Following the latest update of the Closing the Gap Dashboard, Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation (ACCO) Moriarty Foundation is calling for an urgent supplement to the national strategy. While the data highlights areas of incremental progress, the Foundation warns the national failure in early childhood development targets will persist unless the government supports sustained, locally-led models in remote Australia.
While the news of 95% preschool enrolment is welcome, Moriarty Foundation says it is not even close to a real solution with national data confirming early childhood development is one of four key targets currently going backwards.
The real key to unlocking a future where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children thrive —particularly those in our most remote communities—is getting early years education right. If we don't succeed in doing that in a child's first five years, we are permanently playing catch-up.
"The Prime Minister stated he is 'not contemplating failure,' yet the national data shows as a nation we are failing our most vulnerable children," says Ros Moriarty, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Moriarty Foundation.
"While more children may be enrolled in preschool, we need to ask if they are being set up to succeed. Success isn't just a seat in a classroom; it is the readiness of the child to learn, which we know only comes through a consistent and culturally safe early years approach.
"It's vital we invest in tested solutions already working on the ground. Our Indi Kindi program stands as a blueprint for reducing the school readiness gap."
Indi Kindi is an early years service for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from newborn to age five. It is delivered in co-design with the community and its curriculum is aligned to the Australian Early Years Learning framework. Local Aboriginal women deliver Indi Kindi on Country, using a traditional Aboriginal teaching methodology.
Since establishing in Borroloola, Northern Territory in 2012, Indi Kindi has improved preschool and developmental outcomes, reducing the proportion of children developmentally behind in their first year of school from 74% to 34% (Deloitte Access Economics, 2024).
