Committee of Review of Early Childhood Services

Full description

Establishment and Terms of Reference

The Early Childhood Services Review operated in 1982 and 1983. Its function was to conduct, for the Victorian Government, a review of the provision of services to Victorian children of pre-school age. The Review Committee was jointly established by the Ministers of Health, Community Welfare Services and Education on 28 September 1983.

The terms of reference of the Review were to:

1. Identify and recommend principles which should appropriately underlie the provision of services to children under school age in Victoria, in order that the needs of both children and parents can be met, whilst ensuring maximum possible access to services, and the adequate training and employment of those providing the services.

2. Identify existing services in Victoria and their administrative and financial arrangements, and to identify what relationships exist between

(a) the various services;

(b) the services at all levels of Government;

(c) the services and the community - particularly the users of the services.

3. Identify the extent to which currently funded children's service programmes meet the recommended principles, which include:

diversity of programme options tailored to a wide range of family requirements such as occasional care, emergency care, sessional pre- school, bilingual pre-school and visiting teachers;

community participation in decision making at all levels;

encouragement of research and evaluation;

integration of development of services wherever possible with other community and regional services such as community health centres, infant welfare centres.

4. Consider appropriate division of responsibility of children's services at and between all levels of Government, with clearer definition of the responsibilities of the State and Federal Governments in the provision of early childhood services in terms of both recurrent and capital funding, management and administration.

5. Recommend proposals and priorities for the further development of children's services and the most effective utilization of current resources available for these services.

Location of Records

Some records of the Review are held by the Public Record Office and are listed below.