CHILDREN AND YOUTH DEVELOPMENTS

REVIEW OF THE CHILDREN AND YOUTH INFORMATION DEVELOPMENT PLAN (IDP)

The Information Development Plan (IDP) for children and youth, Information Paper: Improving Statistics on Children and Youth - An Information Development Plan (cat. no. 4907.0) which was released on 8 December 2006 is undergoing its first annual review. The plan documents agreed priorities for statistical data development with the aim of improving the quality and availability of data required to support informed policy design and evaluation, and decision making by governments, organisations and communities. Input into the review has been sought from major stakeholders in the children and youth field to ensure it accurately reflects the policies, programs and statistical activities currently being undertaken in the field.

The review will report on progress made with the 86 Data Development Actions (DDAs) identified in the IDP. Updates will be provided on DDAs progressed, completed, cancelled and new ones identified. The ABS intends to publish the results of the IDP review in December 2007. The review will be published on the National Statistical Service (NSS) web site, with links from the National Data Network (NDN) Children and Youth Statistical Portal and Children and Youth theme page.

CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AND CARE SURVEY (CEaCS) 2008

The former Child Care Survey, which is now known as the Childhood Education and Care Survey (CEaCS), will be conducted in June 2008. This change reflects the increase in overlap between education and care arrangements.

The key information objectives of CEaCS are:

• Time series data for children aged 0-12 years on the use of formal care, informal care and preschool attendance; parental requirements for additional child care and preschool participation; patterns of attendance; child care costs; the use of the Child Care Benefit; parental income and working arrangements used by parents to help care for their children.
• Characteristics of children aged 0-8 years in their early learning years, including the types of formal, non-formal and informal learning activities they engage in and the environments in which these activities take place; patterns of attendance, including historical and usual attendance and intensity of attendance and barriers to and difficulties participating in formal and non-formal education.

A reference group for this topic is assisting to determine stakeholder requirements and priorities for the collection.Some of the issues under discussion are:

• General characteristics of families, parents and children;
• Child care arrangements for children and families;
• Requirements for formal care and preschool in previous 6 months; and
• Informal and formal early childhood learning.