This is an academic report with proper headings and a table of content. The table of content is not counted in the word count. Title: Government policies, statements of intents and commitments to the...

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Government policies, statements of intents and commitments     2
Government policies, statements of intents and commitments to the Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander population relating to early childhood education
Ekta
April 25, 2021
Table of Contents
Introduction    3
Apology to Australia’s Indigenous People    3
Partnership Agreement on Closing the Gap    4
National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Strategy    4
SNAICC and Early Childhood Australia Position Statement    4
Early Childhood Australia & Reconciliation Australia’s Embed, Enable and Strive: A Stretch Reconciliation Action Plan for Early Childhood Australia.    5
Local protocols: Wiradjuri people    5
Local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Organisations    7
Analysis of organisations in relation to the provision of early childhood education .    9
Conclusion    11
References    12
Introduction
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are the original inhabitants of Australia and are even considered one of the oldest surviving traditions in the world. Their fight for survival through occupation and discrimination hasn’t been easy (Bell, 1998). This report will cover various important documents pertaining to the reconciliation of the Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islander people including Apology, Closing the gap, Educational Strategy, SNAICC and Australia and Early childhood position statement, and ECA. It will also follow a local group of Aborigines and the importance of various practices amongst Aborigines in general. Finally, it will assess a number of organizations and their work in relation to the provision of early childhood education in Australia.
Apology to Australia’s Indigenous People
The ‘Apology to Australia’s Indigenous People’ was a formal apology given by the Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd in 2008, to the Indigenous People for the injustice committed against the aboriginals in the past by the new settlers. It was a positive initiative on behalf of the Australian government in order to create partnership with the Indigenous population for the united effort to improve education and development of the Aborigine population as a whole (Rudd, 2008).
It was an apology for the grief, pain and loss that the actions of previous governments caused the aboriginal people. It also recognized them as the first people and citizens of Australia. It made a resolution to never let past injustices happen ever again. It called for a partnership with the indigenous people to further the welfare of the indigenous by ‘closing the gap’ that is prevalent in education and general life outcomes between the Indigenous and non-indigenous population. The apology marked the start of true efforts of reconciliation with Australia’s indigenous people (Rudd, 2008).
Partnership Agreement on Closing the Gap
This document marked an agreement between the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and the Australian states of a shared decision to close the gap between the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and non-aboriginal communities by taking action in the spheres of design, implementation and monitoring. There has been a fundamental change in the way the governments and Indigenous people work together due to this agreement compared to the past efforts (Council of Australia Governments, 2019).
The fundamental goals of ‘Close the gap’ focussed on education and health amongst others. 95% of Aboriginal Children under the age of 4 must enrol in early childhood care centre by the year 2025. This would ensure education opportunities for these children as well as appropriate social and cognitive development (Council of Australia Governments, 2019).
National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Strategy
This strategy was set up on 18 September 2015. It outlines certain principles and priorities to tackle the educational needs of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education. The strategy enjoined the roles and collaborations between education ministers and individual jurisdictions for improving education in the aboriginal people. The strategy focusses on increasing attendance, transition points, support for early childhood transition, inclusion in workforce and modification of Australian curriculum to improve outcome of Aboriginals in Australia (Department of Education, 2020).
SNAICC and Early Childhood Australia Position Statement
SNAICC and ECA are focussed on providing equal opportunities to all children, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children to be recognized, to thrive and grow and to be provided with necessary support to advance within their culture. The position statement of SNAICC and early Childhood Australia focusses on encouraging children to realize their own potential to choose an informed future for themselves. It also focusses on providing support to families of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community organisations in order to support children’s achievements. Family-support services thus also form a part of ECCA’s initiatives in order to provide poverty-free, stress-free home for Aboriginal children (Sydenham, 2019).
So, the two key strategies used by ECCA are-
1- Providing comprehensive, family support programs to improve home environment
2- Quality early childhood education (Sydenham, 2019)
Early Childhood Australia & Reconciliation Australia’s Embed, Enable and Strive: A Stretch Reconciliation Action Plan for Early Childhood Australia.
ECA recognizes Aboriginals as the original people of Australia who need their culture and heritage to respected. This heritage needs to be celebrated and passed on to the future generations. So, initiatives have been taken to ensure reconciliation between the Indigenous and non-indigenous population (Sydenham, 2019). Reconciliation Australia is thus recognized to influence people, organization as well as policy. Reconciliation action plans thus...