The challenge
Prolonged exposure to significant childhood adversities can lead to multiple negative consequences later in life. The importance of effective early intervention cannot be overstated. Our previous research, the Early Years Education Program Randomised Controlled Trial (EYEP RCT), demonstrated that the program had very large impacts on both cognitive and social-emotional development of children who participated in the program. To make the program benefit more children who need the intervention, the next challenge is to have a robust scale-up framework to ensure that the program can be effectively implemented in different communities.
The research
This study conducts outcome evaluations for the EYEP replication trial, which has been implemented at three centres, two in Victoria (one metropolitan, one regional) and one metropolitan site in Queensland. Following the original EYEP model, the trial recruited children aged 0-3 years experiencing significant family stress and social disadvantage. This study seeks to answer the following three key questions:
- Can the model successfully identify and engage its target population across different communities?
- Will the intervention achieve improvement in children’s developmental outcomes comparable to those demonstrated in the original RCT?
- What factors enable or challenge successful program replication while maintaining model fidelity?
The research team at the Melbourne Institute will focus on answering questions 1 and 2 and provide insights into question 3 from the data collection process and the analyses of outcome data. Program fidelity will be formally assessed by Parkville Institute, which manages the implementation of EYEP in partnership with three service providers and oversees the entire replication trial.
The impact
The project is still in progress. The findings of this project will provide recommendations for further scaling up the program.
Our researchers
Melbourne Institute - Yi-Ping Tseng, Nichola Coombs, Taylor Ey, Daniel Fischer, Sarah Fraser, Jane Sheehan, Karina Tetkowski.
Report
- Tseng Y., Coombs N., Fischer D., Tetkowski K. (2026) 'Can the Early Years Eduction Program (EYEP) Be Successfully Replicated? Early Evidence from the First 12-month Outcomes of Participants', Changing the Life Trajectories of Australia's Most Vulnerable Children, EYEP Replication Trial Report No.2 (April 2026).
- Tseng Y., Coombs N. Fraser S. Ey, T. (2025) 'Understanding the Participants in the EYEP Replication Trial', Changing the Life Trajectories of Australia's Most Vulnerable Children, EYEP Replication Trial Report No.1 (June 2025).
Our partners
Research - Parkville Institute
Funding - Australian Department of Education, Victorian Department of Education and philanthropic organisations (view our report for a full list of contributors).
The EYEP RCT was conducted by a multidisciplinary team led by Professor Jeff Borland and Yi-Ping Tseng from the University of Melbourne. EYEP was initiated by Kids First, previously the Children's Protection Society (CPS), an independent not-for-profit child and family services organisation based in the north- east of Melbourne which was founded in 1896. The program was designed and implemented by CPS in collaboration with Associate Professor Brigid Jordan and Dr Anne Kennedy.