TRANSCRIPT
New research has found migrant and refugee children are accessing early-childhood education at lower rates than their peers.
The joint study between the University of South Australia and Settlement Services International suggests their development could be put at greater risk as a result.
Sally Brinkman is a Professor at Education Futures at the University of South Australia.
"We use the Australian Early Development Census, which is a census of child development once every three years across the whole country. So this is capturing the development of all children. Children about five and a half years of age, and because it's a census of every single child across the whole country, we get about 96 to 98 per cent of all children. Development has been improving across the country. This has been the case for children from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds but where the concern is, is there's a gap between children with CALD background versus non-CALD background."
In Australia, more than one in four children (27 per cent) speak more than one language at home.
And Australian Early Development Census data shows 82 per cent of children from migrant and refugee backgrounds attended some form of early-childhood education in 2021.
But a 'Stronger Starts, Brighter Futures' report says for other children the rate is 90 per cent.
Professor Brinkman says not having access to early-childhood education can affect a person into adulthood.
"Something like 46 per cent more likely to be developmentally vulnerable if you don't attend things like playgroups, for example, or other early childhood education and care services. If you are able to attend these services in the early years, then you are more likely to be supported in terms of development. Families are more likely to be supported in being able to understand what they can do in the home environment to support children's development."
The research has also found children from migrant and refugee backgrounds are half as likely to access early-intervention support like speech therapy, occupational therapy or disability support, compared with other children.
Dr Tadgh McMahon is the Head of Research and Policy at Settlement Services International, and a co-author of the research.
He says migrant and refugee children need to be able to access appropriate early-childhood education and early-intervention support tailored to their needs.
"The gap is narrowing in relation to multicultural children accessing early childhood education overall, there has been no shift and no narrowing of the gap between multicultural children and other children accessing early intervention support. So these early intervention sports would be things like occupational therapy, language support, learning support for kids who are developmentally delayed, or for kids who actually have a mild or a severe disability. And that gap has stayed stubbornly wide."
A study published in the Early Childhood Education Journal in February found childcare workers and educators need training to better support non-English-speaking children.
Researchers say attendance can be improved through a mix of universal, targeted and place-based measures to address barriers to participation in early learning.
Dr McMahon says these approaches involve the work of governments, early-education providers and providers of settlement services.
"This research sees this as everyone having a part to play. Many refugee families would be unaware of the benefits of play-based learning - that play-based learning may exist in their country of origin, but it may not - and they may not know what the benefits are. Those benefits have become only more to the forefront of the public imagination in Australia in the last 10 to 15 years. So settlement services have a role to play. Early childhood education providers have a role to play in providing those soft entry points and also making sure that their workforce is culturally responsive."
While not included in this report, education access for Indigenous children has also been highlighted as an issue in Australia.
The latest federal budget included a number of initiatives targeted at First Nations communities - including $29.1 million to improve early childhood and education outcomes.
Chief Executive of the national group for First Nations children and families, SNAICC [[snake]], Catherine Liddle says more support is needed when it comes to education.
"We have to say that those signals that we're going to invest in children are really good signals. We know that for the first time ever, we're seeing $29.1 million over four years going into both SNAICC and NATSIAC (National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Anglican Council) as those peaks that lead in the children's space. That money is dedicated to ensuring that we are partnering with governments; and that we are doing things differently. But it's still not enough that it still needs to go the whole hog; and that means that all of our peaks need to be set up in that way. It also means that we need to be really thinking about how we stop children and families coming into contact with any tertiary interventions. Budgets are critical to being able to do that."
