Early Childhood

Child care service providers and other organisations can get information and support from the Australian Government to help them to deliver high quality child care services. This includes information on how to become a child care service provider, how to operate a child care service and how to...

The Australian Government’s early childhood workforce initiatives include a range of programs and incentives to improve the quality of education to give Australian children the best start in life. This includes programs to support, train and retain an experienced and qualified early...

Families can use the MyChild website to get information about what the Australian Government is doing in the area of early learning and child care, and other issues that affect children.

The National Quality Framework for Early Childhood Education and Care ensures children receive a high standard of education and care. The Framework is a national approach to the regulation and quality assessment of early childhood services and helps families in choosing the best early childhood...

Universal Access to Early Childhood Education is the commitment of Australian governments to ensuring that quality early childhood education is available for all Australian children in the year before they start formal schooling.

Parents, teachers and school communities can benefit from the Australian Government's work in measuring young children's health and wellbeing and other aspects of their development. The results of this work are available through the Australian Early Development Index.

Subscribe to Best Start in Life eZine Best Start in Life Ezines share information about the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations programs for early childhood education.

Budget Based Funded Services are funded through the Child Care Services Support Program. They support early education and child care services in communities where these services would not otherwise be able to operate or where culturally appropriate services are required.

New Early Learning and Care Centres are being established by the Australian Government in areas where existing child care services cannot meet the demand for child care. A total of 38 new centres will open, including six Autism specific centres.

The Home Interaction Program for Parents and Youngsters (HIPPY) is a two-year home-based parenting and early childhood program that help parents and carers to be their child’s first teacher.

Australian Government-approved child care services, regardless of geographic location, are able to access high quality professional development and support. This help is available through the Inclusion and Professional Support program.

As part of the Council of Australian Governments’ agreed targets to improve outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, the Australian Government has a number of programs to bring better health and education services together to give Indigenous children a good start in life.

The National Early Childhood Development Strategy is a plan to improve the health, safety, early learning and wellbeing of all children from before birth to eight years of age, particularly for children from disadvantaged backgrounds.

The Child Care Management System is a national online computer system that all approved child care services are required by family assistance law to operate under.

The Australian Government is working in partnership with child care providers and employee representatives to trial a series of flexible and innovative care options and projects which aim to enhance the capacity of the child care sector and better meet the needs of the Australian workforce and...

Child care service providers may be able to get financial help from the Australian Government through the Child Care Services Support Program.

The Social Enterprise Development and Investment Fund (SEDIF) offers finance and support to eligible social enterprises to help them grow their business and increase the impact of their work in their communities.

Social Innovation finds new ways of working across public, private and community sectors to create social change. The Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations drives social innovation in Australia through projects and thought leadership that demonstrate how we can achieve...

Government and non-government preschools may be able to get additional financial help from the Australian Government to assist with improving educational outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. This help is available through the Supplementary Recurrent Assistance program.