Stateofgeelong Schildrenreportcard

StateofGeelong’sChildrenReportCard

Thefollowinginformationprovidesasnapshotofavailablelocaldatawhichreflecttheprogressand

developmentofchildrenwithinGreaterGeelongasmeasuredagainstanumberofspecificindicators.WhilethereportshowsthatchildrenthroughoutGreaterGeelongingeneralaredoingwellinmanyways,therearehoweversignificantvariationsamongsttheresultsforchildreninsmallerlocalareasthat indicatepooroutcomes.

Whereavailableandapplicable,dataforbothGreaterGeelongandVictorianState averagesareprovidedforeachindicator,thedataforGreaterGeelongisindicatedinashadedcirclecomparedalongside the averageVictorian rate–it is colouredgreen forwherewe are‘doing well’;red for‘areasthatneedimprovement’;andyellow‘wheretherehasbeenlargelynochangeoriscomparabletotheVictorian Stateaverage’ –i.e.resultsare neitherstatisticallypositive ornegative.

Childrenin GreaterGeelong

In2015,approximately18percentofGreaterGeelong’stotalpopulationarechildrenagedbetweenbirthand14 years.The numberof childrenacrossGreaterGeelongisforecasttocontinue togrowtoatotal populationof55,221,bytheyear2036,asshowninthetablebelow.

KeygrowthareasacrossthemunicipalityincludeArmstrongCreek,Lara,CliftonSprings(JettyRoad),OceanGrove,andnewdevelopmentsinLovelyBanksandFyansford.

Table1:ProjectedgrowthofchildreninGreaterGeelong2015-2036.

+4,33038.2

Source:Population and householdforecasts, 2011 to 2036, prepared by.id thepopulation experts,(May 2015)

+4,53240.0

TherateofnewbirthnotificationsacrossGreaterGeelonghaveincreasedbyabout16percentoverthepast10yearstoarecordpeakof2,947newbirthsrecordedin2013.

Figure1:NewBirthNotificationsGreaterGeelong2005-2015

Source:NewBirthNotifications,Maternal Child Health,City of GreaterGeelong(Sept2015)

CityofGreaterGeelong:Municipal EarlyYearsPlan –StateofGeelong’sChildrenReportCard(Oct 2015)1

Children’s health and wellbeing

Theearlyyearsofachild’sdevelopmentarecrucialinlayingthefoundationsforchildren’sfuturehealth,well-beingandlearning.Evidenceclearlyindicatesthatagood,safe,healthystartinlifeincreasessuccessatschoolandimprovesfuturesocialandeconomiclifechances. Researchhasprovidedclearsupportforthenutritionalandhealth benefitsofbreastfeeding.Overalltherehasbeena14percentimprovementinbreastfeedingratesat6monthoverthepast12years.

Fullbreastfeedingratesatsixmonths

VICTORIA

33.9%

GREATERGEELONG

42.4%

Source: Maternal Child Health Annual Report,DepartmentEducation Training(2013-14)

GenerallyparticipationrateswithinGreaterGeelongatMaternalandChildHealthacrossthevariousdesignatedKeyAgeandStagesconsultationscomparesfavourablywiththeregionandVictorianStateaverages,apartfromparticipationratesfortheATSIpopulation,andforthe3.5yearcheckamongstthegeneralpopulationasindicatedinthediagrambelow.

Figure2:TotalParticipationRatesforKeyAgeandStagesConsultations2013-2014

ThefollowingshowstheSEHQresultsreportedbyparentswhenaskedwhethertheirchildhad

experiencedanyofthefollowingstressors:alcoholordrugrelatedprobleminfamily(4.9%);historyofabusetoparent(3.9%);historyofabusetochildren(1.4%);parentwitnesstoviolence(3.8%);childwitnesstoviolence(3.4%);gamblingprobleminfamily(1.1%);historyofmentalillnessofparent(10.2%).

