Belmont contains 6 Long Day Care centres (586 places), 2 preschool/kindergarten facilities (157 places) and 5 OSHC facilities (260 places). Combined service provision across long day care and preschool/kindergarten services, and the approximate 1,054 children in the cohort, sees a ratio of children per place of 1.4 - placing the area above the national average for supply per child. Looking at long day care specifically against the under-5 population, the ratio is 1.8 children per place. Further breakdowns by age, to help in identifying the most in-need services, show moderate LDC provision across the infant and toddler cohort (<3yo) with 586 places across 6 facilities serving 622 children while preschool supply is constrained with 2 facilities providing 157 places (2.6 children aged 3-4 per place compared to the Regional Vic. average of 2.0). With projected population growth of 21.2% between now and 2041, and 34.9% in the under 5 age group in particular, 272 new places will be needed to maintain today's ratios. Socioeconomic performance in the area in the way of income and employment figures, including female workforce participation, are broadly in line with national averages.
In assessing child care markets local school supply is a particularly important factor, given school-run convenience, and enrolment vs child care place analysis can provide useful insight into capacity both for parents seeking child care options and child care operators assessing opportunities in an area. The catchment sees a level of school enrolment relative to population of 18.9 per 100 residents with 2,885 enrolments across primary and secondary institutions. This notably elevated rate of school supply suggests many students travel to the area from beyond the immediate surrounds, typically amplifying local childcare demand given school-run proximity. Additionally, the level of school places per child care place (LDC+PSK) is moderate. Proximity analysis saw distances of local residents to their nearest child care centre being relatively in line with national benchmarks.
15 school catchments intersect Belmont (note; school catchment data provided for public schools only), in which a combined 14,341 children aged under 5 reside, served by 15,881 LDC and preschool places. The overall demand-to-supply ratio across these catchments is 0.9 children per place, with moderate variance in this ratio. Meanwhile, the discrepancy in this ratio between Belmont and the intersecting school catchments highlights the need for a catchment based approach for specific site assessments.