Nearly half of all Australian children are not meeting physical, emotional, social and communication developmental milestones by the time they start school, as calls for a universal early education system intensify.
Only 53 per cent of children are developmentally on track when they start school, a slight decrease since 2021, according to the Australian Early Development Census.
The national survey of 288,483 children and 16,723 teachers measured development across five domains: physical health and wellbeing, social competence, emotional maturity, language skills and communication.
The rate of children developmentally vulnerable in two or more domains is at its highest level since the census began in 2009, sitting at 12.5 per cent.
Only 43 per cent of children in remote Australia were developmentally on track, compared to 50 per cent in larger regional areas and 54 per cent in the major cities.
Those rates represented a slight decline for all children since the last census in 2021.
There were also developmental gaps among First Nations students and children from lower-income families.
The results demonstrated the urgency for equitable early education and health services, according to several advocacy groups.
Children's health charity Royal Far West, which links rural families with specialist support, has long been highlighting the shortage of early intervention services in the bush.
There were nearly 200,000 children in remote areas with very limited access to speech and language therapy or mental health support, with 37 psychologists per 100,000 people in outer regional areas.
The federal government must live up to its promise to even the playing field, the charity's chief executive Jacqui Emery said.
"(The) government must ensure that every Australian child, regardless of their location or circumstances, is not left behind," Ms Emery said.
"The 2024 census underscores how urgent and important these reforms are for all Australian children."
There have been several steps towards universal access, with the government introducing a three-day guarantee for early childhood education, abolishing the activity test and committing to build more services in areas of need.
Minderoo Foundation's Thrive By Five campaign, which highlights the importance of learning and brain development in a child's early years, called for more comprehensive reforms including tailored services for First Nations children.
"This data should be a wake-up call, but it should also be a call to action," spokesman Griffin Longley said.
"We know what works and we know how to fix this; now we need to build the system that gives every Australian child the foundation they deserve."
