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The Australian Early Development Census, or AEDC, (formerly the AEDI) is a nationwide census that shows how young Australian children have developed as they start their first year of full-time schooling.
The AEDC research program is focussed on addressing inequity by understanding and reporting risk and protective influences and trajectories for vulnerable subpopulations of children and focusing on mental health competence, special health care needs (SHCN), language background other than English (LBOTE) and child liveability and development. Formerly known as the Australian Early Development Index, it was renamed the Australian Early Development Census in July 2014.
The Australian Early Development Index (AEDI), now the Australian Early Development Census, was a national project designed to improve early childhood development outcomes of all Australian children by providing communities, governments and policy makers with the information they needed to plan and evaluate their efforts in improving outcomes for children.
By providing community level data it sought to help governments and communities understand how children were developing by the time they reach school based on key developmental domains. Community involvement and ownership of the AEDI process was a key component of the national AEDI implementation. In addition to developing communication campaigns and media strategies, MCRI supported State and Territory AEDI Coordinators to engage with and support local communities throughout the AEDI implementation. Resources and support provided to coordinators assisted them in effectively communicating AEDI, its purpose, how to access and use the data, and how to share community stories of success.
For more information visit www.aedc.gov.au
The following Research Snapshots were developed by the Centre for Community Child Health and provide a brief and accessible overview of research being undertaken in relation to the AEDC. This research was funded by the Australian Government under the AEDC program.