Building inclusion

Recognising early childhood services that have identified & implemented strategies to significantly improve inclusion for children and families that may otherwise face barriers to accessing early childhood education and care.

Who is eligible?

This could be across population groups or specifically targeting one group but must have resulted in demonstrable improvements in either access to services, outcomes for children or the community. Groups include (but are not limited to) children from low income families, children from disadvantaged backgrounds, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, migrant and refugee children, children with a disability or learning difficulty.

Nominees must be an Australian early childhood education and care service approved to operate by their state or territory regulatory body. Nominees may self-nominate, however all nominations must be supported by a supervisor/manager/CEO/owner/employer.

Nominations must include all of the following:

A description of the service
An explanation of what drove the need for improving inclusion at the service and how this came to the attention of staff
A description of how the service went about identifying strategies to improve inclusion and how they have been implemented
An explanation of the positive impact/benefit that increased inclusion is having for all children attending the service and the broader community, and how this is being measured
A description of how the prize money will enhance or assist in the professional development of the staff, or how it will further develop services in the workplace.