Childhood development

Released 15/09/2025

Proportion of children developmentally on track in all five domains of the Australian Early Development Census

Early childhood development sets the stage for future health, wellbeing and prosperity.

This measure describes whether children are developmentally on track in their physical health and wellbeing, social competence, emotional maturity, language and cognitive skills, and communication skills and general knowledge.

In 2024, the proportion of children developmentally on track in all five domains was 53%, compared with 55% in 2021, and 51% in 2009. 

The proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children who were developmentally on track in all five domains has increased by 8 percentage points since 2009, and the proportion of children with a language background other than English who were developmentally on track in all five domains has increased by 6 percentage points.

Preschool programs for children aged 3 to 5 years have cognitive and social development benefits. In 2024, the number of children aged 4 or 5 years old enrolled in a preschool program was 341,568, a 1.3% increase on the number of children enrolled in 2023 (337,305).

In 2024:

• 61% of children living in the least disadvantaged areas (quintile 5 of the SEIFA Index of Relative Socio-economic Disadvantage) were on track in all five domains, compared with 41% of children living in the most disadvantaged areas (quintile 1).
• 54% of children in major cities were developmentally on track in all five domains, compared with 51% in regional areas and 43% in remote and very remote areas.

Further information about how different groups performed in the Australian Early Development Census is available in the 2024 AEDC National Report.

Disaggregation available includes:

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander status
• Cultural and language diversity: Language background
• Remoteness
• SEIFA Index of Relative Socio-Economic Disadvantage.