Re: Australian Early Development Census (AEDC)
Children do not need to do anything to be included in the census and will attend class as usual throughout the data collection period, which will commence on 18th June 2021. During the census, teachers will record information, including children’s names and dates of birth, based on their knowledge and observations of each child in their class. Teachers answer questions relating to the five key domains of early childhood development including; Physical health and wellbeing, Emotional maturity, Social competence, Language and cognitive skills (school-based) and Communication skills and general knowledge. You can see all the questions at https://www.aedc.gov.au/avedi.
You can be confident that your child’s privacy will be protected.
We understand how important it is to keep your child’s information private. This is why we use a secure site to collect and keep your child’s information. The AEDC is managed in accordance with the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs). The APPs regulate the collection, use, disclosure and storage of personal information by Australian government agencies, and some private sector organisations, and is part of the Privacy Act 1998 (Cth). APPs also form part of applicable state and territory privacy legislation and policies.
AEDC results for individual children are not reported and data about each child is de-identified. Children’s names, ages, addresses and schools are not included when AEDC information is made publicly available. Individual children cannot be identified when AEDC information is linked with information from other organisations (such as health departments).
You can see how data is collected and presented by visiting http://www.aedc.gov.au/data. Data from the 2021 collection will be presented in a similar way.
Access to the de-identified AEDC data is limited to the following groups:
Your child’s data will be combined with data from the other children living within the same community. Communities only receive information about how their children are doing when most schools and children participate.
Your child’s data will be combined with data from the other children in the school. Only schools have access to their school report and individual children cannot be identified.
State and Territory government and non-government (Catholic and Independent) schools receive de-identified information for all children in their schools.
Researchers can apply for de-identified data from the AEDC program or for AEDC data linked to other data to answer research questions. For examples about how researchers have used AEDC data visit https://www.aedc.gov.au/snapshots.
The department seeks your consent to collect personal information about your child from our school, for the purposes of the AEDC. This includes known information about your child’s health.
If you consent to the collection of your child’s information, you do not need to do anything.
If you do not consent to the collection of your child’s information, please reply to this text before 17th June 2021.
To find out more about the AEDC, please read the frequently asked questions section on the AEDC website at https://www.aedc.gov.au/parents/faqs or phone 1800 092 548.
Your child’s data will only be used for the purpose described in this letter. The Privacy Statement contained on the AEDC website provides detailed descriptions about protection and access and can be found at: www.aedc.gov.au/parents/privacy-statement
Thank you for supporting the AEDC.