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Australian Early Development Census2018 Results for the ACT

Acknowledgement of Country

The ACT Government acknowledges the traditional custodians of the ACT, the Ngunnawal people. The ACT Government acknowledges and respects their continuing culture and the contribution they make to the life of this city and this region.

Acknowledgements

Since 2002, the Australian Government has worked in partnership with eminent child health research institutes, Centre for Community Child Health, Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne, and the Telethon Kids Institute, Perth to deliver the Australian Early Development Census program to communities.

The Australian Government continues to work with its partners, and with state and territory governments to implement the AEDC nationwide.

Sections of this report are copied directly from the Australian Early Development Census National Report 2018 with written permission.

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1Australian Early Development Census 2018 Results for the ACT

Disclaimer

Each reader waives and releases the territory to the full extent permitted by law, from any and all claims relating to the usage of material or information documented in the report. Subject to any terms implied by law which cannot be excluded, in no event shall the territory be liable for any losses or damages, including incidental or consequential damages, resulting from use of the material or reliance on the information.

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Enquiries about this publication should be directed to:

Community Services DirectorateGPO Box 158, Canberra ACT 2601

p 133 427e [email protected]

www.children.act.gov.au

ISSN 2202-6797 (Print)ISSN 2202-6800 (Online)

© ACT Government January 2020


Message from the Minister

The Australian Early Development Census (AEDC) is an important measure of children’s development at the time they start their first year of fulltime school. We know that a child’s early life and development lay the foundations for their future learning. That’s why I am committed to using these results to improve child development outcomes into the future, through evidence-based policy and service design.

The AEDC has been completed nationwide every three years since 2009 and the 2018 results allow us to look at trends in the development of Canberra’s children over time.

I am pleased to report that all ACT schools participated in the 2018 AEDC. This report reflects the results of the 5,727 children living in the ACT who had a valid score recorded for them in the 2018 AEDC. The ACT’s fantastic completion rate of 98.3 per cent would not be possible, without the support of 320 teachers across 107 ACT schools. I would like to thank staff from all ACT schools for their ongoing support of the Census.

Working together to collect this valuable information provides us with robust data to inform government agencies, communities, and the early childhood sector about areas where children are developing well and where they need more support.

The 2018 AEDC data demonstrates the majority of children in the ACT are developmentally on track. However, for those at risk, or experiencing developmental vulnerabilities, there is more work to do to ensure they receive the right early supports to improve their life outcomes.

The five developmental domains that the AEDC measures are good predictors of adult health, education and social outcomes. Therefore, any vulnerability that is identified through the AEDC can be viewed as an opportunity to improve the outcomes for ACT children. With a range of initiatives progressing in the ACT for children in their early years, our aim is to ensure that those who need support receive it, and in turn have a better start to life.

With this new data, we have so many useful insights at our fingertips. I invite all those with a role in early childhood to reflect on the AEDC data and consider ways of working together to provide all children with the best start to life.

Rachel Stephen-Smith MLAMinister for Children, Youth and Families


Executive summary

Key findings for the ACT in 2018 AEDC

AEDC results are presented as the number and percentage of children who are developmentally on track, developmentally at risk and developmentally vulnerable in each domain, these results are presented in full on pages 36–39 of this report.

ACT children developmentally on track

The majority of ACT children are developmentally on track in each of the five AEDC domains in 2018. Since 2009, there have been small overall increases in the percentage of children developmentally on track in the emotional maturity and language and cognitive skills (school-based) domains.

ACT children developmentally vulnerable

Over the four cycles of the AEDC there have been increases in the percentages of children developmentally vulnerable in the physical health and wellbeing, social competence and emotional maturity domains, and to a lesser extent in the language and cognitive skills (school-based) domain.


Background

The importance of early childhood development

Early childhood development is increasingly recognised as a key predictor of future outcomes for children. Research has shown that investing time, effort and resources in the early years of a child’s life has significant impacts on their behaviour, learning, health and wellbeing, as they transition from childhood to adulthood. Research shows that investing in children’s early years, when their brains are developing rapidly, benefits children and the whole community. Early developmental gains support children through their school years and beyond.

About the Australian Early Development Census

The Australian Early Development Census (AEDC) is a national measure of children’s development, as they enter their first year of full-time school. The data for the AEDC is collected every three years using the Australian version of the Early Development Instrument (AvEDI), adapted from Canada. Participation is voluntary with data collected through the cooperation of parents and the active involvement of the government, Catholic and independent schools sectors across Australia.

In 2009, Australia became the first country in the world to collect national data on the developmental health and wellbeing of all children as they start their first year of full-time school. The success of the 2009 collection laid the foundation for the Australian Government’s commitment to ongoing AEDC data collection cycles. The second collection occurred in 2012, the third in 2015 and the fourth in 2018.

The AEDC highlights what is working well and what needs to be improved or developed to support children and their families, and helps communities know how their children are progressing. As a population-based measure, the AEDC is not designed to be an individual diagnostic tool. As such, results are reported publicly at a community level, acknowledging Australia’s diverse cultural context.

The AEDC provides evidence to guide planning and service-provision to ensure children are supported through their early years, school years and beyond.


About the AEDC domains

The AvEDI consists of approximately 100 questions across five key domains, which are closely linked to child health, education and social outcomes. The AEDC domains, domain icons and domain descriptions are presented in Figure 1.

For each of the five AEDC domains, children receive a score between zero and ten, where zero is most developmentally vulnerable. AEDC results are reported as percentage of children who are considered to be ‘developmentally on track’, ‘developmentally at risk’ and ‘developmentally vulnerable’ on each domain.

The AEDC domains have been shown to predict children’s later outcomes in health, wellbeing and academic success.

For further information about the domains and domain characteristics (developmentally on track, at risk and vulnerable), please refer to the fact sheet About the AEDC domains (www.aedc.gov.au/abtdom).

Figure 1. Descriptions of the AEDC developmental domains


http://www.aedc.gov.au/abtdom

How the AEDC results are reported

The AEDC reports developmental vulnerability based on where a child lives rather than where they attend school. This report presents data for children who live in the ACT, not the population of children who attend a school in the ACT.

AEDC results are presented as the number and percentage of children who are developmentally on track, developmentally at risk and developmentally vulnerable in each domain. Further, two summary indicators are presented to show the percentage of children who are developmentally vulnerable on one or more domain(s) and developmentally vulnerable on two or more domains.

For further information about the calculations and results (developmentally on track, at risk and vulnerable), please refer to the fact sheet Understanding the results (www.aedc.gov.au/resources/detail/understanding-the-results).

How to use the AEDC data

The AEDC provides important information to communities, governments and schools to support their planning and service provision. The AEDC highlights what is working well and what needs to be improved or developed to support children and their families, and helps communities know how their children are progressing.

The ACT Government has demonstrated a strong commitment to supporting the translation and utilisation of the AEDC results. This has been achieved through working across systems to effect change by engaging with representatives from each layer of influence in children’s development.

The AEDC data is a powerful tool for initiating conversations and partnerships across education, health and community services. The AEDC provides a common ground from which key stakeholders can work together, enabling governments at all levels, policy makers and communities to form partnerships to plan and implement activities, programs and services to help shape the future and wellbeing of children in Australia.

For further information on how to use the AEDC results, please refer to the AEDC User Guides (www.aedc.gov.au/resources/using-aedc-data/user-guides-and-resources).

How to compare results across years

With data sets covering four collections (2009, 2012, 2015 and 2018), there is now valuable trend data to track childhood development across Australia and in the ACT over the last nine years. To determine whether there has been a large enough change in the percentage of children


https://www.aedc.gov.au/resources/detail/understanding-the-results

considered developmentally on track, at risk or vulnerable over time to be considered significant, a method described as the ‘critical difference’ has been developed. In the figures and tables in this report a significant change is represented using red triangle or green inverted triangle, with red signifying a significant increase in developmental vulnerability and green signifying a significant decrease in vulnerability.

For more information on the calculation of the critical difference, please refer to the AEDC technical report Calculation of the Critical Difference (www.aedc.gov.au/trcd).


http://www.aedc.gov.au/trcd

http://www.aedc.gov.au/trcd

ACT AEDC 2018 — data and trends over four cycles

Physical health and wellbeing

This domain measures children’s physical readiness for the school day, physical independence, and gross and fine motor skills.

The ACT trend shows a decreasing percentage of children developmentally on track in the physical health and wellbeing domain across all four cycles, from 76.3 per cent in 2009 to 70.0 per cent in 2018. For 2018, the ACT trended differently to most Australian jurisdictions, with the ACT over eight percentage points lower than the national average of 78.1 per cent.

In all four cycles the ACT has seen increases in the percentage of children developmentally vulnerable in the physical health and wellbeing domain. In 2018, 12.1 per cent of ACT’s children were developmentally vulnerable in this domain, a significant increase from 10.9 per cent in 2015.

Figure 2. Percentage of children developmentally on track, at risk and vulnerable in the physical health and wellbeing domain, ACT

Figure 3. Percentage of children developmentally on track, at risk and vulnerable in the physical health and wellbeing domain, Australia


Social competence

This domain measures children’s overall social competence, responsibility and respect, approaches to learning, and readiness to explore new things.

Since 2012 there has been a decreasing percentage of ACT children developmentally on track in the social competence domain, with 72.4 per cent in 2018. This is lower than the national percentage of 75.8 in 2018.

