'Systemic' increase of children with complex needs in Canberra

National early learning data shows a growing number of Canberra children are at risk of poor development outcomes, with children increasingly starting school with complex and often unmet needs.

An analysis of the data notes mounting pressures on families and thinning carer-child relationships.

Experts say the data "challenges the narrative of an affluent territory".

Children living in the nation's capital are increasingly facing poorer developmental outcomes, with experts pointing to mounting pressures on families.

The latest data from the Australian Early Development Census (AEDC) found the proportion of ACT children developmentally on track across five areas was the second-lowest in the country.

According to the figures, one child in four begins school with at least one area of "significant" concern — amounting to about six children in a kindergarten class of 22.

"The ACT is experiencing a sustained and systemic increase in children's developmental vulnerability, with the proportion of children starting school with developmental vulnerability rising consistently in every AEDC cycle since 2015," a recent analysis of the data by Nuos Group stated.

The report found the decline was not driven by any particular demographic, but outer districts including Gungahlin, Tuggeranong and Belconnen were at risk of worsening outcomes.

"The decline is happening within groups of the population that otherwise could be considered similar, and is also happening across groups of population that could be considered advantaged. And this is a different pattern to what you would observe at the national level."

Professor Pino-Pasternak also said a high percentage of transient families in Canberra meant families had less support or understanding of where to seek help.

"What has been happening historically with families is the notion that families are becoming more and more nuclear, that the idea of a bigger village around the family is not there anymore," she said.

The AEDC suggests the greatest challenges for children were in social, emotional and physical development, rather than academic or cognitive skills.

Teachers surveyed by Nuos said children struggled with "emotional regulation, anxiety, and behavioural intensity in both early childhood and school environments".

The report noted stresses on families, with stakeholders in the Health and Community Services sector reporting families being time-poor and less in tune with children's development, leading to a displacement of "critical parent/carer-child interactions".

It pointed out that Canberra children were being read to less frequently, falling from 75 per cent in 2015 to 69 per cent in 2024.

"60 per cent of children who were not read to at home were developmentally vulnerable on two or more domains, compared with just 7.1 per cent of children who were read to regularly," the report said.

In 2022, approximately 21 per cent of ACT kindergarten children spent more than four hours on screens daily, with another 27 per cent spending between two and four hours per day on screens.

The sector, as well as kindergarten teachers, also reflected that pressures like workload, cost-of-living and fatigue were being managed through increasing screen use.

Professor Pino-Pasternak said at the same time, parents were using technology more, which was changing family relationships.

"We are seeing a different generation not only of children, but a different generation of parents and family systems".

She said "integrated hubs" with social workers and children's nurses were increasingly important to give families "an enormous support that they currently don't have through this fragmented type of system".