Early Years Catalyst – Evidence for Action

Key findings and insights from the Early Years Catalyst’s Evidence for Action report

In 2023 the Early Years Catalyst commissioned Orange Compass, together with project partners Centre for Community Child Health, Clear Horizon and Social Enterprise Finance Australia, to: 

• Explore the transformational potential and evidence for action of a suite of 18 leverage points grouped into four clusters identified through the systems mapping process. 

• Rank each leverage point based on its potential to transform the system and improve early childhood development outcomes. 

Method

A bespoke assessment framework and gathering of convergent evidence including frontline practice expertise, family perspectives, First Nations wisdom and ways of knowing and formal/published research as well as case study analysis. 

Key Findings

• The top five leverage points – those with the highest potential to transform the system and improve early childhood development outcomes – span all four clusters and the five key elements of the desired future state. 

• Transformational change is possible; however, no single leverage point can achieve this alone. 

• Shifting Australia’s early years system will require collaboration between a committed coalition of actors; action across all four clusters of leverage points and interventions targeting all levels of the system with careful consideration of the sequencing of actions; a willingness to tackle the big levers of change; and a commitment to progressing collaborative action over the longer-term. 

Evidence for Action Clusters

• 
  Cluster 1 – Communities and families in the driver’s seat

  Presents the evidence gathered on leverage points focused on ways to empower families and communities to be active participants in decision-making about the systems that impact their lives and influence the early childhood development outcomes of their children.

• 
  Cluster 2 – Re-imagining the service system

  Presents the evidence gathered on leverage points focused on ways to design and resource our social service systems so that they meet the needs of children and families and enable them to thrive.

• 
  Cluster 3 – Shared accountability for children’s outcomes

  Presents the evidence gathered on leverage points focused on ways to ensure all system actors are accountable for delivering positive outcomes for children and families.

• 
  Cluster 4 – Shifting society’s perspectives

  Presents the evidence gathered on leverage points focused on ways to shift deeply held societal beliefs that hold the current early years system and outcomes in place.

Watch the webinar

The Early Years Catalyst, in collaboration with Orange Compass and Partners, has conducted an evidence-based assessment to identify interventions and leverage points that have the greatest potential to transform Australia’s early years system(s).

We are proud to have drawn upon the culture, wisdom, and expertise of our First Nations people, as well as the diverse perspectives of frontline workers, families, and successful implementation research. In this recorded webinar, we explore:
• Strategies to drive lasting change in the early years
• Different approaches and their potential impact on early childhood development outcomes
• Possible barriers to implementation
• Linkages to other EYC projects including the systems mapping process and landscape atlas