The Centre for Community Child Health, on behalf of the Australian Government Department of Education, is inviting you to take part in a survey for people working with, or advocating for, children with special needs. 

The survey seeks to understand how data from the Australian Early Development Census (AEDC) could be used to report on the developmental outcomes of children with special needs.  

The AEDC is a nationwide collection of early childhood data. It involves teachers of children in their first year of full-time school completing a questionnaire which measures five areas of early childhood development. These areas have been shown to be strong predictors of later mental health, wellbeing and educational achievement. The AEDC is one of the most comprehensive collections of early childhood data in the world. 

While data on children with special needs is collected as part of the AEDC, historically it has not been included in reporting products.  

The survey has two components – AEDC background information (attached) and 12 questions. It will take approximately 15 minutes to complete.