Childrenaredevelopingwell by age six

Childrenwelldevelopedbythefirstyearofschool

VICTORIA

90.5%

GREATERGEELONG

90.7%

Source: Australian Early DevelopmentCensus 2012: Greater GeelongCommunity Profile

Datafromthe2012AustralianEarlyDevelopmentCensusindicates9.3percentofchildren(246)intheirfirstyearofschoolin GreaterGeelongweredevelopmentallyvulnerableintwo ormoreofthefollowingdomains:physicalhealthandwellbeing;socialcompetence;emotionalmaturity;languageandcognitiveskills(school-based);communicationskillsandgeneralknowledge.

3AustralianEarlyDevelopmentCensus

Nationally,childrenwhoaredevelopmentallyvulnerablearemorelikelytoliveinsocio-economically

disadvantagedcommunitiesorpopulationsthatdonotspeakEnglishproficiently.Indigenouschildrenaremorelikelytobedevelopmentallyvulnerableintermsoflanguageandcognitiveskills.

PhysicalHealthandWellbeing / VICTORIAG
92.2%G
9
8.6% (184) of children intheirfirst year of school:

were not physicallyready for theschool day (i.e.not dressed appropriatelyor were hungry ortired)

were notphysicallyindependent(i.e.withindependenttoilet habits)
lacked hand preference/coordination
lacked gross and finemotor skills.

SocialCompetenceandWellbeing / VICTORIAG
G
91.9%9
7.3% (159) of children intheirfirst year ofschool:

lacked overall socialcompetence (i.e.abilitytoplay with various children)
did not consistently display responsibility andrespectfor others/property

experienced difficulty inlearningactivities(i.e.workingindependently and neatly)
experienced difficulty complyingwithclassroomroutines
were relatively disinterested in exploringnewbooks,toys or unfamiliarobjectsor games.

EmotionalMaturity / VICTORIAG
G
92.8%9
7.8% (172) of children intheirfirst year ofschool:

never or almostnever showed pro-socialandhelpingbehaviour
were often anxious and fearful(i.e.worried,unhappy,nervous,sad,indecisive orexcessivelyshy)

often exhibited aggressive behaviours (i.e.physicalfights with other childrenortempertantrums
were often hyperactive,restless andinattentive.

LanguageandCognitiveSkills / VICTORIAG
93.9%9
5.5% (115) of children intheirfirst year of school:

lacked basic literacy skills (i.e.had problemsidentifyingletters or attachingsounds to themand may not have known howto writetheirown name)
showed little interest in literacy,numeracy and

(i.e.books andreading,maths and numbergames,and may have had difficultyrememberingthings)
did not display advancedliteracy (i.e.cannotread or write simple words or sentences,andrarely write voluntarily)

CityofGreaterGeelong:Municipal EarlyYearsPlan –StateofGeelong’sChildrenReportCard(Oct 2015)4

memory /

expressed marked difficulty with numbers (i.e.counting,number recognition,shaperecognition andtime).

CommunicationSkillsandGeneralKnowledge / VICTORIA
92.0%
7.4% (153) of children intheirfirst year of school:

had difficultyparticipatingin games involvingtheuseoflanguage

were difficult to understand and haddifficultyunderstandingothers.

Source: Australian Early DevelopmentCensus 2012: Greater GeelongCommunity Profile

GreaterGeelongwasoneofthefirstlocalgovernmentareasinAustraliatopilottheAustralianEarlyDevelopmentIndex(asitwasformerlyknownas)in2005.Apilotstudywasconductedearlierthisyeartocomparedataacrossthethreecollectionperiodsconductedtodatebetween2005and2012.Resultsfromthesethreeperiodshavebeenunabletobedirectlycomparedpreviouslybecauseofdifferencesincatchmentarea,datacollection,andconfiguration.

DatafromthepilotstudyindicatesthatsignificantpositivechangehasoccurredintherateofdevelopmentalvulnerabilitywithintheCityofGreaterGeelongwhenmeasuredagainsteachdomainexceptlanguageandcognitiveskills,wherenochangehasbeenindicated.