For the first time, children in the ACT are most likely to be developmentally vulnerable in the social competence domain, compared to the past three AEDC cycles when ACT children were most likely to be vulnerable in the physical health and wellbeing domain.

The percentage of ACT children who were developmentally vulnerable in this domain increased significantly from 9.4 per cent in 2015 to 12.3 per cent in 2018. In comparison, nationally the proportion of children who were developmentally vulnerable in the social competence domain significantly decreased to 9.8 per cent in 2018 from 9.9 per cent in 2015.

Figure 4. Percentage of children developmentally on track, at risk and vulnerable in the social competence domain, ACT

Figure 5. Percentage of children developmentally on track, at risk and vulnerable in the social competence domain, Australia


Emotional maturity

This domain measures children’s pro-social and helping behaviour, anxious and fearful behaviour, aggressive behaviour and hyperactivity and inattention.

The percentage of ACT children developmentally on track in the emotional maturity domain has increased slightly from 75.9 per cent in 2015 to 76.1 per cent in 2018. This slight increase is close to the national result of 77.1 per cent in 2018.

In 2018 there was a significant increase with 9.9 per cent of ACT’s children developmentally vulnerable in the emotional maturity domain compared to 8.2 per cent in 2015. Nationally, the percentage of children developmental vulnerability in the emotional maturity domain remained stable at 8.4 per cent.

Figure 6. Percentage of children developmentally on track, at risk and vulnerable in the emotional maturity domain, ACT

Figure 7. Percentage of children developmentally on track, at risk and vulnerable in the emotional maturity domain, Australia


Language and cognitive skills (school-based)

This domain measures children’s basic literacy, advanced literacy, basic numeracy, and interest in literacy, numeracy and memory.

ACT children are most likely to be on track in the language and cognitive skills (school-based) domain out of all five AEDC domains.

The percentage of ACT children developmentally on track has increased slightly from 83.5 per cent in 2015 to 84.2 per cent in 2018. This result is very close to the 2018 national result of 84.4 per cent.

The ACT trend since 2012 has seen increases in children developmentally vulnerable in this domain, with a slight increase to 6.4 per cent in 2018. The ACT has a lower level of developmental vulnerability in the language and cognitive skills (school-based) domain compared to the national figure of 6.6 per cent in 2018 which was a significant increase from 6.5 per cent in 2015.

Figure 8. Percentage of children developmentally on track, at risk and vulnerable in the language and cognitive skills (school-based) domain, ACT

Figure 9. Percentage of children developmentally on track, at risk and vulnerable in the language and cognitive skills (school-based) domain, Australia


Communication skills and general knowledge

This domain measures children’s communication skills and general knowledge based on broad developmental competencies and skills measured in the school context.

The ACT experienced fluctuating results in the percentage of children developmentally on track in the communication skills and general knowledge domain, with 72.5 per cent in 2018.

In contrast, the national trend has been increasing since 2012, with results 4.8 percentage points higher than the ACT in 2018.

In 2018, the ACT experienced a slight increase to 7.8 per cent of children developmentally vulnerable in the communication skills and general knowledge domain compared to 7.7 per cent in 2015. The national trend in 2018 saw a significant decrease in developmental vulnerability to 8.2 per cent.

The ACT continues to report a lower proportion of children developmentally vulnerable in the communication skills and general knowledge domain, compared to the national result.

Figure 10. Percentage of children developmentally on track, at risk and vulnerable in the communication skills and general knowledge domain, ACT

Figure 11. Percentage of children developmentally on track, at risk and vulnerable in the communication skills and general knowledge domain, Australia


AEDC summary indicators

Summary indicators are used in the AEDC to demonstrate how children are developing overall. The children who are developmentally vulnerable in one or more domain(s) (‘Vuln 1’) and developmentally vulnerable in two or more domains (‘Vuln 2’) are at higher risk of poorer educational and wellbeing outcomes. More recently, a strengths-based indicator, ‘on track in all five domains’, has been introduced. This indicator measures the percentage of children developmentally on track in all five domains and complements the developmentally vulnerable summary indicators to monitor changes in child development. The percentage of children not on track on all five domains includes children developmentally vulnerable, at risk or missing a domain score due to the teacher not being able to answer at least 75 per cent of items in any domain. Data for the summary indicators is provided in Figure 12.

AEDC data shows that in 2018 around one in two children living in the ACT (48.6 per cent, 2,667 children) were developmentally on track in all five domains, around one in four (24.6 per cent, 1,350 children) were developmentally vulnerable in one or more domain(s) and around one in eight (12.4 per cent, 680 children) were developmentally vulnerable in two or more domains.

The percentage of ACT children developmentally on track in five domains has slightly decreased over the four cycles; against the Australian trend with an increasing percentage of children developmentally on track in five domains, over the four cycles. There were significant increases in the percentages of ACT children developmentally vulnerable in one or more and two or more domains in 2018 compared to 2015, this is the first occurrence of significant increases in the ACT in the AEDC summary indicators since the Census started. The percentages of children developmentally vulnerable in one or more or two or more domains in the ACT in 2018 were higher than the corresponding percentages nationally and against the trend for most states and territories.


Figure 12. Emerging trends by summary indicator, ACT and Australia, 2009, 2012, 2015, 2018


2018 AEDC results and trends of specific populations in the ACT

The AEDC Summary Indicator ‘developmentally vulnerable in two or more domains’ (Vuln 2) identifies the extent to which children have multiple developmental vulnerabilities. Having just one developmental vulnerability puts children at greater risk of poorer educational and wellbeing outcomes, but each additional developmental vulnerability increases this risk.

AEDC data shows that children in some specific population groups are more likely to be developmentally vulnerable in two or more AEDC domains (shown in Table 1). Over time, vulnerability in some of these specific population groups in the ACT may have increased or decreased relative to other groups.

Table 1. Specific population groups in the ACT, developmental vulnerability of the specific population and the specific population as a percentage of the total ACT Vuln 2 group

2009 2012 2015 2018

ACT children… No. % No. % No. % No. %

total population Total 4,425 100.0 4,898 100.0 5,415 100.0 5,727 100.0

Vuln 2 456 10.9 454 9.8 531 10.3 680 12.4

% of Vuln 2 group - 100.0 - 100.0 - 100.0 - 100.0

who are younger than six years

Total 3,705 83.7 3,857 78.7 4,378 80.8 4,404 76.9

Vuln 2 376 10.6 356 9.7 421 10.0 530 12.5

% of Vuln 2 group 82.5 78.4 79.3 77.9


2009 2012 2015 2018


who are male Total 2,291 51.8 2,570 52.5 2,751 50.8 2,931 51.2

Vuln 2 324 15.1 332 14.0 388 15.1 481 17.4

% of Vuln 2 group 71.1 73.1 73.1 70.7

attending a government school

Total 2,809 63.5 3,168 64.7 3,636 67.1 4,000 69.8

Vuln 2 338 12.9 324 10.9 416 12.1 517 13.6

% of Vuln 2 group 74.1 71.4 78.3 76.0

who did not attend preschool

Total 242 5.5 98 2.0 151 2.8 160 2.8

Vuln 2 38 16.7 12 13.3 35 25.4 44 29.3

% of Vuln 2 group 8.3 2.6 6.6 6.5

living in a SEIFA Quintile 1–3 suburb

Total 381 8.6 412 8.4 448 8.3 386 6.7

Vuln 2 50 14.1 38 9.9 52 12.3 64 17.7

% of Vuln 2 group 11.0 8.4 9.8 9.4


2009 2012 2015 2018


who are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

Total 109 2.5 117 2.4 145 2.7 172 3.0

Vuln 2 26 26.0 25 26.3 37 28.7 48 30.2

% of Vuln 2 group 5.7 5.5 7.0 7.1

with a LBOTE Total 757 17.1 962 19.6 1,223 22.6 1,557 27.2

Vuln 2 119 16.6 121 13.4 152 13.0 218 14.6

% of Vuln 2 group 26.1 26.7 28.6 32.1

with a LBOTE who are not proficient in English

Total 125 16.7 129 13.8 172 14.2 166 10.7

Vuln 2 65 59.6 48 44.9 81 55.9 84 64.1

% of Vuln 2 group 14.3 10.6 15.3 12.4

who are not proficient in English (English-only)

Total 147 4.0 152 3.9 165 3.9 129 3.1

Vuln 2 71 86.6 52 68.4 69 75.0 57 85.1


2009 2012 2015 2018


% of Vuln 2 group 15.6 11.5 13.0 8.4

needing further assessment (without special need diagnosis)

Total 303 6.8 308 6.3 515 9.5 748 13.1

Vuln 2 148 49.3 143 46.4 227 44.1 369 49.4

% of Vuln 2 group 32.5 31.5 42.7 54.3

who are not regularly read to/encouraged in their reading at home

Total 112 2.5 194 4.0 259 4.8 327 5.7

Vuln 2 51 52.0 73 42.2 113 48.3 155 50.5

% of Vuln 2 group 11.2 16.1 21.3 22.8

whose parents/caregivers are less engaged with their school in supporting their education

Total 221 5.0 239 4.9 263 4.9 274 4.8

Vuln 2 75 36.9 81 37.2 102 41.8 129 49.0

% of Vuln 2 group 16.4 17.8 19.2 19.0

Note The population groups are listed in no particular order. The Vuln 2 percentages are based off the number of valid cases for this measure, not the total population of all instruments. These groups are not mutually exclusive so will not add to the respective totals, as children can be members of multiple specific population groups.


Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children

In 2018, 172 ACT children included in the AEDC identified as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander. This is a population increase from 2.5 per cent in 2009 to 3.0 per cent in 2018. This trend is consistent with the increasing national population as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children represent 6.2 per cent of the children in the 2018 AEDC. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children live and attend school in all ACT regions, with Tuggeranong having the highest percentage of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children included in the AEDC (5.1 per cent) and Gungahlin the lowest (1.6 per cent).

The 2018 AEDC data show that the majority of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in the ACT attended a preschool program (90.7 per cent) and are adapting well to school (88.4 per cent) as reported by their teacher.

Most Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in the ACT have parents or caregivers who are actively engaged with their child’s school to support their learning (79.1 per cent) and are read to regularly at home (69.2 per cent) according to their teacher.

In the communication skills and general knowledge domain, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in the ACT have seen reduced developmental vulnerability in every cycle since 2012, with a significant decrease in 2018 to 12.6 per cent from 17.1 per cent in 2015, contributing to a closing of the gap on this domain when compared to all ACT children. In line with this trend, the majority of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in the ACT are proficient in English in 2018 (91.8 per cent) a 7.3 percentage point increase for this population from 2012 (84.5 per cent).

In 2018, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in the ACT are most likely to be on track in the language and cognitive skills (school-based) domain (64.8 per cent) and most likely to be developmentally vulnerable in the social competence domain (30.2 per cent), experiencing a significant increase in developmental vulnerability in this domain in 2018.

Table 2. Percentage of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children developmentally vulnerable in the ACT

Domain 2009 2012 2015 2018

Physical health and wellbeing 23.0 19.6 26.4 27.0

Social competence 15.0 19.8 20.2 30.2


Domain 2009 2012 2015 2018

Emotional maturity 14.0 19.6 14.7 18.2

Language and cognitive skills (school-based) 15.0 10.4 19.4 22.6

Communication skills and general knowledge 19.0 20.6 17.1 12.6

Vulnerable on one or more domain(s) 37.0 45.4 41.9 49.1

Vulnerable on two or more domains 26.0 26.3 28.7 30.2

Children with a language background other than English

In the AEDC, children are considered to have English as a second language (ESL) status where English is not their first language and they need additional instruction in English, or where English is not their first language and they have conversational English but are not yet proficient in English. Children are considered to have a language background other than English (LBOTE) if they speak a language other than English at home, or if they speak English at home but are still considered to have ESL status. In the AEDC, children are considered proficient in English if they have proficiency equivalent to that expected of the average monolingual English speaker in a similar phase of development.

The percentage of children in the ACT included in the AEDC who have a LBOTE is increasing over time, from 17.1 per cent in 2009 to 27.2 per cent in 2018. This 2018 ACT figure is slightly higher than the equivalent national figure of 25.3 per cent.

In 2018 there were significant increases in developmental vulnerability for ACT children with a LBOTE in the physical health and wellbeing (12.1 per cent) and social competence (13.5 per cent) domains (Table 3). The equivalent national trend is decreasing, and the figures are 2.7 percentage points lower than the ACT for both physical health and wellbeing and social competence domains.

The percentage of children in the ACT with a LBOTE who are proficient in English is increasing over time, from 82.3 per cent in 2009 to 88.7 per cent 26Australian Early Development Census 2018 Results for the ACT

in 2018. Consistent with the increase in English proficiency, the percentage of children in the ACT with a LBOTE who are developmentally vulnerable in the communication skills and general knowledge domain is decreasing over time, from 23.4 per cent in 2009 to 14.9 per cent in 2018.

For children from a LBOTE who lack English proficiency, they were more likely to be developmentally vulnerable (Table 4).

Table 3. Percentage of children with a LBOTE developmentally vulnerable in the ACT

Domain 2009 2012 2015 2018

Physical health and wellbeing 10.0 9.2 10.3 12.1

Social competence 10.2 10.0 9.9 13.5

Emotional maturity 8.4 8.0 8.4 9.0

Language and cognitive skills (school-based) 10.2 5.4 7.3 7.9

Communication skills and general knowledge 23.4 19.6 17.7 14.9

Vulnerable on one or more domain(s) 32.0 28.3 28.0 27.3

Vulnerable on two or more domains 16.6 13.4 13.0 14.6


Table 4. Percentage of children with a LBOTE by English proficiency developmentally vulnerable in the ACT

Proficient Not proficient

Domain 2009 2012 2015 2018 2009 2012 2015 2018

Physical health and wellbeing 6.9 7.1 7.9 9.2 27.0 25.0 27.2 41.2

Social competence 6.4 7.9 6.1 10.7 30.9 26.7 36.3 42.0

Emotional maturity 5.3 7.1 6.2 7.4 25.9 15.0 24.0 25.2

Language and cognitive skills (school-based) 5.3 3.4 3.1 4.9 36.9 20.4 37.2 38.5

Communication skills and general knowledge 10.2 10.0 6.6 7.1 ≥90 ≥90 ≥90 ≥90

Vulnerable on one or more domain(s) 19.9 19.7 18.3 20.7 ≥90 ≥90 ≥90 ≥90

Vulnerable on two or more domains 8.9 9.3 6.9 9.8 59.6 44.9 55.9 64.1


Children with special needs


Children requiring special assistance because of chronic medical, physical or intellectually disabling conditions based on a medical diagnosis or diagnoses (e.g. Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Down Syndrome) are defined in the AEDC as having ‘special needs’. The number of children with special needs is recorded by the AEDC but these children are not included in calculations of domain scores. However, teachers complete demographic information on children with special needs to enable communities to be responsive to all children in their community.

The 2018 AEDC data show that the percentage of children in the ACT who had special needs decreased by 0.3 percentage points compared to 2015, and by 0.6 percentage points compared to 2009. The percentage of children with special needs in 2018 was lower in the ACT (4.0 per cent) than the national figure (4.6 per cent) and the ACT is in line with the national trend of decreasing figures.

Table 5. Children with special needs in the ACT

ACT Australia

2009 2012 2015 2018 2018

No. % No. % No. % No. % No. %

204 4.6 238 4.9 234 4.3 229 4.0 14,059

4.6


Children needing further assessment

Children identified by teachers as ‘needing further assessment’ are children that are currently being assessed or need further assessment (e.g. medical and physical, behaviour management, emotional and cognitive development) based on information provided to the teacher by a parent/guardian, professional or through teacher observation. Children identified as needing further assessment who do not have a special needs diagnosis are included in calculations of percentages developmentally vulnerable.

The 2018 AEDC data show that the percentage of children in the ACT needing further assessment increased by 3.5 percentage points compared to 2015, and by 5.7 percentage points compared to 2009. The percentage of children requiring further assessment in 2018 was also higher in the ACT (14.2 per cent) than the national figure (13.3 per cent) but again in line with the national increasing trend.

Of the 816 children identified as needing further assessment in 2018, only a small number (68) of children already had a special needs diagnosis, indicating 29.7 per cent of the ACT children in 2018 AEDC data diagnosed with special needs, were also identified as needing further assessment. The remaining 748 children identified as needing further assessment did not have a special needs diagnosis and were included in the calculation of developmental vulnerability for the ACT.

Table 6. Children needing further assessment in the ACT

ACT Australia

2009 2012 2015 2018 2018

No. % No. % No. % No. % No. %

373 8.4 394 8.0 581 10.7 816 14.2 39,861

13.3


Relationship between needing further assessment and developmental vulnerability

Children identified as needing further assessment who do not already have a special needs diagnosis are included in calculations of percentages developmentally vulnerable. Of these children identified as needing further assessment in 2018 who did not already have a special needs diagnosis, around seven in ten (71.4 per cent) were developmentally vulnerable on one or more domain(s) and nearly half (49.4 per cent) were developmentally vulnerable on two or more domains (Table 7).

Overall, these data on children with special needs and children needing further assessment could be indicative of under diagnosis of special needs before a child reaches their first year of full-time school in the ACT in the year prior to 2018, compared to other AEDC cycles and other states and territories. These data could also be indicative of increasing awareness among teachers of the benefits of diagnosis and support for children who are developmentally vulnerable.

Table 7. Developmental vulnerability of children needing further assessment in the ACT

Vuln 1 Vuln 2

2009 2012 2015 2018 2009 2012 2015 2018

No. children needing further assessment with valid scores 300 308 514 748 300 308 515 747

No. of children developmentally vulnerable 226 211 350 534 148 143 227 369

Percentage (%) of children developmentally vulnerable 75.3 68.5 68.1 71.4 49.3 46.4 44.1 49.4


Parent and caregiver engagement

In 2018, the majority (94.3 per cent) of children included in the AEDC in the ACT had parents or caregivers who were considered by their child’s teacher to be actively engaged with the school in supporting their child’s learning. This is a slight increase from 93.5 per cent in 2009 (Table 8).

The majority (90.8 per cent) of children included in the AEDC in the ACT were also considered by their child’s teacher to be regularly read to/encouraged in their reading at home. This is a slight decrease from 92.9 per cent in 2009.

ACT 2018 AEDC data show that the small groups of children who were considered by their teacher not to have parents or caregivers who were actively engaged with the school or not to be regularly read to/encouraged in their reading at home were more likely to be developmentally vulnerable (Table 9).

