Inclusion Support in Early Learning Consultation

This survey is for members of the Apiary Fellowship – a collective of early years professionals operating across Australia - to learn more about inclusion support within the early learning system. The following document provides background on this survey and its intention to support the Apiary’s advocacy on inclusion support. 

Contact personnel 

Project Sponsor: Dr Caroline Croser-Barlow, CEO, The Front Project 

Survey Design and Analysis Lead: Dr Daniel Leach-McGill, Manager, Research and Evaluation 

Project Manager: Rachael Wilken, Senior Manager, the Apiary Fellowship, 0402231029, rwilken@thefrontproject.org.au 

Purpose:  

To collect information on services' experience of the inclusion support program and implementing inclusion to understand what changes or innovations might help teachers and educators, children and families. 

Entities involved: 

The Apiary Fellowship is a collective impact organisation hosted by The Front Project and funded by the Paul Ramsay Foundation. The Front Project are enabling the Apiary’s work by leading the survey design, administering the data collection, and leading the analysis. Representatives from The Front Project and the Apiary will have access to the consultation data and may use the data to inform their advocacy initiatives. All entities are bound by the project ethical considerations.  

Ethical Considerations: 

Apiary Fellows, in conjunction with The Front Project, recognise the need to have guidelines to ensure the ethical conduct of this consultation survey. All consultation activity shall in all material ways be in compliance with this code and the National Privacy Principles. 

This consultation survey is aimed at informing the important innovation work of Apiary Fellows and is related to specific time-bound advocacy decisions. This consultation activity involves engagement with early learning service providers nationally, directly or via peak and member organisations. Findings will be used to inform advocacy by associated entities on inclusion support.  

What are the possible benefits for participants? 

It is anticipated that this consultation will provide the information needed to develop strategies and pathways towards improving inclusion support in early learning for the benefit of current and future generations of children and families in Australia and support the practice and retention of the workforce.  

What are the possible risks? 

This survey involves engaging with provider representatives on a topic related to their work that they may feel very passionate about and that affects their families deeply. While it may be cathartic to contribute their experiences, we will also encourage participants to consider contacting their Employee Assistance Program (EAP) if they feel overwhelmed. 

There is a risk that involvement in this project may result in additional burden in terms of participants’ own time. To minimise this we have developed a survey that is predominantly selection or rating-scale based, with voluntary options to contribute free text. 

Privacy and data storage 

Participation by organisations is completely voluntary. Participants are able to withdraw consent to discontinue their participation in the project at any time until the data has been processed, approximately 1 week after the survey has closed. If participants choose to withdraw, this will not have any detrimental impact on relationships with the project team, the Apiary Fellowship or the Front Project. 

Any information we collect from participants is confidential – it will never be used in any way that identifies participants. Strict procedures are followed to ensure that only authorised people have access to the survey data. We are not collecting any personal information that might identify participants (e.g., name). Reports from this consultation will be shared as part of the Front Project and the Apiary advocacy work on Federal, State Government and non-Government reform initiatives, as part of the objectives of this work. All data protection rules will be complied with as per The Front Project’s Privacy and Data Policy. This means any information provided will be de-identified and will remain strictly confidential. The data collected from the activities will be used for the specific purpose of this project and may be used for inclusion-related future ethically approved studies or projects at the Front Project. All future projects using this data will not have access to identifiable information. 

As noted above, all ethical principles will be upheld throughout the conduct of this survey and results analysis, particularly in relation to confidentiality, informed consent, and minimising harm.