The Productivity Commission’s final report: A welcome step towards levelling the playing field for all children 

Learning and development in the early years of a child’s life sets the foundation for their future trajectory. The Productivity Commission’s final report on the Early Childhood Education and Care inquiry, released today, is a welcome step towards levelling the playing field for all children, particularly in reducing developmental disparities among culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) children. 

The report outlines a vision for a universal Early Childhood Education system that prioritises improved affordability, inclusion, and flexibility. This is key to securing Australia’s social, cultural, and economic future. 

We know from our own work with communities across Australia that children from CALD backgrounds are more likely to be developmentally vulnerable when starting school and less likely to access early childhood education. 

This is also highlighted in our Stronger Starts, Brighter Futures II research, conducted jointly with researchers at Education Futures, University of South Australia, which aligns with the Productivity Commission’s findings, particularly on the observations on developmental vulnerability. 

Socio-economic disadvantage is a large driver of developmental vulnerability for all children. This plays a huge role in shaping the developmental outcomes of children from CALD communities in particular as they disproportionately experience socio-economic disadvantage, according to Stronger Starts. 

Almost a third of children from CALD backgrounds living in the most disadvantaged socio-economic areas were developmentally vulnerable compared to 1 in 6 of their peers living in the most advantaged areas. 

We are heartened that the Productivity Commission’s recommendations align with those from our research, particularly in calling for greater investment to support the inclusion of CALD children and their families. 

We urge the government to consider these recommendations and prioritise investment in place-based services that have proven effective in supporting developmentally vulnerable children, which have been advocated for in both the Commission’s report and our research. 

We also welcome the report’s specific recommendations to address both financial and non-financial barriers to participation for CALD children, and to invest in programs that enhance cultural safety and responsiveness in services, potentially through the use of bilingual and bicultural educators.