EARLY YEARS PLAN FOR BALLARAT
Background
The Ballarat municipality has traditionally provided Ballarat families with a range of quality services to meet identified needs of children and families. These services have undergone sporadic review and development in keeping with service, community demand, and industry requirements. In addition to the role of service provider, the Ballarat City Council has also undertaken an active role with respect to advocacy, planning, and community development.
Council Action for Early Years Change
The City of Ballarats Municipal Early Years Plan (MEYP) highlights an ongoing commitment to children aged 0 to 11 years, and their families, as integral to the overall strategic development of the municipality for the coming 25 years. It has been prepared by the Family and Childrens Services and Community and Cultural Development sections of the City of Ballarat and responds to Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) and Department of Human Services (DHS) requirements that all Victorian councils prepare a MEYP.
The MEYP provides an opportunity to bring together a range of services along with other work being undertaken for and on behalf of children and families across the City of Ballarat; and to build planning and management infrastructures that will be readily recognised as 'children and family friendly'.
Linking Government Levels
The Municipal Early Years Plan 2010 - 2013 provides a brief synopsis of the current policy context at the local, state and federal levels; an overview of the Ballarat service context and some demographic data; and a brief summation of service improvements as identified by recent reviews and other data. The Ballarat Municipal Early Years Plan concludes the paper providing a broad outline of priorities for action by the City of Ballarat for the next five years.
Child Friendly Ballarat
Consulting with Children Framework
As part of Councils Municipal Early Years Plan; Ballarat Best Start, Council and our community partners are currently developing a "Consulting with Children Framework". The framework will outline our obligations and desires in line with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and our Child Friendly Ballarat principles.
The relevant United Nations articles are:
Article 12
States Parties shall assure to the child who is capable of forming his or her own views the right to express those views freely in all matters affecting the child, the views of the child being given due weight in accordance with the age and maturity of the child.
Article 13
The child shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of the child's choice.
Consulting with Children Conference
In June 2011 Ballarat Best Start and the Central Highlands Primary Care Partnership held a conference in Ballarat. The forum was presented by Dr Jonathon Sargeant from the Australian Catholic University in Brisbane, and aimed to provide a broader understanding of:
- the importance of consulting with children
- what children are saying about themselves, families, communities and the world
- the things that influence children
- children's perspectives on adults
- the ethics of consulting with children (why and when)
- different ways to consult with children (how).
To read the presentation, please click here
To read the evaluation, please click here