So far, 2025 has been a horror year for early education and care. Much of the recent media and political coverage about childcare has focused on safety. This is understandable, given the numerous, shocking allegations of abuse in the sector.

But early childhood education should be doing more than keeping children safe. It is also supposed to help them learn and develop and ultimately, be on track for school.

Our latest study suggests early education is not making as much of a difference as it should when it comes to young children’s development and learning.

We compared data on children’s development with their attendance at daycare, preschool and other early learning services. We found improvements in early childhood education quality since 2009 have not been accompanied by improvements in Australian children’s development.

The Australian Early Development Census tracks the development of all Australian children in their first year of formal school. Information for the census is collected by teachers.

It looks at five areas:

physical health and wellbeing

social competence

emotional maturity

language and cognitive skills

communication skills and general knowledge.

The latest 2024 results revealed a decreased percentage of children assessed “developmentally on track” – from 54.8% in 2021 to 52.9% in 2024.

There was also in increase in children flagged as “developmentally vulnerable” in........

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