This information and the Fact Sheet include important information about the Australian Early Development Census (AEDC) and the proposed handling of your child/children’s personal information.

Our school will take part in the AEDC in Week 3 of Term 2, this year.

The AEDC is a national census that is conducted every three years by the Australian Government, in partnership with state and territory governments. It measures how children have developed by the time they start their first year of full-time school.
 
The AEDC is voluntary and it does not measure how well children are doing at school, nor how their school compares to other schools. Instead, it shows how children are growing and progressing in five key areas, what is being done well and what can be improved. AEDC data is used by schools, early childhood organisations, researchers and governments to help plan and improve services and supports for children and families. This is why it is important for all children in their first year of school to be included in the AEDC. You can learn more about the ways AEDC data is used at https://www.aedc.gov.au/.

What does this mean for your child? 
The AEDC is completed by teachers based on their knowledge of the children. Children do not need to do anything to be included in the census and will attend class as usual while the census is conducted. The census will start on Friday 3 May.

Teachers will answer questions about the five key areas of early childhood development, which are: 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 the AEDC uses a secure website to collect and keep their information. More information about how AEDC data (including your child’s information) is collected, protected and used is in the Fact Sheet.
 
What do parents need to do? 
For the purposes of the AEDC, the Australian Government Department of Education seeks your consent to collect personal information about your child from our school. 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 email prior to Monday 29 May, and no information about your child will be collected.
 
You can also withdraw your consent after this time. If you do so, then the Australian Government Department of Education will stop using your child’s information and will not provide it to anyone else. However, information that has already been shared, reported or published cannot be removed and may continue to be used (but your child will not be individually identified in that information).

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 information will only be used for the purposes described in this letter and in the Fact Sheet. The Privacy Statement contained on the AEDC website provides more detail on how their information will be protected and shared, and can be found at www.aedc.gov.au/parents/privacy-statement.

Thank you for supporting the AEDC.