We are experiencing a time of financial uncertainty around the world and reflecting on the results of natural disasters nationally. It is remarkable that the focus on early childhood education is holding its own in maintaining a place on political, academic and community agendas. Plans for ‘bridging gaps', real and perceived, from different perspectives should encourage a time of responsible reflection. It is essential that all early childhood professionals consider what assumptions are being made as plans emerge. This reflection should not create barriers but rather inform approaches to all aspects of development in our field. It is not a time to shy away from the complexities of early childhood education. It is a time to articulate what is really needed to make change to achieve the high expectations expressed in early childhood education and care agendas.

For example, we know that identifying and bridging the gaps for Indigenous Australians is taking a huge amount of consideration as each task becomes increasingly complex.The complexity of improving representation of Indigenous childcare workers in the mainstream childcare workplace is described by Hutchins, Frances and Saggers. Achieving cultural safety requires more than commitment to cultural sensitivity. Culturally-competent service systems which are shaped by valuing cultural differences and include flexible employment practices are key to achieving cultural safety. In addition, further attention is required to develop more appropriate content and new models of delivery of nationally endorsed training packages to acknowledge Indigenous knowledge, practices and contexts. Bringing authentic Australian Indigenous perspectives to other aspects of children's services is considered further in Hutchins, Saggers and Frances next article. They report on consultations which clearly indicate that quality assurance systems need to embrace different definitions of quality and flexible designs.

The heralded plans for increased preschool education opportunities for children during the year before school, in Australia, connect to a set of assumptions. Dockett and Perry explore the concept of readiness for school as a relational construct. Through this discussion some of these assumptions are tested. Children's readiness for school through increased access to preschool education may well be enough to enhance success in the early years of school. However, sustained success against higher expectations will require attention to schools' readiness for children and family and community supports.

Professionalism and education pathways for achieving early childhood qualifications are part of many conversations related to achieving the workforce needed for the rapidly evolving Australian early childhood education environment. Whitington, Ebbeck, Diamond and Yim investigate the experiences of those who take a pathway through diploma study at TAFE and then progress to a university degree. Current policies and planning indicate that we are going to require a substantial increase in quality graduates who will remain in the workforce for some years to come. Consideration of a variety of programs, pathways and innovative modes of delivery is essential so that the higher education sector can quickly and responsibly respond to the changing early childhood education workforce requirements.

Sims challenges us all to unpack assumptions and the viewpoints on which policy is currently based. She introduces us to applying a different ontogenic lens to policy related to the development of all childcare. Her warning is clear that ‘we cannot afford to not invest in the early years' and that governments must consider children to be important enough to bring new perspectives and ways of thinking to debates and consequent policy.

Riethmuller, McKeen, Okey, Bell and Sangoriski remind us that there is much that we can do to support efforts to introduce positive physical activity habits in early childhood. Their study included identifying barriers to physical activity and developing a resource and professional learning experiences for staff which reflect the needs and differing contexts of children's services. The focus on design of the resource and the many specific aspects of professional learning considered provides an excellent example of the detail that must be part of enacting new policy and practice in children's services. Valentine and Thomson also explore design of programs but in their case they report experiences of improving processual quality in a program to benefit disadvantaged children and their families. They remind us that changing the way people do their jobs is difficult but not impossible when sufficient time and appropriate resources are used to introduce change to all involved in an early childhood service.

I challenge you to explore the changing early childhood education environment through your reading and engaging with the content of this edition. The journal reflects the professional perspectives, policies, practices and knowledge of our time. In our continued commitment to bring this debate and discussion across the world, AJEC is now available online. To further reflect this step forward, and the international scope of the journal, this issue will be the first with our new title, the Australasian Journal of Early Childhood.