The Department of Education and Training through the Office for Early Childhood Education and Care is working with all states and territories and the Australian Government to deliver national reforms and joint initiatives aimed at providing all children with the best start for life and learning.
Action is being taken as part of a national early childhood reform agenda being progressed through the Council of Australian Governments (COAG). These national initiatives also link with COAG's Indigenous and health reforms.
The national agenda for early childhood development 
aims to provide all children with the best start for life and learning including the provision of high-quality, accessible and affordable early childhood education and child care services. This agenda is articulated in the National Early Childhood Development Strategy . A key commitment is that by 2013 all children in the year before formal schooling will have access to 15 hours per week of a quality early childhood education program, for at least 40 weeks per year, delivered by university-trained early childhood teachers in public, private and community-based preschools and child care. There are also specific targets for Indigenous children living in remote locations and socio-economically disadvantaged children.
The agenda is targeted at reform of long day care, family day care, outside school hours care and kindergarten services. It has a strong emphasis on connecting with schools to ensure all Australian children can make a smooth transition from early childhood education and care to schooling. Queensland is currently reviewing Queensland's Child Care Act 2002 within the context of the national reforms to determine how services not captured under national law will be managed from 1 January 2012.
The following key initiatives/reforms are currently being implemented:
Universal access to early childhood education
Indigenous Early Childhood Development
For the latest information on the national reforms sign-up to the Department's e-newsletter A-Z of Early Childhood.
This page was last reviewed on 05 May 2011
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© The State of Queensland (Department of Education, Training and Employment) 2010.