Table 8. Percentage of parent and caregiver engagement in the ACT

Percentage of children… 2009 2012 2015 2018

…having parent(s)/caregiver(s) actively engaged with the school in supporting their child’s learning (Responded ‘somewhat true’ or ‘very true’) 93.5 93.4 94.1 94.3

…who are regularly read to/encouraged in their reading at home (Responded ‘somewhat true’ or ‘very true’) 92.9 92.6 91.6 90.8

Table 9. Relationship between parent and caregiver engagement and developmental vulnerability in the ACT, 2018

Children who… Vuln 1 Vuln 2

…do have parent(s)/caregivers(s) who are actively engaged with the school in supporting their child’s learning (Response ‘somewhat true’ or ‘very true’)

22.1 10.4

…do not have parent(s)/caregivers(s) who are actively engaged with the school in supporting their child’s learning 70.3 49.0


Children who… Vuln 1 Vuln 2

…are regularly read to/encouraged in their reading at home (Response ‘somewhat true’ or ‘very true’) 20.4 9.1

…are not regularly read to/encouraged in their reading at home 71.3 50.5

Preschool attendance

Schools and teachers completing the AEDC are asked to indicate, to the best of their knowledge, whether children have attended a preschool program in the year before entering full-time school. This includes preschool programs in both school-based and day care settings.

AEDC data show that the proportion of children in the ACT who are recorded by their school or teacher as having attended a preschool program in the year before starting full-time school is increasing over time, from 84.1 per cent in 2009 to 89.7 per cent in 2018 (Table 10). The proportion of children in the ACT who did not, to the best of their school and teacher’s knowledge, attend a preschool program before starting full-time school has decreased from 5.5 per cent in 2009 to 2.8 per cent (from 242 children in 2009 to 160 children in 2018). In the 2018 AEDC, schools and teachers were unable to provide data (by selecting ‘don’t know’ or made no response) on preschool attendance for 430 ACT children (7.5 per cent). These children may or may not have attended a preschool program. The number of children for which schools and teachers were unable to provide data has decreased from 463 children (10.5 per cent) in 2009.

ACT 2018 AEDC data show that the small group of children who were identified as not attending a preschool program before starting full-time school were more likely to be developmentally vulnerable than children who did attend a preschool program (Table 11).


Table 10. Preschool attendance in the ACT

2009 2012 2015 2018

Program attended No. % No. % No. % No. %

Attended a preschool 3,720 84.1 4,314 88.1 4,743 87.6 5,137 89.7

Didn’t attend a preschool 242 5.5 98 2.0 151 2.8 160 2.8

Don’t know or not stated 463 10.5 486 9.9 521 9.6 430 7.5

Table 11. Relationship between preschool attendance and developmental vulnerability in the ACT, 2018

Vuln 1 Vuln 2

Program attended No. % No. %

Attended a preschool 1,163 23.6 579 11.8

Did not attend a preschool 70 46.7 44 29.3


School type

Over the time period of the Census the percentage of ACT children included in the AEDC attending government schools has increased, from 63.5 per cent in 2009 to 69.8 per cent in 2018. In 2018, 4,000 (69.8 per cent) of the ACT children included in the AEDC were attending a government school and 1,727 (30.2 per cent) were attending a non-government (Catholic or independent) school.

Children attending a government school were more likely to be developmentally vulnerable on one or more and two or more domains than children attending a non-government school (Table 12).

Table 12. Relationship between school type and developmental vulnerability in the ACT, 2018

Vuln 1 Vuln 2

School type No. % No. %

Government 1,008 26.4 517 13.6

Non-government 339 20.5 167 9.8

Index of Community Socio-Economic Advantage

The Index of Community Socio-Economic Advantage (ICSEA) provides an indication of the level of a school’s educational advantage. Several factors contribute to the calculation of ICSEA values, including parental occupation, parental education, and the geographic location of a school.

AEDC data was compared to ICSEA data obtained from www.myschool.com.au (Australian Curriculum Reporting and Assessment Authority) for government and Catholic schools in the ACT.

In 2018, the median ICSEA for the 87 ACT government and Catholic primary schools included in the AEDC was 1,078. Children who were developmentally vulnerable on two or more domains were more likely to be attending a school with an ICSEA below the median. In 2018, 633 children who were developmentally vulnerable on two or more domains were attending one of these 87 ACT government or Catholic schools. Of 36Australian Early Development Census 2018 Results for the ACT

these, 396 were attending a school with below median ICSEA and 237 were attending a school with above median ICSEA (Table 13).

Table 13. Relationship between school ICSEA and developmental vulnerability in the ACT, 2018

Vuln 2

Government and Catholic schools… No. %

…below median ICSEA 396 15.6

…above median ICSEA 237 9.2

Socio-economic advantage

AEDC data was compared to Socio-Economic Indexes for Area (SEIFA) data. SEIFA is a product developed by the Australian Bureau of Statistics that ranks areas in Australia according to relative socio-economic advantage and disadvantage. The indexes are based on information from the five-yearly Census of Population and Housing.

2018 AEDC data show developmental vulnerability has been increasing for children in the ACT irrespective of socio-economic advantage and disadvantage (Table 14).

Table 14. Relationship between SEIFA data and developmental vulnerability in the ACT, 2018

Vuln 1 Vuln 2

SEIFA Quintile No. % No. %

1–3 (most disadvantaged) 108 29.8 64 17.7


Vuln 1 Vuln 2

SEIFA Quintile No. % No. %

4 464 25.1 229 12.4

5 (least disadvantaged) 776 23.8 387 11.9


ACT regional overview Developmental vulnerability by AEDC Community (region)

The AEDC reports data for eight regions of the ACT: Belconnen, Gungahlin, Molonglo, North Canberra, South Canberra, Tuggeranong, Weston Creek and Woden. AEDC publications refer to the ACT regions which are geographic areas, usually equivalent to a Local Government Area (LGA) as AEDC communities (e.g. on the AEDC website and national report).

AEDC data is also collected for children living in the ACT but outside the eight ACT regions in ‘Regional ACT’. Due to small numbers, data for ‘Regional ACT’ is not provided in this report.

Further information on the local communities (suburbs or small area localities) within these ACT regions/AEDC communities can be found in community profiles and online maps from the AEDC website www.aedc.gov.au.

AEDC data show that South Canberra, Tuggeranong and Belconnen regions had the highest percentages of children developmentally vulnerable in 2018. In these regions, more than one in four (more than 25 per cent) children were developmentally vulnerable in one or more domain(s) and more than one in eight (more than 12.5 per cent) were developmentally vulnerable in two or more domains (Figure 13).

The most populated regions of Belconnen, Tuggeranong and Gungahlin had the largest numbers of children developmentally vulnerable in 2018, with 74 per cent of all children in the ACT who were developmentally vulnerable in two or more domains located in these three regions.

The percentage of children who are developmentally vulnerable in two or more domains has increased significantly in 2018 compared to 2015 in the South Canberra, Belconnen, Tuggeranong and Gungahlin regions and has decreased significantly in the Weston Creek region.


Figure 13. Developmental vulnerability by ACT region, 2018


Changes in the spatial distribution of developmentally vulnerable children in the ACT

Over the nine-year time period of the AEDC, the gap between ACT suburbs with relatively higher and lower percentages of children developmentally vulnerable are increasing. This may be indicative of changing spatial distribution of socio-economic advantage in the ACT. The difference between the suburbs with the highest and lowest percentages of children developmentally vulnerable in two or more domains was 34.3 percentage points in 2018, an increase from 26.5 per cent in 2009.

Three suburbs (Evatt, Latham and Richardson) have experienced significant increases in the percentage of children developmentally vulnerable in two or more domains in both 2015 and 2018, as well as over the nine years of the AEDC. Suburbs with relatively high and/or significantly increasing percentages of children developmentally vulnerable should be considered for additional targeting in health, education and community policy and planning.

Note: It is important to be cautious when interpreting change at the suburb level, particularly if the number of children in a suburb is small, as it only takes a change in the scores of a few children to have a big impact on the percentage of children who are developmentally vulnerable.

Physical health and wellbeing

Weston Creek (6.6 per cent) experienced a significant decrease in developmental vulnerability in the physical health and wellbeing domain, whilst Tuggeranong (14.2 per cent) and Gungahlin (13.0 per cent) both saw significant increases.

Social competence

Most regions, South Canberra (18.3 per cent), Tuggeranong (13.2 per cent), Belconnen (13.0 per cent), Gungahlin (12.7 per cent) and Woden (10.9 per cent), in the ACT experienced significant increases in vulnerability in the social competence domain, whilst Weston Creek (5.0 per cent) saw a significant decrease.

Emotional maturity

Across the ACT significant increases in developmental vulnerability in the emotional maturity domain occurred in South Canberra (14.5 per cent), Belconnen (11.8 per cent) Tuggeranong (10.6 per cent) and North Canberra (8.7 per cent). As with all domains, Weston Creek (5.7 per cent) saw a significant decrease in developmentally vulnerability in this domain.


Language and cognitive skills (school-based)

In the ACT, Tuggeranong (7.8 per cent), Belconnen (7.4 per cent), South Canberra (6.9 per cent), Woden (6.4 per cent) and Gungahlin (5.8 per cent) all experienced increases in developmental vulnerability in the language and cognitive skills (school-based) domain, with Woden the only region to record a significant increase for 2018. In line with all domains, Weston Creek (4.4 per cent) had a significant reduction in developmental vulnerability in this domain for 2018.

Communication skills and general knowledge

The ACT remained relatively stable in the communication and general knowledge domain in 2018, with no significant increases across the ACT regions in developmental vulnerability in this domain. Weston Creek (2.5 per cent) experienced a significant decrease in developmental vulnerability in this domain. This domain had the lowest level of developmental vulnerability experienced in any ACT region across all five domains.


