The Interim Report seeks the feedback of South Australians on the Commission's vision for the future of preschool. Views expressed in relation to the findings and 33 recommendations of this Interim Report will inform the Commission's Final Report due in August 2023.

Royal Commissioner, Julia Gillard said:

"I urge South Australians generally, and those involved in early education and care of children specifically, to reach out with your insights, which will help ensure the Commission's Final Report is the best possible guide for the future.

"South Australia is a caring State, with a proud track record of innovation and policies that enable our children to grow, thrive and learn. Please don't miss the opportunity to help develop a shared vision and plan for the future."

In reimagining preschool for children at the age of 3 and 4, the Commission has considered:

• Universality - how to embrace all children in a system which is universal, but able to cater to the different needs fo communities, families and children
• Quality - the need to embed and continuously improve quality
• Impact - what enables preschool to have the most impact on learning and development for all children
• Fairness - the role preschool can play in improving the outcomes of children at risk of developmental delay
• Connections - the need to build and bolster connections so preschool is part of the backbone joining together an early childhood system that better supports families and children to access all the supports they need.

In light of these considerations, the Commission is recommending an approach to preschool which:

• includes delivery in a range of settings, grows the number of places in the system and reaches out to families
• invests in quality delivery for every child attending preschool, not just those attending government preschools
• enables continuous improvement in outcomes
• differentially invests in children at risk of developmental delay
• builds on the work currently being done, often informally and unpaid, by many government and non-government service providers to link families to services like speech pathology or parenting programs, and makes the work of connection a deliberately designed and supported feature of the system
• appropriately uses data to support families, service providers and research.

The Commission is grateful to the expert witnesses, service providers, parents and caregivers and other key stakeholders whose generosity with their time and insights has supported the Commission in doing this work.

Through the process of evidence gathering, the Commission has identified an exciting opportunity for South Australia to lead the world and build an early child development system that supports each child to reach their full potential.

Royal Commissioner, Julia Gillard said:

"I have been struck by how fast the rate of change is in our understanding of early childhood education and care. Cutting edge scientific research is giving us amazing new insights.

"At the same time, improvements in data analytics have the potential to reshape how we can best connect children to support, services to each other, and researchers to population-level information that can inform policy and practice.

"Yet, there is a clear gap in taking all this new knowledge and translating it into practical actions that touch and transform children's life chances.

"South Australia is well positioned to lead in this area by leveraging its world-class research facilities, high-quality early childhood sector and exciting new capabilities in data analytics to improve how early childhood education is understood and delivered.

"For example, we can use the roll-out of 3-year-old preschool to build our understanding of whether attending preschool on consecutive days, or with a consistent group of children, makes a difference to learning outcomes.

"We can also use it as a tool to investigate the best models for providing allied health support in early childhood education and care settings."

The Commission makes an in-principle recommendation for 3-year-old preschool to be delivered in a mix of government and non-government settings, rolling out from 2026.

Under the recommended model:

• 3-year-olds currently attending long day care and non-government preschool services would receive their preschool program in that setting. They would benefit from a better supported teacher, early identification of needs and support, as well as pathways for family support and outreach as needed.
• Children not attending a service at age 3 would be able to receive their preschool in a centre-based preschool program, or in a government preschool. Government preschools will benefit from newly updated age-appropriate facilities, teachers who are supported with professional learning on early child development, as well as increased funding to support community outreach.

The proposed approach will cost $162.7 million per annum, and between an estimated $101.2 to $111.2 million for capital investment to build the equivalent of 32 new early childhood education and care services to deliver universal accessibility. It will also make use of around 4,700 empty places in government preschools. (All figures in 2023 dollars).

The universal entitlement to preschool for 3-year-olds will equal the current entitlement of 4-year-olds at 600 hours a year, or 15 hours a week for 40 weeks a year. However, this number of hours should be viewed as a minimum and approximately 1000 children in areas of high need will be able to access 30 hours a week of high-quality preschool in newly commissioned services, integrating a broad range of family and child supports. The Commission is specifically seeking further feedback on how to target increased hours for other children at risk of developmental delay.

Aboriginal children in South Australia currently have an entitlement to 3-year-old preschool. With the proposed universal entitlement, the Commission is recommending the State Government listen to and work with South Australia’s Aboriginal community, including through the First Nation’s Voice to Parliament, on the future arrangements for preschool for Aboriginal children.

The roll out could be completed by 2032, although the Interim Report notes that the roll out should not go faster than the availability of a quality workforce, with workforce availability being investigated in further hearings in May.

Inquiries continue into workforce supply, how to ensure universal availability of Out of School Hours Care (OSHC) and the role of early childhood education and care in supporting children in their first 1000 days, for inclusion in the Royal Commission’s Final Report. The Final Report is due to be released in August 2023.

The full report is available on our website.