Collingwood contains 3 Long Day Care centres (166 places), 1 preschool/kindergarten facility (66 places) and 2 OSHC facilities (105 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 523 children in the cohort, sees a ratio of children per place of 2.3 - placing the area below the national average for supply per child on a resident basis, though closer to ~2.7 once estimated daytime workforce inflow is factored in. Looking at long day care specifically against the under-5 population, the ratio is 3.2 children per place (lower quintile supply). 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 166 places across 3 facilities serving 315 children while preschool supply is moderate with 1 facility providing 66 places (3.2 children aged 3-4 per place compared to the Greater Melbourne average of 2.6). With projected population growth of 55.9% between now and 2041, and 46.8% in the under 5 age group in particular, 107 new places will be needed to maintain today's ratios. As well as this projected growth, other drivers of note in the area are high female labour force participation of 72.6%, as well as strong 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 10.2 per 100 residents with 1,163 enrolments across primary and secondary institutions. This middle-of-the-road rate of school supply suggests most local students are residents within the immediate area. Additionally, the level of school places per child care place (LDC+PSK) is moderate. Rather unsurprisingly, out of school hours child care - serving school age children - was found to be much more abundant than other service types in the area. Proximity analysis saw distances of local residents to their nearest child care centre being shorter than average while fees are notably lower than national averages.
9 school catchments intersect Collingwood (note; school catchment data provided for public schools only), in which a combined 3,991 children aged under 5 reside, served by 4,506 LDC and preschool places. The overall demand-to-supply ratio across these catchments is 0.9 children per place, with limited variance in this ratio. Meanwhile, the discrepancy in this ratio between Collingwood and the intersecting school catchments highlights the need for a catchment based approach for specific site assessments.