Frankston contains 13 Long Day Care centres (1,108 places), 6 preschool/kindergarten facilities (230 places) and 7 OSHC facilities (438 places), with overall provision relative to the local child population aligning with national benchmarks, though below the Greater Melbourne average, with certain cohorts and service types experiencing tighter provision. Combined service provision across long day care and preschool/kindergarten services, and the approximate 2,344 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 2.1 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 1,108 places across 13 facilities serving 1,410 children while preschool supply is constrained with 6 facilities providing 230 places (4.1 children aged 3-4 per place compared to the Greater Melbourne average of 2.6). Projected population decline of 5.7% 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 lower than average employment 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 19.3 per 100 residents with 7,537 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.
15 school catchments intersect Frankston (note; school catchment data provided for public schools only), in which a combined 5,160 children aged under 5 reside, served by 6,555 LDC and preschool places. The overall demand-to-supply ratio across these catchments is 0.8 children per place, with moderate variance in this ratio. Meanwhile, the discrepancy in this ratio between Frankston and the intersecting school catchments highlights the need for a catchment based approach for specific site assessments.