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To enable proactive decisions that promote a healthy start to life, our understanding of children's health and development at a population level is only as good as the data we collect and analyse. A decade ago, Olver called for improved access and capacity to link data in the Australian context, voiced in the Medical Journal of Australia. In the intervening years, there have been varying rates of progress across Australian states and territories. Victoria's routinely collected statewide data documenting children's health and development from pregnancy to school entry, the maternal and child health (MCH) service dataset, is the most comprehensive nationally with the highest population uptake, yet remains unlinked to key health and determinants data and longitudinal cohorts. The time to address this is now given increasing policy interest in the first 2000 days (conception to five years of age) demonstrated by the national Early Years Strategy 2024–2034 and the $14 billion rollout of Victoria's Best Start, Best Life reforms.

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Authors: Ashleigh Shipton, Meredith O'Connor, Melissa Wake, Sharon Goldfeld, Helen Lees, Catina Adams, Kristina Edvardsson, Leesa Hooker, Jatender Mohal, Rhiannon M Pilkington and Fiona K Mensah

Article Type: Perspective