Table2:SummaryAEDCCommunityresultswithcriticaldifferences –CityofGreaterGeelong2005-2012

Developmentalvulnerability / 2005-
2012
Change / CriticalDifference / Changeinvulnerability
2005 / 2012
AEDCDomain
Physicalhealthandwellbeing / 11.8% / 9.1% / -2.7 / 1.4 / Significantdecrease
Socialcompetence / 9.4% / 7.9% / -1.6 / 0.9 / Significantdecrease
Emotionalmaturity / 9.8% / 8.6% / -1.2 / 1.0 / Significantdecrease
Languageandcognitiveskills / 5.1% / 5.7% / 0.6 / 1.0 / Nochange
Communication/general / 9.3% / 7.5% / -1.7 / 1.2 / Significantdecrease
Vulnerableon1ormore / 23.6% / 19.8% / -3.9 / 1.5 / Significantdecrease
Vulnerableon2ormore / 11.7% / 9.9% / -1.8 / 1.1 / Significantdecrease

Source: AEDCCommunity Profile 2005 to 2012 Greater Geelong,TelethonKids Institute

TheMultipleStrengthIndexisanewwaytopresentinformationcollectedthroughtheAustralianEarlyDevelopmentCensus.TheMultipleStrengthIndexcombinestogethertheinformationfrom39itemsthathavebeenidentifiedbychilddevelopmentexpertsasindicativeofstrengthswhenstartingschool.Forexample, a childwhohasparticularly highpro-socialskills,hasself-regulation orcanread simplesentencesisshowingstrengthsthatgobeyondwhatmightbeexpectedatschoolentry.TheseandotherstrengthbaseditemsarecombinedtogethertocreatetheMultipleStrengthIndex.

Childrenreceive ascore onthe MultipleStrengthIndexbetween0and100,where ascore of 100 indicatesthattheyhavestrengthsinall39oftheitems.Data withinthefollowingfigureindicatesthattheproportionofchildrenidentifiedwithHighStrengthshasimprovedovertime,whiletheproportionofchildrenwithLowStrengthshascontrastinglydecreased.

Figure 3: Percentagesof childrenwith‘low’,‘medium’ and'high’ strengths, 2005-2012,City ofGreaterGeelong

Source:AEDCCommunity Profile 2005 to 2012 Greater Geelong,TelethonKids Institute

Childrenparticipatinginearlychildhood

4education

Kindergartenhasbeenshowntodevelopchildren’ssocial,emotional,intellectual,physical,andlanguage

abilities,encouragefamilyinvolvement in learning and helpprepareforthetransitiontoschool (McCainetal. 2007). Inthe long term ithasbeenlinkedtoimprovedliteracyandnumeracy,higher self-esteem,betteremploymentprospectsandimprovedhealthoutcomes.

Childrenenrolledinkindergarten(2014)

VICTORIA

96.4%

GREATERGEELONG

97.5%

Source: DepartmentEducation and Training,

TherateofkindergartenenrolmentacrosstheCityofGreaterGeelonghasbeensteadilyimprovingfromarateof94.6%in2008.It isimportanttonotetheDepartmentofEducationandTraininghaverecently madechangestothewaykindergartenparticipationdataiscollectedandrecordedsocautionshouldbeusedwhencomparing2014resultstopreviousyears.Dataisnotcollectedforactualkindergartenattendance.

Therateofchildrenaccessing4yokindergartenenrolmentsinlongdaycareorintegratedchildren'sservicessettingsinGreaterGeelonghasalmostdoubledfrom8.5%in2008to15.5%in2012,howeverremainslowerthantheVictorianStateaverageat23.2%of4yokindergartenenrolmentsbeingprovidedwithinlongdaycareorintegratedchildren'sservicessettings.

Earlychildhoodservicesratedas‘Exceeding’theNQS

VICTORIA

33.0%

GREATERGEELONG

33.6%

Source: Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority,August 2015

Childrenachievingatschool

TheNationalAssessmentProgram–LiteracyandNumeracy(NAPLAN)isanannualnationwideassessmentforstudentsinYears3,5,7and9.Ithasbeenaneverydaypartoftheschoolcalendarsince2008.NAPLANteststhesortsofskillsthatareessentialforeverychildtoprogressthroughschoolandlife,suchasreading,writing,spellingandnumeracy.

