The report is the result of a 1981 research project commissioned by Australia's Commonwealth Department of Education to investigate early childhood education for Aborigines. The study encompassed the care and education of Aboriginal children from age 0 to age 5 in government and non-government school systems. The report is divided into three major sections. The first presents an examination of the history of early childhood education and Aboriginal early childhood services in Australia, places the current education situation in the historical context, and shows how historical influences still have an important impact on the present situation. The second section contains a state-by-state description of the early childhood services presently available for Aborigines. For each state, the report fully describes the administrative structures, enrollments, operating services, aims and philosophies, funding, nature of services, Aboriginal participation and staffing, issues, and future research directions of early childhood education, and summarizes the information in a table. The second section also describes training programs for Aborigines in early childhood education. The final section contains a summary of the main findings and issues identified in section II, discusses relevant literature and research, and proposes areas for future research. (SB)