APPENDIX 2 ESTIMATES OF 3 YEAR OLD CHILDREN
ESTIMATES OF 3 YEAR OLD CHILDREN IN A PRESCHOOL PROGRAM
Counts of 3 year old children who were enrolled and attended a preschool program from the 2013 National Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) Collection are summarised in table A2 below. The counts presented are not representative of the total population of all 3 year old children enrolled and attending a preschool program. This is due to a number of factors which have impacted on counts differently across the states and territories and provider types. Jurisdictions have different reporting requirements for 3 year children enrolled in a preschool program (as defined for the National ECEC Collection). For this reason, the collection scope for some jurisdictions do not include all preschool programs that are being delivered to 3 year old children. For some jurisdictions, the reporting of 3 year olds enrolled in a preschool program is not mandatory and as a consequence, the collection does not have complete collection coverage.
The 3 year old preschool data limitations were influenced by the different service delivery and funding models that exist throughout Australia. For some state and territories and within some sectors, 3 year old preschool programs are only available for children who meet special preschool program early entry requirements. The Child Care Management System imputation strategy (for more information see the Explanatory Notes section of this publication, paragraph 19) and the Queensland specific imputation strategy (for more information see the Explanatory Notes section of this publication, paragraph 12) also did not include 3 year old children and both contribute to the under reporting of 3 year old children.
As a consequence of these data limitations, 3 year old estimates are not consistent with published 4 and 5 year old estimates within this publication. The presented data reflects the current operational collection scope and coverage of 3 year old children enrolled in a preschool program. Data is presented with the aim to further develop 3 year old data and to specifically improve the operational collection scope and coverage for future National ECEC Collections.
Due to the data limitations associated with 3 year old preschool data, care should be taken when interpreting and using the table below for statistical analysis or comparison to other data as the presented data is incomplete and does not provide an accurate and consistent view of the 3 year old population within or across states.
A2 ESTIMATES OF 3 YEAR OLD CHILDREN IN A PRESCHOOL PROGRAM(a) |
|
 | NSW | Vic. | Qld | SA | WA | Tas. | NT | ACT |
|
| Total children attending a preschool program | 29 502 | 3 240 | 5 762 | 2 540 | 1 152 | 119 | 338 | 955 |
| Total children enrolled in a preschool program | 30 237 | 3 401 | 6 002 | 2 628 | 1 188 | 123 | 418 | 992 |
|
| (a) Due to the data limitations associated with preschool data for 3 year old children, care should be taken when interpreting and using the table for statistical analysis or comparison |
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