StudentsmeetingnationalstandardsinliteracyYear3(2014)

VICTORIA

94.6%

GREATERGEELONG

93.6%

Source:DepartmentEducation Training,

StudentsmeetingnationalstandardsinnumeracyYear3(2014)

VICTORIA

95.5%

GREATERGEELONG

95.6%

Source:DepartmentEducation Training,

Studentswhoreportbeingconnectedtotheirschool(2014)

VICTORIA

85.7%

GREATERGEELONG

84.3%

Source:DepartmentEducation Training,Attitudes to School (AtoS)Years56,

Averagenumberofabsentdaysgovernmentprimaryschoolstudents(2014)

VICTORIA

14.2%

GREATERGEELONG

13.6%

Source:DepartmentEducation Training,

Childrenneedingto be safe

Approximately30.2%percentoroneineverythreeyoungchildagedbetweenbirthto4yearsand27.8%ofchildrenagedbetween5-9yearsacrossGreaterGeelongresidewithinthe17communitiesthatareratedthe lowestagainst theSEIFAindexcomparedwith theaveragescoreforGreaterGeelong.AccordingtothereportDropping offthe Edge2015(DoTE), thoselivinginthe3%mostdisadvantaged postcodesinthestateare:

3timesmorelikelytobeexperiencinglongtermunemploymentorhavebeenexposedtochildmaltreatment.
2.6timesmorelikelytohaveexperienceddomesticviolence
2.4timesmorelikelytobeondisabilitysupport,and
twiceaslikelytohavecriminalconvictionsastherestofthepopulation.

TheDoTEreportliststhesuburbofCorioamongstVictoria’s40highestrankingpostcodeareasonthedisadvantagefactorranking.Coriohasthelargestpopulationofchildrenaged0-4yearsofanysinglesuburbinGreaterGeelong(basedonthe2011ABSCensusofPopulationandHousing)withanestimated1,116childrenor8.5%ofthetotalpopulationofchildrenaged0-4yearswithinGreaterGeelong.

Familyviolencehasasignificantnegativeimpactonyoungchildren. In2010-11therewere688reportedfamilyviolenceincidentswherechildrenandyoungpeoplewereinvolvedasotherparties.WhiletheoverallrateofreportedfamilyviolenceincidentswithintheCityofGreaterGeelonghasincreased,incidentsofreportedfamilyviolencewherechildrenandyoungpeopleareinvolvedhasdeclinedslightlyfrom39%in2007-2008to36.5%in2011-12.

AccordingtothelatestVictorianPolicedatatherewereatotalof2,769reportedfamilyincidentsacrossGreaterGeelongrecordedin2013-14,with882or31.8%wherechildrenwerepresent.

Victorian Police LEAPData (2014)

Familyviolenceincidentswherechildrenandyoungpeopleareinvolved (2011-12)

VICTORIA

36.3%

GREATERGEELONG

36.5%

Source:Victoria Police,

Rateofsubstantiatedchildabusenotificationsper1,000populationofchildrenaged0-17years(2010-11)

VICTORIA

6.7%

GREATERGEELONG

5.3%

Source:DepartmentHealth and Human Services,

Note:Itisacknowledged thattheindicatorsreferredto abovearesensitiveto changesand processes inreportingpractice.An increasein incidentsmayreflect abetter detection ofcasesrather thanan actualincreaseinactivity,thereforecautionisrequiredwhenusingorinterpretingthisdata.

AccordingtotheVictorianAboriginalChildCareAgency(VACCA)submissioninresponsetotheVictorianParliamentaryInquiryintotheChildren,YouthandFamiliesAmendment(RestrictionsontheMakingofProtectionOrders)Bill2015;in2012-13,inVictoria,comparedtonon-Aboriginalchildren,Aboriginalchildrenwere:

Almost10(9.4)timesmorelikelytohaveaChildProtectionreportsubstantiated(68.6comparedwith7.3per1,000children).
Over15(15.6)timesmorelikelytobeoncareandprotectionorders(82.0comparedwith5.3per1,000children).

