Appendix 3 | Applying the CRIA tool to COVID-19 pandemic policy and legislation relating to the closure of schools and early childhood education and care in Australia Question 11: What are the impacts on different groups of children (including their families and carers) of the policy/legislation? Consider the processes of how and why different groups are impacted using the groups identified in the checklist in question 3. Group Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children Impact Positive – Article 28: Right to education; Article 6: Right to life, survival and development • Increased use of ECEC: Due to reduced administrative requirements to access Centrelink during 2020–21, and the provision of ECEC relief packages, SNAICC reported some ECEC centres saw increased attendance and increased hours of attendance by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families who were previously not accessing centres.185 Almost 60% of survey respondents attributed the uptake of services to the reduced administrative requirements required to interact with Centrelink. Negative – Article 28: Right to education; Article 24: Right to health • Digital divide: Social isolation restrictions and remote learning exacerbated the technological divide that excludes many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families from accessing and using digital technology. SNAICC reported 11% of survey respondents had no internet access, 3% had no phone and 3.5% had neither.186 Mission Australia’s Youth Survey indicated that 62% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people identified their education had been negatively impacted by the pandemic, with females experiencing greater negative impacts of COVID-19 across all areas.187 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students were more likely to face challenges with remote learning, including reduced opportunities for interaction with Indigenous teaching assistants and poor or no inclusion of culturally appropriate teaching methods into online resources.188 76 |