Early childhood development, education and skills
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The evidence Children in occasional child care
Access to early learning support
Victoria has the highest number of children using occasional child care (OCC), predominantly for work related purposes, with many shift workers and others in irregular or non-traditional employment relying on OCC for affordable, locally-based care. OCC also facilitates training and skills development as well as pathways to broader community participation.
Early Childhood Intervention Australia has highlighted that less than half of the children diagnosed with a disability or developmental delay get additional support to participate in early learning. Source: Early Childhood Intervention Australia Victorian Chapter, Our children can’t wait: State Budget Submission 2012-13, October 2011
Source: A Butlin, D Lambart, C Mauk, and F Stewart, Occasional Care: Flexible child care for Australian families - final report, Amity Management Consulting Group, July 2007
Recommendations That the Victorian Government:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
provides capital investment to upgrade, improve or deliver new early childhood centres in areas with a high proportion of vulnerable families, continues to invest in the skills, qualifications, professional development and leadership of the early childhood workforce, continues to implement the Victorian Auditor General’s recommendations to improve the participation of vulnerable children in early childhood education and care, invests in the Koorie Education Support workforce and expands parental engagement initiatives for all Victorian Aboriginal communities, provides funding to sustain community-based occasional child care services across Victoria, particularly in disadvantaged areas, continues to fund existing IT support for kindergartens beyond June 2012, reviews the Young Readers Program and invests in a literacy initiative that better reaches vulnerable families, and increases KISS funding to ensure that all children with a disability or developmental delay have access to a meaningful learning program at kindergarten.