The Courier-Mail, 16 June 2025

Is Australia the best place in the world to raise a child? Can we honestly say that life is better for our children today compared to 10 years ago, 20 years or a generation?

While most of us would like to say yes, the picture is far more complex. In many ways, the outcomes for kids today are not progressing or indeed going backwards.

New data from the Australian Early Development Census, which measures children’s development as they enter their first year of full-time school, shows that the percentage of children who are developmentally vulnerable has increased in every category.

The report card shows more children are going backwards in their physical health and wellbeing, language and cognitive skills, communication, emotional maturity and social skills. The consequences for our society and our economy are worrying.

The findings come at a critical moment, with government representatives, early childhood experts, sector and community leaders coming together for the National Early Years Policy Summit in Brisbane this week.

The evidence is clear – investing in strong supports for the early childhood years pays gold-standard dividends over that child’s life. When children thrive in their early years, they have a strong foundation for lifelong learning, health, development and wellbeing – making it more likely that they will grow up to make positive contributions to their community and the economy.

But we also know that we are not doing the best for our children to make this happen. Nowhere is this clearer than in the current approach to youth crime, adopted by governments around the country but perhaps most starkly here in Queensland.

Despite a common misconception that we are in the grip of an unprecedented crime wave, the figures show that crime among young people, like all crime, has been declining. Some shocking incidents have cemented that misconception. The resulting ‘tough on crime’ approach has seen more children imprisoned in Queensland than any other state or territory.

But the evidence says this won’t work in reducing youth offending.  It is akin to parking an ambulance at the bottom of the cliff. We do know what will work instead to stem the tide of children flowing into the criminal justice system: starting earlier with high quality supports in early childhood.

At every step of the way, there are opportunities. From conception to birth, through the critical early years into early schooling and adolescence, there are multiple opportunities for positive interventions.

Right here in Queensland, work led by Griffith University’s Ross Homel has demonstrated the long-term success of early prevention initiatives and community support for young children and families on reducing rates of involvement in serious youth crime.   

The Pathways to Prevention study found that children who received a quality preschool program were more ready for school, had improved classroom behaviour throughout primary school, and were 50 per cent less likely to be involved in serious youth crime by age 17.  

This kind of investment in the early years is not only the right thing to do for our kids and our community – it makes sense economically. Australia now spends more than $1 billion per year imprisoning children at a cost of $3,320 per child per day – or $1.12 million per child per year.

This escalating expenditure is not only a drain on taxpayer funds but also counterproductive, making reoffending more likely and causing significant harm to children without genuinely improving community safety. Data shows that youth detention fails to deter crime, with 84.5% of children released from detention returning to sentenced supervision within 12 months.

To our national shame, First Nations children are hugely overrepresented in the pathways in to juvenile justice, but we know that early intervention and diversionary programs have a tremendous impact for children experiencing disadvantage or developmental problems, particularly those run by First Nations services.

For too long, Australian governments have underestimated the profound impact of investing in the early years, often viewing it as a welfare expenditure rather than a crucial economic and social investment.

The time has come for a fundamental shift in this perception and a new approach, based on evidence, to ensure Australian children have the best start to life.

Professor Fiona Stanley AC is a Professor of Public Health and Epidemiology and former Australian of the Year who will speak at the National Early Years Policy Summit at QPAC this week.