Dallas contains 2 Long Day Care centres (94 places), 3 preschool/kindergarten facilities (192 places) and 2 OSHC facilities (75 places). Combined service provision across long day care and preschool/kindergarten services, and the approximate 477 children in the cohort, sees a ratio of children per place of 1.5 - 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 4.7 children per place (lower quintile supply). Further breakdowns by age, to help in identifying the most in-need services, show an undersupply of LDC places across the infant and toddler cohort (<3yo) with just 94 places across 2 facilities serving a total of 263 children while preschool supply is strong with 3 facilities providing 192 places (0.9 children aged 3-4 per place compared to the Greater Melbourne average of 2.6). With projected population growth of 32.3% between now and 2041, and 16.1% in the under 5 age group in particular, 73 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 31.0%, 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 54.9 per 100 residents with 3,742 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. Fee analysis shows fees are notably lower than national averages.
5 school catchments intersect Dallas (note; school catchment data provided for public schools only), in which a combined 3,420 children aged under 5 reside, served by 3,016 LDC and preschool places. The overall demand-to-supply ratio across these catchments is 1.1 children per place, with limited variance in this ratio. Meanwhile, the discrepancy in this ratio between Dallas and the intersecting school catchments highlights the need for a catchment based approach for specific site assessments.