800,000 Days of Learning At Stake: Building climate-resilient early childhood education across Australia
Developed by UNICEF Australia and Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth (ARACY), with support from Minderoo Foundation, 800,000 Days of Learning at Stake examines how climate change is affecting young children, families and the early childhood education and care (ECEC) systems that support them.
As part of a series of deep dive reports into the State of Australia's Children Report, it draws on national data, research evidence and examples from across Australia to:
Explore how climate-related hazards are disrupting children’s access to early learning and development.
Examine the role of climate-resilient early childhood education and care in supporting children’s wellbeing, learning and resilience.
Identify opportunities for governments and the ECEC sector to strengthen climate adaptation and better protect children from the impacts of a changing climate.
The report finds that climate-related events resulted in almost 800,000 days of early learning lost across Australia in 2025, highlighting the growing impact of climate risks on children and the services they rely on. It argues that ECEC should be recognised as critical social infrastructure and a part of Australia’s climate adaptation response, helping children, families and communities prepare for, respond to and recover from climate-related events.
The Australian Child and Youth Wellbeing Atlas has collaborated with UNICEF Australia and ARACY to analyse brand new data from the Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) and bring the findings to life through interactive data visualisation. Click below to access the full report and explore data on climate-related ECEC service closures and learning disruption across Australia using the Atlas platform.
