In 2018 the fourth national Australian Early Development Census (AEDC) took place with data collected on 76,000 Victorian children. We thank schools across Victoria for their participation. The results, in the form of the AEDC National Report and AEDC community profiles, can be accessed on the AEDC website(opens in a new window).
2018 AEDC data
The Hon Dan Tehan MP officially released the 2018 AEDC data on behalf of the Australian Government on 22 March 2019. =
To see Victorian data mapping and trends, please refer to:
The 2018 AEDC results for schools are available in the School Profile and School Profile Addendum.
This Addendum can be accessed by school principals and their delegates through the School Performance Report website. If you have any queries regarding accessing the School Profile with Addendum please contact School Performance Data at school.performance.data@education.vic.gov.au.
2018 key findings
The majority of Victorian children are developmentally on track.
19.9% of Victorian children were developmentally vulnerable on one or more domains in 2018, which is the same proportion as in the 2015 collection.
The percentage of children vulnerable on the communication skills and general knowledge domain has decreased steadily over time in Victoria.
Developmental vulnerability has increased for Victorian children in the language and cognitive skills domain, however the proportion of children on track in this area has also increased.
The percentage of children vulnerable on the physical health and wellbeing domain increased significantly in Victoria, from 7.9% to 8.2%.
The physical health and wellbeing domain includes information about children arriving to school hungry, whether they are poorly dressed, personal hygiene, gross and fine motor skills and general coordination (i.e. it is not a measure of child obesity).
The percentage of Victorian children vulnerable on the social competence domain has slightly increased overall.
Vulnerability on the emotional maturity domain has marginally increased in Victoria.
2015 results
In 2015 the third national AEDC took place with data collected on 71,786 Victorian children. We thank schools across Victoria for their participation.
The results from previous years, in the form of the AEDC National Report and AEDC community profiles, can be accessed on the AEDC website(opens in a new window).
2015 key findings
The majority of Victorian children are developmentally on track.
19.9% of Victorian children are developmentally vulnerable on one or more domains – which is the lowest proportion of children of any state or territory. It is a slight increase in vulnerability from 2012 (19.5%) but remains an improvement from 2009 results (20.3%).
9.9% of children are vulnerable on two or more domains (9.5% in 2012 and 10% in 2009).
The percentage of children vulnerable on the communication skills and general knowledge domain has decreased steadily over time in Victoria.
While there has been an increase in the number of Victorian children on track in the language and cognitive skills domain, vulnerability has also slightly increased on this domain - further work is needed to determine why this may be so.
The percentage of children vulnerable on the physical health and wellbeing domain and social competence domain has increased very marginally in Victoria and nationally.
The physical health and wellbeing domain includes information about children arriving to school hungry, whether they are poorly dressed, personal hygiene, gross and fine motor skills and general coordination (i.e. it is not a measure of child obesity).
Vulnerability on the emotional maturity domain has marginally increased consistent with a national trend.
Updated