ACT policy context

Early support

The Early Support initiative is a commitment by the ACT Government to a ten-year plan of work to reform the human services system to focus on early support, improve life trajectories, and enable intergenerational wellbeing. Early Support involves Health, Education, Justice and Community Safety and Community Services directorates working together in new and different ways, and recognises that no single organisation alone can improve outcomes for Canberra’s most vulnerable. It will shift from the current, crisis focused system, where services are least effective, to increased investment in earlier, holistic responses, that work with children and individuals in the context of their families and communities.

Early Childhood Strategy

The Early Childhood Strategy will be designed to position the ACT for long-term educational success by ensuring every young child across Canberra has access to quality early childhood education. The four key elements will be:

increasing access, equity and affordability enhancing the education and care workforce and qualifications providing seamless transitions from early education and care to school maximising the benefit to children.

The Early Childhood Strategy will create a connected and coherent policy context that will improve collaboration between government and non-government providers to improve equitable access to early childhood education and deliver a more seamless user experience for children and families. It will look to coordinate approaches across Government and, in partnership with non-government organisations, to deliver an aligned education and care framework, and maximise investment into early childhood services in the ACT.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Agreement

In March 2019, the ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Agreement 2019–2028 (the Agreement) was launched. The Agreement renews the


commitment by the ACT Government and ACT Public Service to uphold the principle of self-determination and to support Canberra’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to influence and participate in social, cultural and economic life.

The Agreement was developed through extensive conversations with the community, both throughout 2018–19 and over previous years. The community highlighted children and young people, housing and justice as the top priorities for them and their families. The ACT Government is committed to taking action on these priorities for community, as well as a number of other issues identified throughout the development of the Agreement.

The Agreement will be implemented over four phases, coinciding with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body appointment lifecycle. The Agreement was launched with the community on 2 March 2019. The event was a positive forum for community to come together and see what ACT Government services are available.

National Disability Insurance Scheme

The National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) is an independent statutory agency overseeing the implementation of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). The NDIS is a policy reform implemented by the Australian, State and Territory governments to ensure that people with a permanent or significant disability, and who are under the age of 65, have the ability to choose and control the supports they use to get involved in their community, workplace, and social life.

The ACT trial of the NDIS began on 1 July 2014 and continued over a three-year period ending in June 2017. The ACT transition to the full NDIS scheme commenced in 2017–18 and was finalised in 2018–19, leading to the ACT experiencing a significant change to the service landscape. The NDIA has engaged NDIS EACH as the Early Childhood Partner in the ACT, responsible for delivering the national Early Childhood Early Intervention (ECEI) approach. NDIS EACH is funded to provide short to medium term early intervention supports for children with developmental delays or disability. NDIS EACH can also refer families to other appropriate services and offer independent advice on providers of support most suited to children’s needs. Where children may require ongoing supports, NDIS EACH can work with families to access these through an NDIS funded package.

The ACT Government continues to provide a range of services and supports for children with developmental needs across the health, education and community services sectors. For instance, the Child Development Service offers assessment, referral, information and linkages for children (0-6 years) where there are concerns relating to their development. This service provides a way for parents and other referrers to seek advice, find out if further services are necessary and where these services are available.


Community stories

The AEDC is used regularly by policy officers, program designers and service managers, internally and externally to government, to ensure that the programs and services they deliver are well targeted and fit for purpose. This section provides two examples of how the AEDC has been practically used to benefit children in the Canberra community.

Supporting childhood development through quality play spaces

Stimulating and challenging physical play is essential for early childhood development. Children need to run, jump, climb and balance to develop motor skills. Physical play with others also helps to build social, emotional and language skills, as children practice taking turns, leading, following and sharing. Parents and caregivers also benefit from the social value of shared community play spaces, which can serve as hubs for informal social connections and for formal services such as playgroups.

Canberra has over 500 play spaces — a much higher number per capita than many other Australian cities. By 2020, 50 per cent of playgrounds across Canberra will be more than 25 years old.

The Better Suburbs Play Spaces Forum brought government and community members together to develop a Priorities Framework for ACT play spaces. Participants allocated $1.9 million and made recommendations on how the community and government can work together in decision making about play spaces.

AEDC contributed data on the percentage of children developmentally vulnerable on the physical health and wellbeing domain. In recognition of the benefits of play spaces for all aspects of childhood development, the percentage of children developmentally vulnerable on two or more domains was also considered.Other factors considered included demographic information regarding provision per 1,000 children 0–15 years (suburb/ACT), diversity of equipment, percentage of playgrounds with no path access, ages catered for, other recreational facilities in the suburb and whether school playgrounds were open to the public.

This comprehensive analysis allowed the panel to carefully consider many interacting factors to select five suburbs for Whole of Suburb Play Reviews in 2018–19: Richardson, Waramanga, Torrens, Narrabundah and Higgins.

The use of AEDC data to inform service provision is a critical benefit of the AEDC, positively impacting the ACT community. Engagement with community stakeholder groups, with a focus on hearing the voice of children and young people as well as engaging disadvantaged and minority groups, was also an important component of the ACT Better Suburbs Play Spaces Forum. Bringing together population-level data with community voices helped the panel to understand need and allocate funds in a way that will have the greatest positive impact on childhood development across


the ACT.

Playgroups in the ACT

Playgroups provide a safe environment where children can engage in play with other children of a similar age and developmental stage, offering opportunities to develop physical, social, emotional and language skills.

In the ACT, the ACT Playgroups Association is the peak body for all playgroups. Each year, approximately 1,000 new families become members of ACT Playgroups and more than 200 playgroups are active across the ACT. These include playgroups run by paid facilitators, playgroups run by parents and caregivers and supported playgroups targeted to children and families with special needs (e.g. children with Autism).

AEDC data collected in 2018 was used in combination with ACT Playgroups membership data to identify communities in the ACT with relatively high developmental vulnerability and low playgroup availability and/or ACT Playgroups membership.

The findings from AEDC suggested the need for increased playgroup availability within the regions showing notable prevalence of high developmental vulnerability (i.e. Tuggeranong, Woden, Belconnen and South Canberra regions).

The AEDC will continue to inform future planning for playgroup provision to ensure early support for developmentally vulnerable children in the ACT.


Appendix 1 ACT and Australian AEDC profile

Table 15. AEDC profile of ACT students and Australia*

ACT Australia

2009 2012 2015 2018 2009 2012 2015 2018

Category Sub-category No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. %

Children who completed AEDC in ACT schoots

Total 4,611 104.2* 5,106 99.9 5,604 99.3 5,886 98.3 261,147 97.5 289,973 96.5 302,003 96.5 308,953 96.4

Total living in ACT 4,425 - 4,898 - 5,415 - 5,727 - - - - - - - - -

Teachers contributing to the results 265 - 277 - 306 - 320 - 15,522 5.9 16,425 - 16,968 - 17,508 -

Children reported as having diagnosed special needs

204 4.6 238 4.9 234 4.3 229 4.0 11,484 4.4 14,173 4.9 14,065 4.7 14,059 4.6

Mean age of children 5 yrs 7 mths 5 yrs 8 mths 5 yrs 7 mths 5 yrs 8 mths 5 yrs 7 mths 5 yrs 7 mths 5 yrs 7 mths 5 yrs 7 mths

Children identified by teachers as requiring further assessment

373 8.4 394 8.0 581 10.7 816 14.2 27,218 10.4 29,628 10.5 34,793 11.8 39,861 13.3

Sex Male children 2,291 51.8 2,570 52.5 2,751 50.8 2,931 51.2 134,031 51.3 148,985 51.4 154,846 51.3 158,894 51.4

Female children 2,134 48.2 2,328 47.5 2,664 49.2 2,796 48.8 127,116 48.7 140,988 48.6 147,157 48.7 150,059 48.6

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children 109 2.5 117 2.4 145 2.7 172 3.0 12,416 4.8 15,490 5.3 17,351 5.7 19,074 6.2

Children born in another country 340 7.7 501 10.2 502 9.3 523 9.5 16,844 6.5 21,695 7.5 21,215 7.1 22,971 7.5

Children with a LBOTE Total 757 17.1 962 19.6 1,223 22.6 1,557 27.2 46,967 18.0 55,489 19.1 64,881 21.5 78,298 25.3


ACT Australia

2009 2012 2015 2018 2009 2012 2015 2018

Category Sub-category No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. %

Proficient in English 623 82.3 808 84.0 1,042 85.2 1,381 88.7 38,153 81.2 46,880 84.5 56,127 86.5 68,885 87.9

Not proficient in English

125 16.5 129 13.4 172 14.1 166 10.7 7,596 16.2 7,893 14.2 8,252 12.7 8,766 11.2

* More children were included in the ACT than the estimated number of eligible children.

