Early Years Initiative

Working together to achive more

The Early Years Initiative is a 10-year partnership between the State Government, Minderoo Foundation and Telethon Kids Institute (through Colab) and select Western Australian communities to bring together community leaders, all levels of government, researchers, business and philanthropic organisations to achieve better outcomes for Western Australian children and families.

The Initiative will select four partner communities from metropolitan, remote and very remote Western Australia.

The Katanning Noongar Leadership Group have been at the forefront of the Initiative, providing support for the program to be implemented in the Central Great Southern Region.

Needs driven

Data from the Australian Early Development Census, Australian Bureau of Statistics, State Department of Health and other key agencies, showed a high population of children in the region (aged four years and under) with a clear need to improve early childhood outcomes.

The Central Great Southern Shires of Katanning, Broomehill-Tambellup, Kojonup and Gnowangerup are the first community to join the Initiative to improve the health, development and learning of children from conception to the age of four, a critical time for child development. In recent years, despite significant effort, there has been little or no improvement in key developmental indicators for young children in the region.

The development of young children is monitored and measured via the Australian Early Development Census (AEDC).

The five key areas or domains will be examined as part of the Initiative are:

1. Physical health and well-being
2. Social competence
3. Emotional maturity
4. Language and cognitive skills, and
5. Communication skills and general knowledge.

The Initiative will consider the range of factors that influence these domains, including access and quality of support, availability of opportunity and employment, family and domestic violence, housing, and social isolation.

The Early Years Initiative will work with communities in the Central Great Southern to discover the best approaches to improving the health, learning and development of our children.

Learn more

If you would like to get in touch with us to learn more or offer assistance with this important project feel free to use the form below to do so, we look forward to hearing from you.