Elanora Heights contains 2 Long Day Care centres (90 places), 1 preschool/kindergarten facility (40 places) and 1 OSHC facility (106 places), with overall provision relative to the local child population appearing favorable compared to national benchmarks, and above the Greater Sydney average. Combined service provision across long day care and preschool/kindergarten services, and the approximate 234 children in the cohort, sees a ratio of children per place of 1.2 - placing the area among the top 30% nationally 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 90 places across 2 facilities serving 96 children while preschool supply is strong with 1 facility providing 40 places (1.6 children aged 3-4 per place compared to the Greater Sydney average of 8.3). Projected population decline of 21.8% 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 64.6%, 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 8.7 per 100 residents with 401 enrolments across primary and secondary institutions. A lower-than-typical rate which suggests pressure might be taken off local services somewhat by school hubs in nearby areas. As expected, the level of school places per child care place (LDC+PSK) is also lower than average. Out of school hours child care provision is similarly strong, with 106 places serving the 5-12 cohort. Proximity analysis saw distances of local residents to their nearest child care centre being shorter than average while high fees are observed despite adequate supply suggesting premium positioning or quality differentiation. Another finding worth noting is the 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.
5 school catchments intersect Elanora Heights (note; school catchment data provided for public schools only), in which a combined 3,137 children aged under 5 reside, served by 2,114 LDC and preschool places. The overall demand-to-supply ratio across these catchments is 1.5 children per place, with limited variance in this ratio.