Table 16. Physical health and wellbeing domain

Developmentally on track Developmentally at risk Developmentally vulnerable

2009 2012 2015 2018 2009 2012 2015 2018 2009 2012 2015 2018

Category Sub-category No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. % No. %

ACT 3,202 76.3 3,358 72.6 3,755 72.7 3,840 70.0 601 14.3 780 16.9 846 16.4 978 17.8 395 9.4 490 10.6 564 10.9 666 12.1

Australia 192,031 77.7 211,806

77.3 221,855

77.3 229,542

78.1 32,157

13.0 36,637

13.4 37,347

13.0 36,105

12.3 23,044

9.3 25,479

9.3 27,711

9.7 28,247

9.6

Region South Canberra 188 82.8 218 83.5 203 77.2 187 64.7 27 11.9 21 8.0 36 13.7 67 23.2 12 5.3 22 8.4 24 9.1 35 12.1

Belconnen 774 72.7 882 71.4 906 69.6 885 70.1 178 16.7 208 16.8 238 18.3 215 17.0 112 10.5 145 11.7 158 12.1 162 12.8

Tuggeranong 884 77.3 829 72.8 782 69.0 788 67.4 150 13.1 193 16.9 219 19.3 215 18.4 110 9.6 117 10.3 132 11.7 166 14.2

Molonglo* - - - - 23 79.3 86 76.8 - - - - 4 13.8 15 13.4 - - - - 2 6.9 11 9.8

Gungahlin 527 72.0 595 68.9 896 77.3 886 66.4 122 16.7 175 20.3 143 12.3 275 20.6 83 11.3 94 10.9 120 10.4 174 13.0

Woden 303 82.1 307 79.9 352 72.9 370 76.1 42 11.4 51 13.3 86 17.8 61 12.6 24 6.5 26 6.8 45 9.3 55 11.3

North Canberra 314 76.8 302 70.4 354 73.1 372 73.5 59 14.4 81 18.9 83 17.1 93 18.4 36 8.8 46 10.7 47 9.7 41 8.1

Weston Creek 230 78.8 218 71.2 236 76.9 262 82.4 33 11.3 49 16.0 37 12.1 35 11.0 29 9.9 39 12.7 34 11.1 21 6.6



2009 2012 2015 2018 2009 2012 2015 2018 2009 2012 2015 2018


Sex Male 1,536 71.5 1,617 68.1 1,756 68.2 1,815 65.5 341 15.9 428 18.0 435 16.9 516 18.6 270 12.6 328 13.8 383 14.9 439 15.8

Female 1,666 81.2 1,741 77.2 1,999 77.2 2,025 74.6 260 12.7 352 15.6 411 15.9 462 17.0 125 6.1 162 7.2 181 7.0 227 8.4

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

67 67.0 56 57.7 73 56.6 79 49.7 10 10.0 22 22.7 22 17.1 37 23.3 23 23.0 19 19.6 34 26.4 43 27.0

LBOTE — English proficiency

Total 547 76.0 659 72.9 852 72.5 1,067 71.5 101 14.0 162 17.9 202 17.2 245 16.4 72 10.0 83 9.2 121 10.3 180 12.1

Proficient 486 80.1 602 76.2 785 76.4 1,027 75.6 79 13.0 132 16.7 161 15.7 207 15.2 42 6.9 56 7.1 81 7.9 125 9.2

Not proficient 59 53.2 53 49.1 66 44.9 40 30.5 22 19.8 28 25.9 41 27.9 37 28.2 30 27.0 27 25.0 40 27.2 54 41.2

English only speakers— English proficiency

Proficient 2,639 77.8 2,676 73.4 2,882 73.9 2,759 70.3 485 14.3 605 16.6 630 16.2 721 18.4 267 7.9 364 10.0 386 9.9 444 11.3

Not proficient 12 14.6 21 27.6 21 22.8 14 20.9 14 17.1 12 15.8 14 15.2 11 16.4 56 68.3 43 56.6 57 62.0 42 62.7

* Molonglo: 2009 and 2012 data are not available due to it being a new suburb.

Table 17. Social competence domain


2009 2012 2015 2018 2009 2012 2015 2018 2009 2012 2015 2018


ACT 3,142 74.9 3,489 75.5 3,845 74.5 3.969 72.4 683 16.3 734 15.9 836 16.2 841 15.3 372 8.9 396 8.6 483 9.4 674 12.3

Australia 186,265

75.4 209,149

76.5 215,605

75.2 222,771

75.8 37,499

15.2 39,018

14.3 42,892

15.0 42,434

14.4 23,425

9.5 25,367

9.3 28,351

9.9 28,673

9.8


Belconnen 781 73.5 952 77.2 945 72.6 900 71.3 177 16.7 181 14.7 218 16.7 198 15.7 105 9.9 100 8.1 139 10.7 164 13.0



2009 2012 2015 2018 2009 2012 2015 2018 2009 2012 2015 2018


Tuggeranong 822 71.9 832 73.2 832 73.4 829 70.9 214 18.7 183 16.1 198 17.5 186 15.9 108 9.4 122 10.7 103 9.1 154 13.2

Molonglo* - - - - 22 75.9 78 69.6 - - - - 2 6.9 21 18.8 - - - - 5 17.2 13 11.6

Gungahlin 572 78.1 638 74.1 882 76.2 950 71.2 102 13.9 148 17.2 176 15.2 216 16.2 58 7.9 75 8.7 100 8.6 169 12.7

Woden 288 78.0 297 77.3 358 74.1 368 75.7 58 15.7 63 16.4 82 17.0 65 13.4 23 6.2 24 6.3 43 8.9 53 10.9

North Canberra 304 74.3 328 76.6 367 75.8 380 75.1 72 17.6 69 16.1 73 15.1 76 15.0 33 8.1 31 7.2 44 9.1 50 9.9

Weston Creek 212 72.6 228 74.8 234 76.2 267 84.0 42 14.4 51 16.7 44 14.3 35 11.0 38 13.0 26 8.5 29 9.4 16 5.0

Sex Male 1,455 67.3 1,624 68.6 1,714 66.6 1,800 65.0 432 20.1 460 19.4 510 19.8 499 18.0 269 12.5 285 12.0 349 13.6 471 17.0

Female 1,697 82.7 1,865 82.9 2,131 82.2 2,169 79.9 251 12.2 274 12.2 326 12.6 342 12.6 103 5.0 111 4.9 134 5.2 203 7.5

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander 67 67.0 57 59.4 71 55.0 80 50.3 18 18.0 20 20.8 32 24.8 31 19.5 15 15.0 19 19.8 26 20.2 48 30.2


Total 521 72.5 661 73.6 869 74.0 1,070 71.1 125 17.4 147 16.4 189 16.1 221 14.8 73 10.2 90 10.0 116 9.9 201 13.5

Proficient 472 77.8 610 77.5 811 79.0 1,028 75.6 96 15.8 115 14.6 153 14.9 186 13.7 39 6.4 62 7.9 63 6.1 145 10.7

Not proficient 48 43.6 45 42.9 57 39.0 41 31.3 28 25.5 32 30.5 36 24.7 35 26.7 34 30.9 28 26.7 53 36.3 55 42.0


Proficient 2,598 76.6 2,801 76.9 2,958 75.9 2,887 73.6 537 15.8 560 15.4 619 15.9 607 15.5 256 7.5 281 7.7 321 8.2 430 11.0

Not proficient 18 22.0 24 31.6 18 19.6 12 17.9 21 25.6 27 35.5 28 30.4 13 19.4 43 52.4 25 32.9 46 50.0 42 62.7



Table 18. Emotional maturity domain


2009 2012 2015 2018 2009 2012 2015 2018 2009 2012 2015 2018


ACT 3,160 75.5 3,651 79.0 3,910 75.9 4,173 76.1 652 15.6 636 13.8 819 15.9 764 13.9 376 9.0 333 7.2 423 8.2 543 9.9

Australia 186,210 75.6 213,059 78.1 218,341

76.4 225,739

77.1 38,160

15.5 38,778

14.2 43,594

15.3 42,390

14.5 21,827

8.9 20,845

7.6 23,866

8.4 24,677

8.4


Belconnen 796 75.1 955 77.8 969 74.4 921 73.0 162 15.3 186 15.1 210 16.1 191 15.1 102 9.6 87 7.1 123 9.4 149 11.8

Tuggeranong 862 75.5 891 78.2 854 75.6 862 73.7 179 15.7 144 12.6 193 17.1 183 15.7 100 8.8 105 9.2 82 7.3 124 10.6

Molonglo* - - - - 23 79.3 80 71.4 - - - - 2 6.9 24 21.4 - - - - 4 13.8 8 7.1

Gungahlin 560 76.5 687 79.6 900 77.9 1,040 77.9 102 13.9 115 13.3 164 14.2 185 13.9 70 9.6 61 7.1 92 8.0 110 8.2

Woden 277 75.1 311 81.0 335 69.6 373 76.7 69 18.7 50 13.0 104 21.6 67 13.8 23 6.2 23 6.0 42 8.7 46 9.5

North Canberra 300 73.3 338 78.8 390 80.6 407 80.4 64 15.6 59 13.8 62 12.8 55 10.9 45 11.0 32 7.5 32 6.6 44 8.7

Weston Creek 204 70.3 250 82.0 232 76.6 270 85.7 55 19.0 46 15.1 46 15.2 27 8.6 31 10.7 9 3.0 25 8.3 18 5.7

Sex Male 1,429 66.7 1,672 70.6 1,679 65.4 1,859 67.2 427 19.9 428 18.1 553 21.5 479 17.3 287 13.4 268 11.3 337 13.1 430 15.5

Female 1,731 84.6 1,979 87.9 2,231 86.4 2,314 85.3 225 11.0 208 9.2 266 10.3 285 10.5 89 4.4 65 2.9 86 3.3 113 4.2

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander

69 69.0 69 71.1 83 64.3 93 58.5 17 17.0 9 9.3 27 20.9 37 23.3 14 14.0 19 19.6 19 14.7 29 18.2


