With many conversations happening around the country about the future of the early years in Australia, we thought it was timely to share a summary of the insights that have emerged from our work so far and to also let you know about the focus of our work in 2023.
The attached message from the Early Years Catalyst Co-Chairs captures what we have learnt about the current challenges and opportunities within our early years system, including the conditions that we believe are needed to ensure that our early years system can support all young children and families in Australia to thrive.
It also outlines the three major projects which we have underway, building on the systems mapping process which we completed in 2022:
- Evidence for action: exploring the evidence on a range of possible actions to create a better future early years system including what impacts can be expected if they are implemented
- Mental models deep dive: digging into the mental models and deeply held societal beliefs identified in the system mapping process and exploring how we can begin to shift them
- Design for the future: co-designing a community-led model for an early years system that enables a more responsive and flexible approach to meeting children’s needs.
Upcoming Publications
We are currently finalising a landscape atlas of Australia’s early years system which maps the structural elements of the key ‘systems’ that are integral to children’s early development. We look forward to sharing this resource – and the insights it provides about the government-driven aspects of these systems – shortly on this website.
And remember to make sure you are subscribed to be notified when new publications are distributed.
