Federal member for Page Kevin Hogan said children across the Northern Rivers are continuing to develop well by the time they start their first year of school.
He said the Turnbull/Joyce Government has released the local figures from the 2015 Early Development Census which provides a detailed insight into the developmental progress of Australia’s children. “Around 80 per cent of children across the Northern Rivers are developing well, but 20 per cent were assessed as developmentally vulnerable in one or more areas,” Mr Hogan said.
Nationally, 22 percent of children were developmentally vulnerable on one or more domains. The Australian Early Development Census measures the wellbeing of our children in five important areas. In the five key areas reported:
- 8.6 per cent were developmentally vulnerable in physical health and wellbeing, compared with 9.7 per cent nationally
- 9.6 per cent were developmentally vulnerable in social competence, compared with 9.9 per cent nationally
- 7.9 per cent were developmentally vulnerable in their emotional maturity, compared with 8.4 per cent nationally
- 4.1 per cent were developmentally vulnerable in their language and cognitive skills, compared with 6.5 per cent nationally
- 7.5 per cent were developmentally vulnerable in their communication skills and general knowledge, compared with 8.5 percent nationally
“While I’m encouraged by the 2015 results, which shows that our children are performing better than the national average,” Mr Hogan said.
“Even so, we have more work to do to ensure that all children start school with sound physical, social, emotional, cognitive and communication capabilities. They are far more likely to enjoy school and succeed at school – and that is really the outcome we aiming to achieve. Mr Hogan said he looked forward to working with local child care centres, schools and the local community on behalf of the government to support the development of our children.
Further information: 2015 Australian Early Development Census available at: www.aedc.gov.au
