About

A steward for change

The Office for Early Childhood Development was formed with a clear mandate: to create a fairer and better future for all children in South Australia. We’ll do this by responding to the full suite of recommendations of the Royal Commission into Early Childhood Education and Care.

The Royal Commission provided a clear idea about the best way to deliver quality preschool programs 3- and 4-year-olds, and how families can be supported in the first 1000 days of their child’s life. It also made recommendations on how to improve access to out of school hours care, and the flow-on benefits of this for increasing workforce participation by parents.

The Government of South Australia has committed to action on all recommendations, whether it be direct state investment and reform, identifying an alternative approach or advocating to the federal government for change.

Read the full response to the Royal Commission.

The OECD is South Australia’s early childhood development system steward.

The Office partners with governments and departments, Aboriginal leaders, sector stakeholders, unions, the professions, parents and the community to create a better and fairer future for children across South Australia. This will include working collaboratively to mobilise long day care, early learning centres, and government services in every community to deliver a new offer of universal 3-year-old preschool. It will help put cutting-edge insights about supporting healthy child development into practice.

The Office is working systemically and locally to create the quality preschool supply we need and to support service integration and connection for families.

Leading the reforms

Kim Little, chief executive of the Office for Early Childhood Development smiling in front of a leafy green wallKim Little is the inaugural Chief Executive of the Office for Early Childhood Development in South Australia. Working with her team and across governments and departments, Aboriginal leaders, sector stakeholders, unions, the professions, parents and the community, she is tasked with leading the design and implementation of the landmark reforms flowing from the Royal Commission into Early Childhood Education and Care.

She brings her expertise in education and social policy issues to the table as South Australia embarks on bold reforms to increase the number of children starting school developmentally on track.

Kim moved to the OECD from her position as the lead Deputy Secretary for the implementation of the Victorian Government’s ambitious Education State kindergarten reforms. This included the introduction of universal 3-year-old kindergarten in sessional and long day care settings, equity funding to support educationally disadvantaged kindergarten children to thrive, and successful programs to lift the quality of kindergarten-offering services.

Kim worked in the Victorian Government in various leadership roles in early childhood and higher education and skills, focusing on policy matters, market design and intervention. She has also worked as a philosopher at Monash University and as a corporate lawyer.

Kim grew up in rural and remote Queensland and Papua New Guinea and is married to a South Australian.

Timeline for change

August 2023

Commissioner the Hon Julia Gillard AC handed down the final report outlining the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Early Childhood Education and Care.

October 2023

The Government of South Australia formed the Office for Early Childhood Development as a system steward to oversee the implementation of the recommendations.

February 2024

The government provided its full response to the Royal Commission, committing to action on the full suite of recommendations.

February 2024

Government preschools increased their offer of preschool for 3-year-old Aboriginal children in Department for Education settings from 12 to 15 hours a week.

March 2024

The Office for Early Childhood Development hosts a series of workshops with sector stakeholders to co-design the reform workforce strategy.

June 2024

Announcement of Budget funding for the reform agenda, 3-year-old preschool roll-out schedule and first two integrated hub locations. June 2024

Release of the early childhood workforce strategy to support the reforms.

2026

The staged roll out of 3-year-old preschool, to run until 2032, begins. Two integrated service hub demonstration sites will be up and running by 2026.

2032

All 3-year-old children in South Australia will be able to access a 3-year-old preschool program by 2032, with every child continuing to have a guaranteed government preschool place in the year before school.