Enhancing the impact of early childhood hubs in Australia

Discussion paper exploring the landscape of early childhood hubs models, factors influencing their effectiveness and recommendations to enhance their impact.

Families need support to ensure children grow up happy, healthy and thriving. However, significant disparities exist in developmental and educational outcomes for children across Australia.

Early childhood hubs* offer a promising solution for children and families experiencing vulnerability. These hubs provide a safe space where families can build social connections. They provide responsive supports and vital services so children and families can thrive.

Our discussion paper explores the diverse landscape of early childhood hub models. There are approximately 209 of these hubs across Australia. This includes six state led models, school-based hubs and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander integrated early years centres.

These hubs provide invaluable contributions; however, they operate with varying scales and capacities. There are also major gaps in coverage and no unified national approach to delivery. Our discussion paper unpacks the factors influencing their effectiveness.

It explores what enables and limits early childhood hubs from reaching their goals. It provides strategies and recommendations to strengthen their impact and scale their operation. This will help to ensure that the children who would benefit most are able to access them.

*We previously called these Integrated Child and Family Centres (ICFCs) but have updated our terminology to Early childhood hubs to support common usage across the sector.

Download the brief

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