Australia has therefore had to undertake a range of measures and programs targeted at lessening the impact of economic disadvantage against children and families. The Child Care Subsidy (CCS) was established to encourage the early childhood education system to make services more accessible to low-income families (Australian Government, 2023). On the other hand, the National Quality Framework (NQF) is there to promote inclusive practices so that children from all backgrounds, including those from economically disadvantaged families, actually receive high-quality care and education (ACECQA, 2018).
Other relevant policies include the National Framework for Protecting Australia's Children 2021–2031, which tackles child wellbeing through early intervention and community-level supports (Department of Social Services, 2021). The Productivity Commission (2024) also stresses that more investment needs to be directed at universal access to early learning, including for low-SES areas.
Indeed, criticisms stated that many of these responses are somewhat fragmented or poorly targeted, glaringly missing intervening at the root causes of poverty, such as housing affordability and underemployment (Phillips et al., 2022).