique realities of each locality, and
• champions local ownership, leadership and self-determination within early childhood service systems.

Since its establishment in 2021, Early Years Support has supported multiple services across New South Wales, Western Australia and Victoria. Early Years Support has also initiated a national strategy to support the growth of new Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled early years services, including work towards establishing a National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled early years services operator. Additional key program developments include the establishment of monthly State Leaders Network meetings, a national webinar program and the integration of an Early Years Support Policy Advisor into state-based functions to strengthen advocacy and reform efforts.

This approach ensures that support and services are locally informed, culturally grounded and community-led, empowering communities to shape their own futures. An independent evaluation has affirmed that the community-controlled intermediary model used by Early Years Support improves service quality, reduces barriers to effective delivery, alleviates administrative burden and strengthens sector cohesion.

Early Years Support is part of SNAICC’s broader early childhood development work, working alongside other national initiatives that aim to improve early years outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families. These include Connected Beginnings and the Early Childhood Care and Development Policy Partnership. Our collective work aligns with national priorities under the National Agreement on Closing the Gap, strengthening community control, shared decision-making and culturally safe services to achieve lasting improvements in early childhood development outcomes.