Core ECEC outcomes from Closing the Gap report and implementation plan 

The Australian Government released the Commonwealth Closing the Gap 2024 Annual Report and 2025 Implementation Plan on 10 February 2025.

The report:

• assesses the Commonwealth’s progress against Closing the Gap targets and priority reforms over the last year

• outlines the Commonwealth’s priorities to support Closing the Gap targets and priority reforms over the next year

• spotlights outstanding programs, services and initiatives

Closing the Gap outcomes 3 and 4 focus on the early years. They aim to ensure:

• children are engaged in high quality, culturally appropriate early childhood education and care (ECEC)
• children thrive in their early years

The report highlights key achievements and investments to improve progress in these areas, including:

• continuation of the Early Childhood Care and Development Policy Partnership
• expansion of Connected Beginnings to 50 sites across the country
• finalising the Early Years Strategy and developing a Monitoring and Evaluation Framework
• establishment of new First Nations-led ECEC services through the Community Child Care Fund restricted expansion grant
• changes to the CCS activity test for families with First Nations children
• announcement of a building early education fund
• core funding to support First Nations peaks, NATSIEC and SNAICC, to partner with government on matters affecting First Nations children in the early years.

This year’s report puts a spotlight on the Connected Beginnings program in Ceduna.

Connected Beginnings is an Australian Government grants program that helps Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander children get the best start to life. 

Connected Beginnings started in 2017 in Ceduna, South Australia. Since then, the program has laid the foundations for community-led systems change in Ceduna, Scotdesco and surrounding homelands. It also works with families of the Yalata and Oak Valley (Maralinga) communities who have connections with Ceduna and Koonibba.

“Our focus and our purpose of Connected Beginnings is engaging with our families. It’s making sure that our families are safe, that their voices are listened to, and that when we’re making decisions on programs centred around those families, that they are at the heart and soul of what we do. I want our kids to be treated fairly and to grow up safe and strong, connected to culture” – Connected Beginnings Project Officer, Ceduna. 

There are now 50 Connected Beginnings sites across Australia supporting about 24,800 children.

Read the Commonwealth Closing the Gap 2024 Annual Report and 2025 Implementation Plan. here.