2012 AEDI Data Collection 1 May – 31 July 2012 Data Collection on now
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What is the Australian Early Development Index?
The Australian Early Development Index (AEDI) is a population based measure of young children’s development. Teachers complete a checklist for children in their first year of full-time school which measures five key areas of early childhood development
- Physical health and wellbeing – whether a child is healthy, independent, ready for school each day,
- Social competence – looks at how a child plays, gets along with others and shares, is self-confident,
- Emotional maturity – whether a child is able to concentrate, help others, is patient, not aggressive or angry,
- Language and cognitive skills – whether a child is interested in reading and writing, can count and recognise numbers and shapes, and
- Communication skills and general knowledge – whether a child can tell a story, communicate with adults and children, articulate themselves.
As a population measure, the AEDI examines early childhood development across the whole community, providing a snapshot of how children in the local area have developed by the time they start school. They can help governments and communities understand what’s working well and what needs to be improved or developed to better support children and their families. Together with other socio-demographic and community information, the AEDI results are a powerful tool for influencing planning and policy around early childhood development.
Following the success of the first national implementation of the AEDI in 2009, the Australian Government made a commitment to collect this important data every three years, in 2012, 2015, 2018 etc.
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How is the 2012 AEDI Data Collection being implemented?
The 2012 AEDI data collection commenced on 1 May 2012, with teachers across Australia expected to complete approximately 270 000 checklists by 31 July 2012.
Data from the 2012 collection is scheduled for release in March 2013. Similar timelines can be expected for subsequent cycles.
Results will be publicly available for around 96 per cent of Australian communities. These will be provided through a national report, online community maps and community profiles.
The Australian Government (through the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations) and States and Territory Governments are working in partnership with the Centre for Community Child Health at the Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne, the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, and the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, Perth, to deliver the AEDI. The Social Research Centre, Melbourne is managing the 2012 data collection.
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Why has the government committed to future cycles of the AEDI?
The 2009 implementation has already yielded a wealth of information which is being used to influence early childhood initiatives at the community, state and national levels, as well as increase the government’s evidence base for early childhood policy. Future cycles of the AEDI will enable us to build on that momentum and enhance the AEDI’s capacity to contribute to better early childhood outcomes for Australian children.
We will now have access to data that remains relevant over time. Ongoing data collection will enable us to monitor our progress and evaluate current programs. The partnerships that have already developed, across education, health and community services, can continue to grow and build on the work already commenced.
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How much money is the government investing in the AEDI?
The AEDI commitment, announced under the 2011-2012 Budget Mental Health Reform package, represents an investment of $51.2 million over the five years to 2015-2016. By undertaking the AEDI data collection on an ongoing basis every three years, this equates to approximately $28 million for each cycle.
This initiative includes funding for AEDI coordination and targeted community engagement activities in each state and territory. The aim of which is to support communities, schools, teachers and government agencies to participate in the AEDI data collection and engage with the results. The Australian Government’s investment also includes funding to reimburse teachers for completing the checklist and undertaking professional development, and funding to undertake AEDI focused research.
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Who will benefit?
A range of early childhood stakeholders will benefit from future cycles, including:
- Communities will gain detailed contextual and developmental information about their children to help them understand what is working well and where there are areas for improvement,
- Schools will have information on the developmental vulnerability of children as they enter school, to use in their early years planning,
- Families will see how children in their community are developing prior to reaching school and gain an understanding of the importance of the early years as a time for building lifelong emotional and learning capability,
- Researchers will gain access to detailed early years development data to enhance the early years evidence base, and
- Governments, at all levels, will gain access to comparable information over time to inform policy development and program management.
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What are the key results from the 2009 implementation of the AEDI?
In 2009, the AEDI was completed nationwide for the first time. 15 522 teachers from 7422 schools (government and non government) from all over Australia reported on the physical health and development, social competence, emotional maturity, language and cognitive skills, and communication skills and general knowledge of 261 147 (97.5 per cent) children in their first year of full-time school.
Preliminary results were released in December 2009 (community maps) and May 2010 (community profiles. In April 2011, updated AEDI data was released, enabling 96 per cent of Australian communities to view online the AEDI map and profile of the children in their community. With the release of this new data, Australia now has a comprehensive national picture of how children are developing by the time they start school.
For the first time we now know that almost 25 per cent of Australian children start school developmentally vulnerable on at least one of these domains, and just over 10 per cent on two or more. For indigenous children and children living in lower socio-economic communities the rates are substantially higher. We also know that these numbers vary significantly across states and territories and even more so across communities. These data reaffirm the need and opportunity to make a difference before children start school.
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While the AEDI is completed by teachers, results are reported for the communities where children live, not where they go to school. The results show proportions of children ‘on track’, ‘developmentally at risk’ and ‘developmentally vulnerable’ on five key areas of early childhood development. The AEDI results allow communities to see how local children have developed in comparison to other children in the community, and in other communities across Australia.
The AEDI results are provided through a National Report, community maps and community profiles. These are available through the AEDI website. Data is also available to approved researchers.
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How is the AEDI data being used?
Since the AEDI results first became available in December 2009, Governments (at all levels) and community organisations have been using the data to inform early childhood development policy and practice. The partnerships that have developed, right across education, health and community services, highlight AEDI’s potential to help improve the wellbeing of young children in a way that we haven’t been able to do before.
The Australian Government is examining the results to better understand the needs of young children across Australia and determine what changes need to take place so we can give kids the start to life they deserve. State and territory governments are also working collaboratively with local government agencies, services and welfare groups to engage communities, help them understand what’s working well and what needs to be improved or developed in their community to better support children and their families.
By providing a common ground on which people can work together, the AEDI results can help build and strengthen communities to give children the best start in life. Together with other socio-demographic and community information, the AEDI results are a powerful tool for influencing planning and policy around early childhood development. The AEDI can
- Provide a common language for the community to discuss the needs of young children,
- Provide communities with a tool to help understand what seems to be working well and what may need to change in their community to support families,
- Strengthen links between schools, kindergartens, preschools, playgroups, local government agencies, health centres, libraries and other local organisations and encourage them to explore new ways of working together,
- Provide schools with the opportunity to reflect on the development of children entering school and to work with other early childhood services to optimise school transitions,
- Inform early childhood policy development and practice across education, health and community services, and
- Raise awareness about the importance of the early years.
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More Information
The AEDI website provides comprehensive information on the AEDI, including:
- Background information on the AEDI and national implementation,
- A Snapshot of Early Childhood Development in Australia – AEDI National Report 2009, that provides a national summary of the AEDI results,
- Online maps that show AEDI results geographically,
- Community Profiles that provide contextual information and more detail about the community and its AEDI results to support the online maps
- Community case studies, showcasing how communities across Australia have responded to their AEDI results, and
- A range of online training and resources to help people understand the AEDI and how to work with the results.
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