Kempsey the latest site to be funded for Connected Beginnings program

Dalaigur Pre-School and Children’s Services Aboriginal Corporation, in the New South Wales community of Kempsey, is the latest to be given funding to help more First Nations children to thrive in the early years through the growing network of the Connected Beginnings program.

 

Federal Minister for Early Childhood Education Dr Anne Aly announced the $1.8 million in funding yesterday, emphasising that all children, no matter their background or where they live, should be able to access the transformational benefits of quality early childhood education and care (ECEC).

 

Dalaigur Pre-School and Children’s Services Aboriginal Corporation Chairperson Fred Kelly said “it is essential that all our Aboriginal children have a sense of their culture and in particular a strong cultural identity.”

 

“Connected Beginnings is an exciting new program that will provide the resources and services for this solid foundation to be further expanded upon by providing the opportunity to draw upon the experience of existing and new connections and accessing the extensive knowledge from our local community to increase the support for the varied needs of our children.”

 

Connected Beginnings connects First Nations children aged from birth to five years of age with a range of early childhood education, health and family support services – helping them to meet the learning and development milestones necessary to achieve a positive transition to school.

 

The new site will support around 700 local First Nations children and joins 47 other locations across the country that collectively support more than 23,700 First Nations children.

 

The community-led program is a key contributor to the early childhood Closing the Gap targets, driving an increase in preschool enrolments and improvements to developmental outcomes.

 

The Government partners with SNAICC – National Voice for our Children and the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation to deliver the program, which has been allocated $81.8 million to expand to 50 sites nationally. Once all 50 sites are established, the program has the potential to support up to 20 per cent of all First Nations children aged from birth to five years of age.

 

Other Connected Beginnings sites in NSW include Bourke, Broken Hill, Doonside, Dubbo, Gosford, Mount Druitt, Taree, Wagga Wagga and Wyong.

 

Once all NSW sites are up and running, the program will support around 6,900 First Nations children across the state.

 

Learn more about the Connected Beginnings program here.