Improved Outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Families in Early Childhood Education and Care Services

Learning from Good Practice: Published April 2012

Introduction

Strong evidence indicates that the early years from 0–8 are critical in a child’s development, and that investment in early education, particularly for disadvantaged children, is more effective than intervention at later ages. This is reflected in the current Government policy agenda, including the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) National Partnership Agreement for Indigenous Early Childhood Development, 2008; Investing in the Early Years: A National Early Childhood Development Strategy, 2009 (Early Years Strategy); and the National Quality Framework for Early Childhood Education and Care. Early childhood is also one of the seven interrelated Building Blocks developed to support the COAG-agreed reforms to close the gap in Indigenous disadvantage in 2008.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children remain significantly disadvantaged in development and educational outcomes by the end of the early years. The Australian Early Development Index 2009 checklist highlighted that 52 per cent of Indigenous five-year-old children were classified as at risk or vulnerable in the domain of language and cognitive skills in 2009, compared to 21.4 per cent of non-Indigenous five-year-olds. Evidence suggests that without early learning opportunities, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are likely to be behind from their first year of formal schooling, and that across all states Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children show lower schooling achievements, particularly in literacy and numeracy, than non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, with the gap being even wider in remote Australia.

Participation in a high-quality early childhood development program may significantly enhance a child’s general developmental outcomes and promote the development of their cognitive, language, social and pre-academic skills. Early childhood education and care (ECEC) services are therefore a central, evidence-based strategy for supporting strong outcomes for early childhood and later life. As concluded in the Productivity Commission’s report on Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage:

Early Childhood Education and Care services provide development opportunities for children, as well as supporting the needs of families, and can be considered to be a significant influence in a child’s early education. Early childhood education programs are associated with increased levels of school completion and enhanced literacy, numeracy and social skills.

Biddle highlights that the effects of quality preschool continue beyond the early school years, with children who attend such services found to be better off in terms of self-esteem and later social and emotional maturity, as well as being less likely to engage in criminal and antisocial behaviour, teen pregnancy or drug abuse. In the same study, the author also suggests that access to good quality early childhood education is likely to be one of the most effective ways to reduce social inequity. ECEC services are also beneficial for the entire community, as engagement provides respite, information, social networks and models of positive adult–child interaction for family and community members.

However, it is important to remember that the quality of the service and education is a key factor in promoting results. As Biddle cautions, not all preschool education has the same effect on a child’s development. A quality preschool education is likely to be beneficial for a child, but poor quality preschool may in fact have a negative effect on outcomes.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children remain underrepresented in ECEC services. Furthermore, whilst preschool enrolment rates for three- to five-year-olds were similar between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, actual absence (that is, non-attendance) rates differed greatly, with 33.2 per cent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children being absent, compared with 15.8 per cent of non-Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. It must also be noted, however, that this statistic excludes preschool programs provided through child care services such as long day care, and thus is not representative of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participation in ECEC services.

It is widely acknowledged that the barrier is not simply the low availability of services in a given area. As Flaxman and Muir note, increasing the number, scope and capacity of services did not necessarily mean Indigenous families accessed and engaged with these services. Rather, there is a multiplicity of complex and interrelated factors that research identifies as contributing to this gap, including:

• Venues that are too small, inadequately resourced or inappropriately set up for young children;
• Difficulty in accessing services due to isolated location and/or a lack of transport. This is also an issue for those families living in outer suburbs. A lack of transport also hinders the involvement of Elders or other community members in the service;
• Prohibitive fees, even though services may still be heavily subsidised;
• Unmet cultural or support needs of families;
• Complex cultural relationships within community, including community or family conflict;
• Fear of racism towards families or their children, of being judged negatively, or that engagement with early childhood settings will undermine Aboriginal culture;
• Negative associations with institutions and government services, including fears that children might be removed from families;
• Inflexible entry points, such as access only through a referral from another service; and
• Staffing issues, including challenges in recruiting and retaining Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff, few staff fluent in the local language, and a lack of systematic approaches to cultural competency training for staff.

In light of the clear benefits of ECEC services for early childhood development, SNAICC considers it imperative to overcome these barriers and better understand how early childhood education and care services can be made increasingly accessible for, and engage more effectively with, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families.

A major initiative previously undertaken to address the barriers discussed above was the implementation of Multifunctional Aboriginal Children’s Services (MACS). MACS have proven to be very effective in providing quality and accessible ECEC services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families. As concluded by Trudgett and Grace, the establishment of these centres is potentially the most important contributor to the decrease in the discrepancy between the rates of Indigenous and non-Indigenous enrolment in early childhood services. Further praise in the literature for the MACS model highlights that MACS incorporate Indigenous ways of knowing and are widely recognised in Indigenous communities as a preferred model for early learning centres.

There is therefore a strong history, and evidence of and methodological basis for, high-quality, culturally appropriate, accessible ECEC service provision to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families that leads to outcomes for children. Evidence has shown that the most effective models for engaging with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and families follow certain key principles, namely that they:

(a) Apply innovative governance strategies;
(b) Foster an empowering culture;
(c) Support identity and culture; and
(d) Are holistic and responsive.

However, whilst there is strong anecdotal evidence for why these principles lead to positive outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, there has been little substantive examination to unpack why and how such outcomes are achieved. As Sims et al indicate, knowledge of the range of successful Indigenous children’s services programs is limited, and much of the information is available only through word of mouth.