Quality early learning experiences are essential to help your children to thrive, and to help us meet the government's objective to give all our children a great start, set out in Our Future State: Advancing Queensland's Priorities.
Over the past 10 years, the Queensland Government has worked with the early childhood and not-for-profit sectors to achieve great outcomes for Queensland children.
Ten years ago, when the basis for the current funding arrangments were developed, only 29% of children participated in kindergarten. Today, that figure exceeds 95%, however rates remain lower for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and children from vulnerable communities.
In 2009, 29.6% of Queensland children were developmentally vulnerable on 1 or more domains of the Australian Early Development Census (AEDC). Less than a decade later, this has dropped to 25.9% but remains higher than the national average.
Independent review
The Queensland Government wants every Queensland child to have the opportunity to access early learning and development programs that will set them up for success later in life.
Optimising outcomes for children is an independent review of the Department of Education's early childhood education funding and delivery arrangements.
We have engaged Deloitte Access Economics to undertake the review which will guide the department's future investment decisions and support the development of contemporary funding and delivery arrangements that optimise outcomes for children.
Terms of Reference for the review (PDF, 60KB)(DOCX, 70KB) are publicly available.
Have your say
As part of the first phase of the review, Deloitte Access Economics are asking service providers, families with young children, educators and other interested parties to join the conversation about future funding and delivery arrangements for kindergarten by participating in an online survey.
The survey is open until 9 August 2019 and can be accessed via the Deloitte Access Economics review page.
Deloitte Access Economics is also engaging the views of key stakeholders, including community kindergartens and long day care centres, peak bodies, and community organisations, through a series of targeted consultation forums.
The consultation process for the second phase of the review, early years services, will commence in the second half of 2019. Information about how you can take part in this process will be published in mid July.
If you have any questions in relation to the review please contact Deloitte Access Economics via email at
qldecereview@deloitte.com.au or phone (07) 3308 7373.
Frequently asked questions
The Department of Education’s funding and delivery arrangements for kindergarten and early years services.
The Queensland Government is committed to giving all young Queenslanders a great start in life – and this starts with access to quality kindergarten programs and early years services.
It's been almost 10 years since the Queensland Kindergarten Funding Scheme was introduced – it's time to check back in and see what areas can be improved.
Undertaking this review now will ensure Queensland is well-positioned for any future national reforms or funding offers from the Australian Government for universal access to kindergarten.
The Queensland Government's commitment to the early years remains constant but the needs of families and the sector have changed – the aim of the review is to help us develop new funding models and ways of operating that promote the efficient delivery of services and enable funding to reach where it is needed most.
The
Terms of Reference for the review (PDF, 60KB)(DOCX, 70KB) outline the scope and issues being considered.
We need to separate the review into 2 phases to focus on 2 distinct service delivery areas – kindergarten programs and other early years services.
Deloitte Access Economics has been appointed to carry out the review.
There will be separate consultation processes for each phase of the review.
Deloitte Access Economics, the independent reviewer, will invite a range of stakeholders, including services, families, educators and other interested parties to participate in the review and contribute to the design of future funding arrangments that best support the needs of Queensland children, and their families, today and into the future.
To join the conversation, visit Deloitte Access Economics review.
If you have any questions about how you can contribute to the review please contact Deloitte Access Economics via email at
qldecereview@deloitte.com.au or phone (07) 3308 7373.
The review is not about reducing the department’s investment in early childhood education, it is about ensuring our investment is effective, efficient, transparent and sustainable. The review will provide us with advice about how to best allocate funding to ensure every dollar is maximised to give all Queensland children a great start, especially Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, those children experiencing vulnerability, and children living in rural and remote communities.
The review findings will be provided to the Department of Education by 31 October 2019.