Submissions now open until 30 April 2023.
The Australian Government is developing an Early Years Strategy, in recognition of the vital importance of the first five years of every child's life. We need your input to help reflect the priorities of Australians for the Strategy. We want to hear from parents, families, carers and caregivers, educators, early childhood professionals and other experts about a national approach that would benefit children and families in Australia.
We are also interested in hearing from Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples, people with disability, culturally and linguistically diverse community members, people living in rural and remote areas, and people from the LGBTQIA+ community.
The discussion paper includes guiding questions for your feedback. You are welcome to respond to some or all of the questions, or provide any other feedback that you think is relevant to the development of the Strategy.
View the discussion paper here:
Early Years Strategy Discussion Paper (PDF 605 kB)
Early Years Strategy Discussion Paper (Word 565 kB)
There will be other opportunities for Australians to contribute to the development of the Strategy. More information can be found here: Early Years Strategy | Department of Social Services, Australian Government (dss.gov.au)
Participating in this consultation
Your participation is voluntary, and you are under no obligation to participate if you do not wish to. If you participate or decide not to participate, it will not influence your relationship with the department or access to Federal government services, payments and benefits.
You can provide a submission anonymously, or you can choose to provide your name.
You can also advise us if you would like to make your submission publicly available. If you do choose to make your submission publicly available, you will need to provide your name and email address.
You can contact us to delete your submission if you no longer want to participate and if your submission is not anonymous. Email us at earlyyearsengagement@dss.gov.au and include your email address to do this by 30 April 2023.
Please note that we may collect your personal information if you provide your name and email address, or if you contact the department. Please see the Privacy Notice regarding this consultation.
If you need support
The submissions are not monitored, so if participating in this consultation raises any concerns or you feel distressed we encourage you to contact one of the numbers below:
If you require support to access the discussion paper, including paper copies or telephone assistance, please email earlyyearsengagement@dss.gov.au.
An Easy Read and an Auslan version of the paper will be available shortly.
If you require translation services you can contact Non-English speakers | Translating and Interpreting Service (TIS National). Translated versions of the discussion paper will be made available shortly.
Make a Submission
engage.dss.gov.au