Annual Report

2024-25 Annual Report

This annual report will be presented to Parliament to meet the statutory reporting requirements and the requirements of Premier and Cabinet Circular PC013 Annual Reporting.

This report is verified to be accurate for the purposes of annual reporting to the Parliament of South Australia.

Download a PDF version of the 2024-25 Annual Report.

From the Chief Executive

It has been a big year for the Office of Early Childhood Development.

Next year, more than 200 long day care services and 45 government preschools will start offering a universal 3-year-old preschool program. That means over 6000 children across the state – around a third of all children this age - will receive two years of play-based, teacher-led early learning, supported by connections to allied health and other professionals. By 2032, this will be available to all children.

We are also already seeing more Child Health and Development Checks being delivered through our partnership with the Child and Family Health Service and other providers. A Preschool Boost menu is available for partner preschools to select programs and services from to do more to support child development. Two demonstration hubs are opening before the end of 2025. The Aboriginal Co-design Governance Group is driving shared decision-making. A wide range of other, targeted programs have progressed well, for execution next financial year.

For this to come together has taken deep investments in the workforce and quality, a strategic approach to infrastructure, funding modelling and design, careful program development, building strong communication and close relationships at the statewide and local level, and rigorous assessment and agreements.

Of course, none of this is possible without partnerships with the profession, providers and services, peak bodies, Aboriginal leadership and Community, academic experts, and other agencies and levels of government.

It is also underpinned by critical work on corporate processes, information systems, legislation, project and program management, and research and evaluation.

This work comes together with a true team effort. All teams in OECD work on cross-division projects, strengthening the collective impact of the Office.

It’s not and won’t be perfect. We have a lot to learn from each other, inside and outside the organisation. And we have a long way to go. But it’s really started. And it has generated a momentum, a drive to progress and impact, that will continue and build.

Through all of this, the goal remains the same - all South Australia’s young children deserve a flying start to life. All children, wherever they are born, into whatever family or community, with their own talents and abilities inside them, deserve to thrive. We are proud to be part of that.

Kim Little

Chief Executive

Office for Early Childhood Development