Moira Deslandes is a member of our Advisory Board. In her posts, Moira will be addressing complex social issues and valuable insights for the social sector.
This week in South Australia, laws governing South Australia’s new child protection system will be introduced into parliament. The overhaul of the child protection system continues and the new legislation is one part of the Government strategy Minister for Child Protection Reform Hon. John Rau will introduce the Government’s Children and Young People (Safety) Bill 2017. The big change in the bill is that children and young people’s safety will have the highest priority. A new office for Child Protection, new leadership and the impending announcement of the appointment of South Australia’s first Commissioner for Children and Young People are other parts of the strategy to keeping our children safe. Many have been asking around the country, just how many Royal Commissions does it take to keep our children safe?
While legislation and leadership are essential within government, the responsibility does not lie with Governments alone. It is imperative all of us take responsibility for the children in our care and community. Long ago we stopped accepting that it was OK for violence in the home was a private matter, and the cultural shift required to ensure all children are safe, requires the same kind of public ‘health’ and safety campaigning.
We need whole cities to declare zero tolerance on child abuse and be able to declare they are child safe zones – not just child friendly zones. Having children front and centre of our decision-making will require new ways of working.
We know that at least one in five Australian children start school, developmentally not ready (Australian Early Childhood Development Census) – so while not all of these children are abused in their homes, these children are also missing out and are the consequence of systems failure. Early intervention strategies begin with maternal health and continue throughout the early years. Not reaching developmental milestones by the time a child is ready to start school becomes an expensive and often unhappy consequences for the child throughout their life.
Nobel Prize winning University of Chicago Economics Professor James Heckman’s work to understand the great gains to be had by investing in the early and equal development of human potential is unequivocal. Heckman’s research “shows that high-quality birth-to-five programs for disadvantaged children can deliver a 13% per year return on investment—a rate substantially higher than the 7-10% return previously established for preschool programs serving 3- to 4-year-olds. “
It is simply a no brainer to invest in the early years to realise through better outcomes in education, health, social behaviours, and employment. Legislation alone will not bring the returns for children to reach their potential, grow our economy and foster a culture of children at the centre of our decision-making.
Moira Deslandes
4 thoughts on “Beyond legislation”
Fraser Mustard had a similar message when he was a thinker in residence in Adelaide – did his work make any difference?
Yes Heather I think the Thinker-in-Residency program Fraser Mustard participated in did make a difference. It really helped get investment in the early years into everyday conversations. But there is more to be done and being able to have good data and analysis (like the work Nova Smart Solutions) does is a part of that, in addition, political will and leadership is necessary in both investing and knowing what works. It is one of the reasons I am a fan of collective impact and in South Australian initiatives that are concentrating on the early years such as some of the initiatives Together SA is championing are step in the right direction.
Thanks for sharing, Moira. The return on investment for the first 5 years is compelling, though I wonder who in SA – outside of government – is putting $ in. And is there private sector investment (alongside philanthropic and public)?
Appreciate your feedback Matthew. In SA, investment outside of government is coming from places like ten20 foundation funding early years collective impact initiatives, including funding into Together in the South an initiative of Together SA. Other bodies such as Goodstart Early Years, Telethon Kids (via research institutes like Fraser Mustard Research Centre) and making contributions as well. Private investment is slow but on its way – the rise of impact investing (eg through Morgan Stanley, Macquarie and other investment banks) and superannuation funds (eg HESTA are contributors to the SA Social Impact Bond for homeslessness) are beginning. It is however at the early adopter stage and I am looking forward to seeing more as time goes on! If you know of any send them my way and I can match them up to some high potential initiatives through Opportunity Child!