Total 525 73.3 694 76.8 864 73.9

1,137 76.3

131 18.3

138 15.3

207 17.7

220 14.8

60 8.4 72 8.0 98 8.4 134 9.0

Proficient 476 78.5 626 79.1 792 77.4

1,080 79.5

98 16.2

109 13.8

168 16.4

178 13.1

32 5.3 56 7.1 63 6.2 100 7.4

Not proficient 47 43.5 64 59.8 72 49. 56 42. 33 30. 27 25. 39 26. 42 32. 28 25. 16 15. 35 24. 33 25.2



2009 2012 2015 2018 2009 2012 2015 2018 2009 2012 2015 2018


3 7 6 2 7 1 9 0 0


Proficient 2,609 77.1 2,914 80.1 3,013 77.4

3,015 76.9

495 14.6

479 13.2

585 15.0

523 13.3

282 8.3 244 6.7 293 7.5 383 9.8

Not proficient 22 26.8 41 53.9 33 35.9

20 29.9

26 31.7

18 23.7

27 29.3

21 31.3

34 41.5

17 22.4

32 34.8

26 38.8


Table 19. Language and cognitive skills (school-based) domain


2009 2012 2015 2018 2009 2012 2015 2018 2009 2012 2015 2018


ACT 3,505 83.8 3,987 86.5 4,312 83.5 4,613 84.2 440 10.5 440 9.5 549 10.6 514 9.4 238 5.7 182 3.9 303 5.9 352 6.4

Australia 190,298

77.1 226,260

82.6 242,518

84.6 247,870

84.4 34,579

14.0 29,072

10.6 25,597

8.9 26,291

9.0 21,933

8.9 18,564

6.8 18,533

6.5 19,417

6.6


Belconnen 899 84.7 1,069 87.1 1,083 83.2 1,038 82.3 101 9.5 113 9.2 132 10.1 130 10.3 62 5.8 45 3.7 86 6.6 93 7.4

Tuggeranong 919 80.5 961 84.5 878 77.5 959 82.0 159 13.9 113 9.9 172 15.2 119 10.2 64 5.6 63 5.5 83 7.3 91 7.8

Molonglo* - - - - 24 82.8 89 79.5 - - - - 4 13.8 20 17.9 - - - - 1 3.4 3 2.7

Gungahlin 629 85.9 755 87.6 1,006 86.7 1,143 85.8 66 9.0 83 9.6 101 8.7 112 8.4 37 5.1 24 2.8 53 4.6 77 5.8

Woden 329 90.1 332 87.1 407 84.3 405 83.5 24 6.6 38 10.0 59 12.2 49 10.1 12 3.3 11 2.9 17 3.5 31 6.4

North Canberra 333 82.0 385 89.5 426 87.8 439 86.8 45 11.1 34 7.9 30 6.2 45 8.9 28 6.9 11 2.6 29 6.0 22 4.3



2009 2012 2015 2018 2009 2012 2015 2018 2009 2012 2015 2018


Weston Creek 228 79.2 255 83.9 257 83.7 282 88.7 31 10.8 34 11.2 28 9.1 22 6.9 29 10.1 15 4.9 22 7.2 14 4.4

Sex Male 1,736 81.0 2,000 84.5 2,064 80.3 2,245 81.2 246 11.5 251 10.6 319 12.4 303 11.0 160 7.5 116 4.9 188 7.3 218 7.9

Female 1,769 86.7 1,987 88.6 2,248 86.7 2,368 87.3 194 9.5 189 8.4 230 8.9 211 7.8 78 3.8 66 2.9 115 4.4 134 4.9



Total 560 78.0 738 81.9 936 79.7 1,212 81.3 85 11.8 114 12.7 152 12.9 161 10.8 7 10.2 49 5.4 86 7.3 117 7.9

Proficient 513 84.8 689 87.2 883 86.0 1,170 86.1 60 9.9 74 9.4 112 10.9 122 9.0 32 5.3 27 3.4 32 3.1 67 4.9

Not proficient 46 41.4 46 42.6 52 35.9 41 31.5 24 21.6 40 37.0 39 26.9 39 30.0 41 36.9 22 20.4 54 37.2 50 38.5


Proficient 2,916 86.3 3,214 88.5 3,351 86.0 3,386 86.4 332 9.8 309 8.5 374 9.6 337 8.6 131 3.9 109 3.0 173 4.4 198 5.0

Not proficient 25 30.5 35 46.1 25 27.2 14 20.9 23 28.0 17 22.4 23 25.0 16 23.9 34 41.5 24 31.6 44 47.8 37 55.2


Table 20. Communication skills and general knowledge domain


2009 2012 2015 2018 2009 2012 2015 2018 2009 2012 2015 2018


ACT 3,154 75.2 3,393 73.4 3,898 75.5 3,974 72.5 665 15.9 853 18.5 870 16.8 1,083 19.7 375 8.9 376 8.1 397 7.7 427 7.8

Australia 185,484

75.0 204,702

74.7 219,023

76.3 227,163

77.3 39,027

15.8 44,633

16.3 43,415

15.1 42,473

14.5 22,701

9.2 24,520

9.0 24,475

8.5 24,232

8.2

Region South Canberra

173 76.2 199 76.5 205 77.9 192 66.4 41 18.1 31 11.9 40 15.2 73 25.3 13 5.7 30 11.5 18 6.8 24 8.3

Belconnen 777 73.2 914 74.0 968 74.3 910 72.1 190 17.9 242 19.6 210 16.1 235 18.6 95 8.9 79 6.4 124 9.5 117 9.3



2009 2012 2015 2018 2009 2012 2015 2018 2009 2012 2015 2018


Tuggeranong 846 74.0 863 76.0 833 73.5 854 73.1 213 18.6 177 15.6 229 20.2 229 19.6 84 7.3 96 8.5 71 6.3 86 7.4

Molonglo* - - - - 22 75.9 85 75.9 - - - - 7 24.1 19 17.0 - - - - 0 0.0 8 7.1

Gungahlin 545 74.5 576 66.7 878 75.8 887 66.4 115 15.7 197 22.8 185 16.0 329 24.6 72 9.8 90 10.4 96 8.3 119 8.9

Woden 294 79.9 303 78.9 371 76.8 377 77.6 36 9.8 45 11.7 77 15.9 71 14.6 38 10.3 36 9.4 35 7.2 38 7.8

North Canberra

313 76.5 307 71.7 370 76.4 388 76.7 54 13.2 95 22.2 81 16.7 93 18.4 42 10.3 26 6.1 33 6.8 25 4.9

Weston Creek

225 77.1 224 73.2 248 80.8 276 86.8 29 9.9 63 20.6 39 12.7 34 10.7 38 13.0 19 6.2 20 6.5 8 2.5

Sex Male 1,515 70.6 1,632 68.8 1,811 70.4 1,923 69.4 381 17.8 498 21.0 520 20.2 578 20.9 249 11.6 242 10.2 242 9.4 269 9.7

Female 1,639 80.0 1,761 78.3 2,087 80.5 2,051 75.6 284 13.9 355 15.8 350 13.5 505 18.6 126 6.1 134 6.0 155 6.0 158 5.8



Total 415 57.8 523 58.0 703 59.9 881 59.0 135 18.8 201 22.3 263 22.4 388 26.0 168 23.4 177 19.6 208 17.7 223 14.9

Proficient 415 68.4 519 65.7 703 68.5 880 64.8 130 21.4 192 24.3 256 24.9 382 28.1 62 10.2 79 10.0 68 6.6 97 7.1

Not proficient

0 0.0 ≤10 ^ 0 0.0 ≤10 ≤10 ≤10 ≤10 ≤10 ≥90 ≥90 ≥90 ≥90


Proficient 2,735 80.7 2,869 78.8 3,193 81.9 3,091 78.8 525 15.5 644 17.7 601 15.4 692 17.6 130 3.8 130 3.6 105 2.7 141 3.6

Not proficient

0 0.0 0 0.0 ≤10 ≤10 ≤10 ≤10 ≤10 ≤10 ≥90 ≥90 ≥90 ≥90


^ Where 90 per cent or more of a population group is considered developmentally vulnerable in any domain or sub-domain the number and percentage of children vulnerable is grouped to >90 per cent, this is to prevent identification of individual children as developmentally vulnerable.


Appendix 3 Further AEDC information

For ACT AEDC information, refer to the ACT AEDC website (www.children.act.gov.au/).

A variety of resources are available online to help users understand AEDC results and learn more about the scope and purpose of the program. The resources listed below are just some of those available. These can be accessed through the AEDC web site (www.aedc.gov.au/) or alternatively by clicking on the links provided.

Refer to the AEDC user guides (www.aedc.gov.au/resources/using-aedc-data/user-guides-and-resources) for ideas and strategies on how to respond to AEDC data.

For detailed information on AEDC results reporting, refer to the fact sheet Understanding the results (www.aedc.gov.au/unders).

The fact sheet Definition of AEDC terms (www.aedc.gov.au/defterm) is a valuable guide that describes terminology used throughout the program.

The AEDC community results tables (www.aedc.gov.au/tables) summarise results for each AEDC community and the local communities within it. As part of the online Data Explorer (www.aedc.gov.au/data), this searchable resource allows comparisons across years and communities. The 2018 AEDC community data was published in March 2019.

