Agreements, Treaties and Negotiated Settlements Project

Closing the Gap: National Partnership Agreement on Indigenous Early Childhood Development
Date:	3 July 2008
Date To:	30 June 2014
Sub Category:	COAG Agreement
Place:
State/Country:	Australia
Subject Matter:	Health and Community Services
URL:	http://www.federalfinancialrelations.gov.au/content/npa/education/national-partnership/past/ctg-early-childhood-NP.pdf
Summary Information:
The National Partnership Agreement on Indigenous Early Childhood Development ('the Agreement') is one of the agreements developed to contribute to the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) Closing the Gap targets contained in the National Indigenous Reform Agreement (NIRA). The aim of the Agreement is to concentrate on closing the gap in developmental outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous children, with a focus on Indigenous children aged 0-3 years.
Detailed Information:
Objectives, outcomes and outputs The objectives of the Agreement are to improve developmental outcomes for Indigenous children and achieve key targets as agreed by COAG; Achieve sustained improvements in pregnancy and birth outcomes for Indigenous women and infants; to increase Indigenous families� use of the early childhood development services in order to optimise the development of their children; and In order to improve outcomes for Indigenous children this National Partnership aims to contribute to COAG�s social inclusion, early childhood development, education, health, housing, and safety agendas. The Agreement contains broad overarching outcomes, such as that �Indigenous children are born and remain healthy� (Cl 22(a)), with more specific outcomes such as �an increased proportion of Indigenous children who are fully vaccinated each year� (Cl 23(d)). Exact targets will be agreed in bilateral Implementation Plans for each state or territory jurisdiction. The outputs of the Agreement are organized around three elements; Element One focuses the integration of early childhood services through children and family centres�; Element Two will focuses on increased access to antenatal care, pre-pregnancy and teenage sexual and reproductive health; and Element Three focuses on increased access to, and use of, maternal and child health services by Indigenous families. Roles and Responsibilities The roles of the Commonwealth include to providing funding and participate in consultations and the development of bilateral Implementation Plans. The States and Territories main roles are in the actual implementation of the Agreement. Reviewing Implementation Plans, providing information and data on progress, and evaluating outcomes will be the shared by all parties. Performance indicators, reporting and oversight Performance indicators are set out in Clause 42, and include measures such as the proportion of children in early childhood education and the proportion of pregnant Indigenous women with an antenatal contact in their first trimester. These indicators will be reviewed against baseline data agreed by the Parties.