A life-changing package for NSW children and families has been announced today with a $376.5 million investment over four years in child development and family support as part of the 2022-23 NSW Budget.
Premier of NSW Dominic Perrottet said the Brighter Beginnings package will provide all children with a full suite of developmental checks before they start school and make the baby blue book digital.
\u201cThe first 2,000 days of a child\u2019s life are critical to their development and success and we want to ensure they get the best start possible,\u201d Mr Perrottet said.\u202f
\u201cNSW is now leading the nation in providing the best developmental support giving families right across the state the brightest of futures.\u201d
Treasurer Matt Kean said that 90 per cent of a child\u2019s brain development happens before the age of five, which is why these reforms are so important for NSW\u2019s future prosperity.
\u201cThis is a long-term investment which will reap benefits for children, families and the economy today, and for many generations to come,\u201d Mr Kean said
As the Minister leading the initiative, Minister for Education and Early Learning Sarah Mitchell said it\u2019s clear that getting it right early in a child\u2019s life has lifelong benefits for their future.
\u201cAlmost half of all 4-year-old children do not get their recommended health and development checks, so making these available in every NSW early childhood service will open the door to brighter futures for thousands of children,\u201d Ms Mitchell said.\u202f
\u201cThe Brighter Beginnings initiative will also make a huge difference to outcomes at school, from behaviour to academic results.\u201d
\u201cKnowing where children are developmentally and physically before they start school is so important, allowing any necessary support to be identified.\u201d
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Minister for Health Brad Hazzard said expanding the home-based antenatal service would make it easier for parents to access important health care information.
\u201cWe are bringing the Sustaining NSW Families program to more Local Health District across the state, so many more vulnerable families can be supported by free home visits by a specially trained clinical nurse,\u201d Mr Hazzard said. \u202f
Minister for Customer Service and Digital Government Victor Dominello said making the Blue Book digital will make it easier for families to access and keep track of their child\u2019s health and development information.
\u201cThis initiative is modernising how we support families at a critical time in their child\u2019s life,\u201d Mr Dominello said.
Minister for Families and Communities Natasha Maclaren-Jones said that more Aboriginal Child and Family Centres will help connect families with a mix of culturally safe services and supports for their child\u2019s development.\u202f\u202f
\u201cExpansion of the\u202fPregnancy Family Conferencing program will mean more vulnerable families will be able to access early engagement and interagency care planning, so they can remain together,\u201d Ms Maclaren-Jones said. \u202f
The Brighter Beginnings initiative is a partnership, led by Minister Mitchell, between the Department of Education, NSW Health, the Department of Communities and Justice, the Department of Customer Service, the Department of Regional NSW, Multicultural NSW, Aboriginal Affairs, and the Department of Premier and Cabinet to drive transformational change in early childhood development.
Alongside the NSW Government\u2019s Affordable Preschool Program, the Brighter Beginnings package includes: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A life-changing package for NSW children and families has been announced today with a $376.5 million investment over four years in child development and family support as part of the 2022-23 NSW Budget. Premier of NSW Dominic Perrottet said the Brighter Beginnings package will provide all children with a full suite of developmental checks before they … Continue reading “A brighter beginning for all NSW children”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17013","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nswnews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17013","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17013"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17013\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17014,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17013\/revisions\/17014"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17013"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17013"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17013"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}