Chevron Australia Partnership (AEDI Implementation)

This project specifically provided for the implementation of the Australian Early
Development Index (AEDI) in Exmouth and the communication of the results of the AEDI to the communities of Exmouth, Karratha and Onslow, the latter two having implemented the AEDI under the terms of a different agreement.

 

The work of this project was sponsored by Chevron Australia. As such, it represents a new relationship for the Institute through Kulunga and provides an opportunity for a long term partnership.

 

Kulunga was already implementing the AEDI across the Pilbara region in partnershipwith a number of sponsors. However, Exmouth had not been included in the sites to be assessed.

 

To enable Chevron Australia to have a complete picture of the three sites of interest, namely Exmouth, Onslow and Karratha, Kulunga was engaged to extend the area of coverage. Of the three sites of interest, Karratha is by far the largest. Encouragingly, the results for the Karratha area were found to be within national averages across all domains.

 

While a small proportion of young children were found to be vulnerable, the vast majority of children were considered to be ready for the transition to school.

 

There were greater levels of vulnerability in Exmouth and Onslow, although children in both these areas were strong in the emotional maturity domain. Importantly, given the size of these communities, the total number of children who are developmentally vulnerable is still quite small, suggesting that solutions are achievable.

Work beyond the current partnership must take account of the differences and needs of the respective communities, and focus on encouraging the parents and communities to continue to be active in findings ways to improve outcomes for young children.