The Australian Early Development Index (AEDI) is used to measure the health and development of children in Australian communities to help communities assess how well they are doing in supporting young children and their families. The results provide a snapshot of how children have developed by the time they start school. These results can then be used to help communities understand what is working well and what needs to be improved or developed locally to better support children and their families.
The Australian Early Development Index measures five areas (domains) of early childhood development. These are:
- physical health and wellbeing
- social competence
- emotional maturity
- language and cognitive skills (school-based)
- communication skills and general knowledge
The Australian Early Development Index results are reported as average scores on each of the five domains and listed as children who are considered to be 'on track', 'developmentally at risk' and 'developmentally vulnerable'. On track are children who score in the top 75 per cent of the national AEDI population. Developmentally at risk are children who score between the 10th to 25th per cent of the national AEDI population and developmentally vulnerable are children who score in the lowest 10 per cent of the national AEDI population.
The results are presented in three ways:
A National Report
In A Snapshot of Early Childhood Development in Australia -
AEDI National Report 2009, a summary of the initial results
are presented. It shows average scores and proportions of children
on track, developmentally at risk and developmentally vulnerable
for Australia and each state and territory.
Online Maps
These geographic maps show the proportions of children in the local
community developmentally vulnerable on the AEDI domains.
Community Profiles
These provide contextual information about the community and its
initial AEDI results. It presents the average scores and
proportions children on track, developmentally at risk and
developmentally vulnerable, and supports the online maps.
For more information and to download fact sheets and copies of Profiles, including the Nillumbik Profile, go to the Australian Early Development Index website from the link below.
