Broadmeadows contains 4 Long Day Care centres (454 places), 2 preschool/kindergarten facilities (142 places) and 3 OSHC facilities (123 places) on a resident basis — though likely far tighter supply once significant daily workforce inflows to the area are considered. Combined service provision across long day care and preschool/kindergarten services, and the approximate 985 children in the cohort, sees a ratio of children per place of 1.6 - placing the area above the national average for supply per child on a resident basis, though closer to ~1.8 once estimated daytime workforce inflow is factored in. Looking at long day care specifically against the under-5 population, the ratio is 2.1 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 454 places across 4 facilities serving 573 children while preschool supply is moderate with 2 facilities providing 142 places (2.7 children aged 3-4 per place compared to the Greater Melbourne average of 2.6). With projected population growth of 53.4% between now and 2041, and 39.5% in the under 5 age group in particular, 262 new places will be needed to maintain today's ratios. As well as this projected growth, other factors worth noting are lower female labour force participation of 36.9%, as well as lower quartile employment and income performance.
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 54.8 per 100 residents with 7,496 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. As expected, the level of school places per child care place (LDC+PSK) is also higher than average. Proximity analysis saw distances of local residents to their nearest child care centre being relatively in line with national benchmarks.
18 school catchments intersect Broadmeadows (note; school catchment data provided for public schools only), in which a combined 10,545 children aged under 5 reside, served by 10,930 LDC and preschool places. The overall demand-to-supply ratio across these catchments is 1.0 children per place, with limited variance in this ratio. Meanwhile, the discrepancy in this ratio between Broadmeadows and the intersecting school catchments highlights the need for a catchment based approach for specific site assessments.