Purpose and Aims

• What is the core purpose of early childhood education and care for 0-3 year old children?
• What are the secondary, but still important, purposes of ECEC for 0-3 year old children?
• What is, or should be, the role of ECEC be in redressing disadvantage (if any)?
• What supports do parents and caregivers need from ECEC service providers in the first 1000 days of a child’s life (including during pregnancy)?
• What services could be co-located or integrated for families of children 0-3 years of age within ECEC settings (including during pregnancy)?
• (How) should government incentivise ECEC services to provide more than simply education and care for children 0-3 years of age?

Quality

• What does high-quality ECEC service provision for children 0-3 years deliver? What are the markers of optimal program delivery?
• (How) does quality differ for different cohorts of children?
• Where is innovation happening in programming and service delivery? What does that look like?
• How can ECEC service providers include parents and caregivers in education and information to support wellbeing and attachment in early years?

Participation

• What are the current barriers for families in accessing early education and care support in the first 1000 days of a child’s life?

The Royal Commission has published an Issues Paper (PDF, 234.2 KB) in relation to OSHC. You may wish to refer to it in drafting your submission.

Purpose and Aims

• What is the core purpose of out of school hours care?
• Are there secondary but still important drivers behind why South Australian families, schools and children need out of school hours care?
• What are the elements of quality in OSHC provision that matter most to parents?
• What are the elements of quality in OSHC provision that matter most to school leaders/governing councils?

OSHC in primary school

• Where are the gaps in OSHC service provision in South Australia and what is driving those gaps?
• What are measures of unmet demand that the Royal Commission should consider?
• Are there any regulatory burdens that prevent OSHC services from operating or expanding?
• What are the specific limitations faced by small schools/rural and regional South Australia in relation to the provision of OSHC?
• What works / what doesn’t work about current governance of OSHC in government schools?
• How important is physical infrastructure / land availability to provision? Please provide examples
• Are there opportunities for innovation or collaboration in areas of demand that can increase availability of OSHC? If yes, please provide examples
• What do children of all ages need to engage in OSHC? (including upper primary school ages)

OSHC in preschool

• What are the levers that state government can use to make OSHC available for children attending a government preschool?
• What are the barriers (physical, transport, other) that mean children who attend a government preschool can’t attend OSHC and what might overcome those?
• Where are the opportunities for innovation or collaboration to make OSHC more available for children attending a government preschool?
• What is the demand for OSHC before or after kindy? How do we know?
• Does OSHC before or after kindy need to look different to offerings for school aged children?
• What are the markers of quality in OSHC for preschool aged children?
• How could/should OSHC around a government preschool be governed?

The Royal Commission notes work that is already underway as part of the Shaping Our Future: National Education and Care Workforce Strategy 2022-2031.

In considering opportunities to build South Australia’s early childhood education and care workforce, the Commission is interested in receiving views on the below:

• What are the most important competencies for people who are delivering high quality early childhood education and care?
• What are the highest value interventions that would improve sector workforce supply in South Australia?
• What else should South Australia do in addition to workforce supply initiatives already underway?
• Are there innovative approaches to building workforce supply that the Royal Commission should consider?

You may wish to consider other areas of relevance to the Royal Commission in your submission, including:

• What are the benefits of increasing workforce participation through improved access to flexible care arrangements outside of school and preschool hours?
• What are the challenges to quality ECEC provision in regional, rural and remote parts of South Australia?
• What opportunities are there to innovate, redesign and codesign ECEC service models with communities to improve opportunities for families and children experiencing disadvantage?
• How should the Royal Commission conceptualise costs and benefits in relation to its recommendations?