The Australian Early Development Census (AEDC) measures the development of Australian children across five domains in their first year of primary school. The 2018 data shows Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are 2.5 times more likely to be developmentally vulnerable on two or more domains, and 2 times more likely to be developmentally vulnerable on one or more domains. These measures show slight progress since 2015, alongside a small increase in the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children on track in the social competence and emotional maturity domain. The largest gap continues to be the language and cognitive skills (school-based) domain, with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children nearly four times more likely to be developmentally vulnerable. Find out more by accessing the report.
