Media Release by The Hon Larry Anthony MP

Early childhood research alliance announced

$600,000 Coalition Government funding to kickstart the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth was announced today by Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Larry Anthony.

“Headed by Professor Fiona Stanley from the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, the Alliance will bring together experts from a number of different fields to work on a clear early childhood research strategy.

“The Alliance will work to give policy makers the tools to measure the success of funding directed to children’s programs. We need this information to ensure that we are getting value for money from our funding, and more importantly, that programs hit the target to improve the situation for Australian children and parents.

“By combining the skills, knowledge and expertise on early childhood, health, education, criminology, sociology and psychology, the Alliance will:

  • Get agreement amongst researchers, policy makers and practitioners about research priorities and current gaps in knowledge;
  • Ensure that researchers from different disciplines work together to identify emerging issues calling for cross-discipline research; and
  • Promote the use of early childhood research findings in policies and programs that affect children and young people.

“The Alliance will establish a national database and information clearing house on early child research from across a range of disciplines.

“Parents, educators and policy makers all want and need better information on Australian children so that we can make better decisions. The policies and choices made now will have lasting effects on the adults of tomorrow.

“Nothing is more important than the future of our children. This is why we need to develop a greater understanding of how we can do a better job for the next generation of Australians,” Mr Anthony said.

Commonwealth funding for the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth was provided by the Department of Family and Community Services, the Department of Education, Science and Training, the Attorney-General’s Department and the Department of Health and Ageing.

Media Note: For comment from Professor Fiona Stanley please call Liz Chester ph 0409 988 530