AEDC publications

Important AEDC resources include:

Sector messages www.aedc.gov.au/resources/using-aedc-data/sector-messages Resources library www.aedc.gov.au/resources About the AEDC data collection www.aedc.gov.au/abtdata About the AEDC domains www.aedc.gov.au/abtdom Definition of AEDC terms www.aedc.gov.au/defterm Trends from the AEDC www.aedc.gov.au/trends Understanding community boundaries www.aedc.gov.au/resources/resources-accessible/understanding-community-boundaries Understanding the results www.aedc.gov.au/unders55Australian Early Development Census 2018 Results for the ACT

https://www.aedc.gov.au/resources/detail/understanding-the-results

https://www.aedc.gov.au/resources/resources-accessible/understanding-community-boundaries

https://www.aedc.gov.au/resources/detail/trends-from-the-aedc

https://www.aedc.gov.au/resources/detail/definition-of-aedc-terms-2

https://www.aedc.gov.au/resources/detail/about-the-aedc-domains

https://www.aedc.gov.au/resources/detail/about-the-aedc-data-collection

https://www.aedc.gov.au/resources

http://www.aedc.gov.au/resources/using-aedc-data/sector-messages

Calculation of the critical difference www.aedc.gov.au/trcd

AEDC videos

Introduction to the AEDC www.aedc.gov.au/resources/detail/introduction-to-the-australian-early-development-census Informing your planning www.aedc.gov.au/resources/detail/informing-your-planning-(hd) Understanding the data www.aedc.gov.au/resources/detail/understanding-the-data-(hd)

Key AEDC web pages

Communities FAQs www.aedc.gov.au/commfaqs History of the AEDC www.aedc.gov.au/history Resources for communities www.aedc.gov.au/rfc Using your AEDC results www.aedc.gov.au/communities/using-your-aedc-results Research snapshots www.aedc.gov.au/resources/research-findings/research-snapshots Validation and trial of the AEDC www.aedc.gov.au/valid


https://www.aedc.gov.au/about-the-aedc/history/validation-and-trial-of-the-aedi

https://www.aedc.gov.au/resources/research-findings/research-snapshots

https://www.aedc.gov.au/communities/using-your-aedc-results

https://www.aedc.gov.au/communities/resources-for-communities

https://www.aedc.gov.au/about-the-aedc/history

https://www.aedc.gov.au/communities/faq-for-communities

https://www.aedc.gov.au/resources/detail/understanding-the-data-(hd)

https://www.aedc.gov.au/resources/detail/informing-your-planning-(hd)

https://www.aedc.gov.au/resources/detail/introduction-to-the-australian-early-development-census

https://www.aedc.gov.au/resources/detail/technical-report-calculation-of-the-critical-difference-february-2016

Appendix 4 Glossary

Term Definition

AEDC community AEDC communities are a geographic area, usually equivalent to a Local Government Area (LGA), made up of Local communities (see ‘Local community’ definition).

AEDC cut-off scores For each of the five AEDC domains, children receive a score between 0 and 10 where 0 is most developmentally vulnerable. The cut-off scores set in 2009 provide a reference point against which later AEDC results can be compared. These have remained the same across all collection cycles, e.g. using the cut-off scores established in 2009, in the 2018 AEDC only 6.6 per cent of children were considered developmentally vulnerable on the language and cognitive development domain, a decrease from 8.9 per cent in 2009.

AEDC domains The AEDC measures five areas, or domains, of early childhood development that form the foundations for later good health, education and social outcomes. These are:

physical health and wellbeing social competence emotional maturity language and cognitive skills (school-based) communication skills and general knowledge.

More information is available on the AEDC website (www.aedc.gov.au/abtdom).


Term Definition

Australian Early Development Census (AEDC)

A population measure of young children’s development based on a teacher-completed Instrument across five developmental domains (AEDC domains). Prior to 1 July 2014, the AEDC was known as the Australian Early Development Index (AEDI).

Australian version of the Early Development Instrument (the Early Development Instrument, which has been adapted for use in Australia)

A teacher-completed Instrument that consists of approximately 100 questions measuring the five developmental domains. To ensure teacher judgement is moderated across Australia, teachers receive online training prior to completing the Instruments.

Community profiles and maps All AEDC data collected in a geographic area are collated and analysed at the suburb or small area locality (Local community) of the child. This is reported back to the community through AEDC Community Profiles and AEDC maps.

The AEDC Community Profiles report the percentage of children on track, developmentally at risk and developmentally vulnerable for each developmental domain (www.aedc.gov.au/resources/community-profiles).

Control for age variability at school entry

The ages of children in their first year of full-time school vary. As age is a factor contributing to children’s development, the published AEDC results control for age.

Critical difference The critical difference is the minimum level of change required between any two cycles of AEDC results for the comparative result to be significant. The difference between the percentage of children vulnerable across the cycles is statistically significant if it exceeds the critical difference. More information on the Calculation of the critical difference Technical Report is available on the AEDC website (www.aedc.gov.au/trcd).


Term Definition

Developmentally vulnerable on one or more domain(s) (Vuln 1)

The percentage of children who are classified as developmentally vulnerable on one or more AEDC domain(s). Developmentally vulnerable on one or more domain(s) (Vuln 1) are part of the Summary Indicators (see ‘Summary indicators’ definition).

Developmentally vulnerable on two or more domains (Vuln 2)

The percentage of children who are classified as developmentally vulnerable on two or more AEDC domains. Developmentally vulnerable on two or more domains (Vuln 2) are part of the Summary Indicators (see ‘Summary indicators’ definition).

Early Development Instrument The Early Development Instrument (EDI) was developed in Canada to measure the developmental health and wellbeing of populations of young children. An Australian adapted version of the EDI is the teacher completed instrument used in the AEDC program, (see the ‘Australian version of the Early Development Instrument’.)

English as a Second Language (ESL)

Children are considered to have ESL status where English is not their first language and they need additional instruction in English; or where English is not their first language, they have conversational English, but are not yet proficient in English.


Term Definition

Geographic location Geographic location for the AEDC is based on the Australian Statistical Geographical Standard (ASGS) Remoteness Areas, developed by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) to classify places of remoteness. Geographical areas are given a score based on the road distance to service towns of different sizes. Scores for regions are derived by averaging scores from a one square kilometre grid. The five Remoteness Areas are:

Major Cities — relatively unrestricted accessibility to a wide range of goods and services and opportunities for social interaction.

Inner Regional — some restrictions to accessibility of some goods, services and opportunities for social interaction.

Outer Regional — significantly restricted accessibility of goods, services and opportunities for social interaction.

Remote — very restricted accessibility of goods, services and opportunities for social interaction.

Very Remote — very little accessibility of goods, services and opportunities for social interaction.

The ASGS Remoteness Areas classification is an all of Australia view. As such, remote parts of Tasmania are remote because of their location in the context of Australia, not their location in Tasmania.

Language background other than English (LBOTE)

Children are considered LBOTE if they speak a language other than English at home, or if they speak English at home but are still considered to have ESL status. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children who have LBOTE status are part of the LBOTE group, e.g. it is possible for children to be both Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander and have LBOTE status.

Local community A small area locality, usually representing a suburb or town. For its results to be reported, Local communities must have a minimum of 15 children and two teachers. Results are not reported if more than 20 per cent of children were identified as children with special needs.


Term Definition

Population of children enrolled to begin school

The population of Australian children enrolled to begin their first year of full-time school is data provided by the 2018 School Census, inclusive of government, Catholic and independent schools across Australia.

This number is used to determine the extent to which the AEDC is reflective of the entire population of Australian children starting school in 2018.

Proficient in English Proficient in English refers to what is expected of the average monolingual English speaker in a similar phase of development. For the AEDC, children are considered proficient in English if teachers answered ‘average’ or ‘good/very good’ to the Australian version of the Early Development Instrument question: ‘How would you rate this child’s ability to use language effectively in English?’.

This question refers to the child’s use of the appropriate words and expressions at appropriate times, as well as the child’s contribution to conversations. Effective use is defined as ‘use sufficient to convey the desired message’. Only basic grammatical concepts need to be adhered to, so long as the meaning is clear. Teachers were asked specifically to consider English language skills.

Quintiles Quintiles are used for the AEDC comparisons to Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) (see definition for SEIFA). The lowest quintile (Quintile 1) represents the most socio-economically disadvantaged areas; the highest quintile (Quintile 5) represents the least socio-economically disadvantaged areas.

Reported results Reported results refer to the information that is made publicly available at a community level from the AEDC data collection. This includes:

demographic data for all children included in the census


Term Definition

AEDC domain scores — includes scores only from children with valid domain scores, and for those who do not have any diagnosed special need.

Summary indicators Summary indicators are a measure of developmental vulnerability for children across the five AEDC domains (see ‘developmentally vulnerable on one or more domain(s) (Vuln 1)’ and ‘developmentally vulnerable on two or more domains (Vuln 2)’).

Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA)

The AEDC classifies socio-economic status according to the Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA), developed by the ABS. They are a set of measures, derived from Census information, that summarise different aspects of socioeconomic conditions in an area. The Index for Relative Socio-Economic Disadvantage, which is used in AEDC results, looks at Census information that reflects disadvantage such as low income, low educational attainment, high unemployment, and jobs in relatively unskilled occupations. Every geographical area in Australia is given a SEIFA score that ranks the disadvantage of an area, compared with other areas in Australia.

Special needs A child requiring special assistance because of chronic medical, physical or intellectually disabling conditions (e.g. autism, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome), based on a medical diagnosis or medical diagnoses.

Valid domain scores Scores are flagged as invalid for children who have been in the class for less than one month, are less than four years old or where teachers complete less than 75 per cent of the items in any given domain.


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