THRIVE BY FIVE WELCOMES QUEENSLAND’S DRAFT PLAN FOR THE STATE’S CHILDREN, ENCOURAGES GREATER EARLY LEARNING REFORMS
01 February 2024 – Minderoo Foundation’s Thrive by Five campaign has welcomed the Queensland Government’s draft plan “Putting Queensland Kids First: Giving our kids the opportunity of a lifetime.” [1]
The plan, which was developed in consultation with educators, parents, carers and leading policy experts, outlines key priority areas for Queensland’s new early intervention strategy and calls for further feedback.
Thrive by Five’s Jay Weatherill said the draft plan was a step in the right direction and would help ensure Queensland’s new early intervention policy works for everyone.
“This plan will allow the Queensland Government to craft an early intervention strategy that puts children and families at its very core,” Mr Weatherill said.
“By ensuring that a wide swathe of experts is listened to, the government can help deliver outcomes that are comprehensive and address key issues head-on.”
Thrive by Five’s Queensland Alliance, a coalition of more than 30 organisations, presented the State Government with its Action Plan late last year, calling on it to outline a roadmap that helps ensure every child in Queensland has access to the education and support they need to thrive.
The Alliance and Thrive by Five look forward to working with the Government to ensure that the strategy reflects the advice of experts across the early childhood development sector.
“We are pleased to have members of Thrive by Five’s Queensland Alliance contribute to this plan and to see ideas shared by the Alliance included in it. We look forward to working with the Government to ensure the strategy reflects the advice of experts working across the early childhood sector.
“The most important investment we can make is in the futures of our children, and prioritising the early years can help ensure they are well supported in the most developmentally important period of their lives.
“We are happy to see the Queensland Government undertaking such a broad-scale policy initiative and we also encourage them to focus on strengthening the State’s early childhood education and care infrastructure.
“In particular, we hope to see an expansion of accessible and affordable early learning through the roll out of universal three-year-old preschool across the state.”
[1] Queensland Government – Putting Queensland Kids First – Consultation Draft
Media contact: Mayank Gurnani (Essential Media), 0414 463 827