Over15(15.7)timesmorelikelytobeinoutofhomecare(69.5comparedwith4.4per1,000)(AIHW,2014).

Childreninfamilies

TheaveragenumberofchildrenperfamilyinGreaterGeelongwas1.9childrensimilartotheVictorianStateaverage.Couplefamilieswithchildrencomprisethelargestfamilytypewith42%ofthetotalfamilycompositioncomparedwiththeVictorianStateaverageof46%.

Oneparentfamilieswithdependentchildren(2011)

VICTORIA

15.5%

GREATERGEELONG

17.3%

Source:ABSCensus of Population and Housing(2011)

InGreaterGeelong16.7%ofsingleparentsweremaleand83.3%werefemale.

In2011,therewere15,203familiesin GreaterGeelongwheretherewerenoparentinthepaidworkforce–ofthisnumber4,241wereoneparentfamilies,and10,962werecouplefamilies.OverallGreaterGeelonghadalowerproportionofoneparentfamilies(44.2%)notinpaidemploymentcomparedwiththeVictorianStateaverage(45.3%),andahigherproportionofcouplefamilies(24.1%)notinpaidemploymentcomparedwiththeVictorianStateaverage(20.8%).

Familieswithdependentchildrenwithnoparentinpaidemployment(2011)

VICTORIA

24.6%

GREATERGEELONG

27.6%

Source:ABSCensus of Population and Housing(2011)

Amongstyoungchildrenaged0-4years1.2%(152)ofthetotalagegrouppopulationareindicatedashavingacoreactivityneedforassistancecomparedwiththeVictorianStateaveragefortheagegroupof1.0%.Therateandpopulationrequiringcoreactivityneedforassistanceincreasedamongstthe5-14yearagegroup(899)asindicatedbelow.Coreactivityneedforassistancemeasuresthenumberofpeoplewithaprofoundorseveredisabilityorlongtermhealthconditionneedinghelporassistanceinoneormoreofthethreecoreactivityareasofself-care,mobilityandcommunication.

Coreactivityneedforassistanceamongstchildrenaged5-14years(2011)

VICTORIA

2.6%

GREATERGEELONG

3.5%

Source:ABSCensus of Population and Housing(2011)

Figure4:Projecteddisabilitypopulationamongstyoungchildrenaged0-14yearsinGreater Geelong2011-2030

EarlychildhoodservicesinGeelong

Figure5:EarlyChildhoodEducationandCareServices,Cityof GreaterGeelong,Oct2015

MaternalChildHealthCentres

SessionalKindergartens

21Centres9974children

49Centres2293licensedplaces

Numberofindividualchildrenprovidedwithaservicein2014-15

Notincludingkindergarten inlongdaycarecentres

IntegratedChildFamilyCentres

OccasionalChildCareCentres

5Centres

10Centres

*includedabove

281licensedplaces

Licensecapacityincludedunderothercategories

FamilyDayCare54Educators202licensedplaces

EstimatednumberofFDCprovidersandplaces

Playgroups

126groups

201weeklysessions

PrimarySchools

HealthFamilySupportOrganisations

71Centres

16,332enrolments

+120services

2011ABSCensusPopulationandHousing

Estimatedandadditionaltoserviceslistedabove.

SummaryofKeyIndicators:

Doingwell / Neutral / Requiringimprovement
10 / 8 / 14

DISCLAIMER:

Althoughallinformationcontainedinthispublicationhasbeenresearchedandpresentedwithduecareandattention,theCityofGreaterGeelongacceptsnoresponsibilityorliability whatsoeverforanyerrorsoromissionsthatmayhaveaccidentlyorinadvertentlyoccurredwithinthispublication.

Someinformationmayhavealsochangedsinceoriginalpublicationandthereforeneedstobecarefullyconsideredandverifiedbeforeitsuseand/orrepublication.