As strong advocates for the need for a cohesive strategy to improve the development outcomes of Australian children, the Association welcomes the release of the federal government’s Early Years Strategy, as a positive step towards recognising the significance of a child’s development in the first 2000 days.
We note that following our input, the strategy recognises the importance of speech and language skills within Outcome 2, which states that “Children [must] have the best possible opportunities to develop strong language and communication skills for healthy development, to express their emotions and connect positively with others.”
Former Board President Tim Kittel attended the Early Years Summit in February 2023, and the Association also provided a
detailed submission in April last year highlighting the critical importance of speech and language skills and the need for supports to be provided as early as possible for children with communication and swallowing needs.
Speech Pathology Australia looks forward to working further with the government to implement the strategy, specifically the development of the outcomes framework to implement the outcomes and improve the lives of all young children.
Speech pathologists have a pivotal role in the prevention, identification, and management of speech, language, communication and literacy for all children.
As such, speech pathologists must be included as an essential member of the early learning teams across the early childhood and education sector.