Eatons Hill contains 2 Long Day Care centres (208 places), 1 preschool/kindergarten facility (24 places) and 1 OSHC facility (305 places), with overall provision relative to the local child population aligning with national benchmarks, though below the Greater Brisbane average, with certain cohorts and service types experiencing tighter provision. Combined service provision across long day care and preschool/kindergarten services, and the approximate 415 children in the cohort, sees a ratio of children per place of 1.8 - placing the area around the national average for supply per child. Looking at long day care specifically against the under-5 population, the ratio is 2.0 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 208 places across 2 facilities serving 249 children while preschool supply is strong with 1 facility providing 24 places (7.0 children aged 3-4 per place compared to the Greater Brisbane average of 11.1). Projected population decline of 10.4% in the under 5 age group between now and 2041 suggests a reduction in demand for childcare services. Other factors relevant to demand worth noting are high female labour force participation of 73.2%, as well as upper 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 12.6 per 100 residents with 1,002 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. Assessment shows low level of commercial activity in the area and assessment of local working populations which suggest many of the local population commute elsewhere for work with nearby services potentially taking some pressure off local child care centres.
6 school catchments intersect Eatons Hill (note; school catchment data provided for public schools only), in which a combined 7,690 children aged under 5 reside, served by 4,815 LDC and preschool places. The overall demand-to-supply ratio across these catchments is 1.6 children per place, with limited variance in this ratio.