Early Childhood Australia

Early Childhood Australia is the peak early childhood advocacy organisation in Australia, acting in the interests of young children, their families and those in the early childhood education and care field.

History

Early Childhood Australia began as the Australian Pre-School Association, which was formed in 1938. It was re-named the Australian Early Childhood Association, which was changed to Early Childhood Australia in 2003.

Mission statement and values

Early Childhood Australia's mission statement:

'Early Childhood Australia will advocate to ensure quality, social justice and equity in all issues relating to the education and care of children from birth to eight years.'

The values of Early Childhood Australia:
*The rights of children
*Leadership, excellence and respect
*Courage, honesty and openness
*Collaboration and diversity
*Justice
*Social inclusion of children

tructure

Early Childhood Australia comprises branches in each state and territory in Australia. Early Childhood Australia members are representatives of the state and territory branches.

The national organisation of Early Childhood Australia is governed by a National Council and a National Board of Directors. The work of the organisation is supported by the National Office.

Early Childhood Australia is a non-profit organisation which is supported by its membership base.

Code of Ethics

A code of ethics is a set of statements about appropriate and expected behaviour of members of a professional group and, as such, reflects its values.

The Early Childhood Australia "Code of Ethics" was first developed in 1990 by a national working party, with considerable input from the early childhood field. The 2003-06 Code of Ethics Agenda resulted in a new "Code of Ethics", which was endorsed at Early Childhood Australia's National Council meeting in September 2006.

The "Code of Ethics" is owned by the early childhood field, rather than imposed upon it.

Key issues

As well as promoting the United Nations' "Convention on the Rights of the Child", Early Childhood Australia has lobbied governments on many key issues in the care and wellbeing of young children, such as:
*children's rights
*children of asylum seekers
*inclusion and diversity
*evidence-based standards for children's services
*leadership and qualifications in early childhood services and schools.

As part of its advocacy work, Early Childhood Australia also develops position statements on a range of early childhood issues, such as:
*Care of infants
*Children and the mass media
*Cultural diversity
*Information technology and young children
*Language and literacy
*Physical environments for centre-based early childhood services

External links

* [http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au Early Childhood Australia website]
* [http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/sbp Supporting Best Practice web directory] – links to hundreds of quality-assured fact sheets and articles
* [http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/code Early Childhood Australia's "Code of Ethics"] – a code of ethics for the early childhood field
* [http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/position_statements.html Early Childhood Australia position statements] – a framework for much of Early Childhood Australia's advocacy work, and to support good early childhood practice for those who work with and for young children