State of Childcare in Australia

State of Child Care in Australia

This publication provides information on the state of child care in Australia. The report sources information from administrative data and survey data from the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations, the Productivity Commission and the ABS.

Key findings

There were more than 870,000 children using approved child care in the September quarter 2009, up 8 per cent since the September quarter 2005. There are now 5,758 long day care services across the country, an increase of more than 1,000 services since the September quarter 2005. The proportion of child care hours being used was 75 per cent in September 2009, compared to 77 per cent in September 2005. Across all income levels, out-of-pocket child care costs to families decreased between 2004 and 2009. Early childhood education and care funding has more than doubled, up from $1.7b in 2004-05 to $3.7b in 2008-09.

State of Child Care in Australia 

1  April 2010

Introduction

  Over the past 20 years the Australian child care market has gone through a period of substantial  change, from a sector with around 4,100 services in 1991, the majority of which were community  not‐for‐profit services, to a sector with 13,638 services, with a larger number of private providers.   Over that same period the number of children using child care increased from 256,326 in 1991 to  871,107 today.  Increasing child care use has supported women’s labour force participation, which  increased from 52 per cent in January 1991 to 58 per cent in March 2010.     This report focuses on child care in Australia over the past five years and provides a snapshot of how  the landscape has changed during that period.  What it shows is that the overall health of the market  is strong following a period of instability caused by the collapse of ABC Learning.      The indicators in this report also show that there is greater child care availability than in the past.  In ...