The AEDC is a national measure of early childhood development. It’s conducted every 3 years to examine how children have developed by the time they start school.
The AEDC tells us what is working well and what can be improved to support children and families. The results help parents, policy makers and service providers understand the challenges children face.
Data was collected on over 288,000 children in their first year of full-time school, from 7,323 schools. This represents over 94% of eligible children nationally.
Teachers responded to around 100 questions across 5 domains:
- physical health and wellbeing
- social competence
- emotional maturity
- language and cognitive skills (school based)
- communication skills and general knowledge.
The findings are publicly available. Data can be used to help people and organisations with their work and contribute to early childhood education and care systems.
The new AEDC website has also launched. The website:
- includes a new search function, making the data and resources easier to find and use
- provides resources for understanding children’s development in Australia
- shows how communities are using AEDC data to take action to ensure children thrive.
Visit the new look AEDC website for data and resources to support education, health and community policy and planning.
For more information, visit Australian Early Development Census on our website.