Greta contains 2 Long Day Care centres (251 places), 1 preschool/kindergarten facility (20 places) and 1 OSHC facility (60 places), with overall provision relative to the local child population appearing favorable compared to national benchmarks, and above the Regional NSW average. Combined service provision across long day care and preschool/kindergarten services, and the approximate 291 children in the cohort, sees a ratio of children per place of 1.0 - placing the area among the top 20% nationally for supply per child. Looking at long day care specifically against the under-5 population, the ratio is 1.1 children per place (upper quintile supply). Further breakdowns by age, to help in identifying the most in-need services, show strong LDC provision for the infant and toddler cohort (<3yo) with 251 places across 2 facilities serving 168 children while preschool supply is constrained with 1 facility providing 20 places (5.7 children aged 3-4 per place compared to the Regional NSW average of 4.4). With projected population growth of 33.8% between now and 2041, and 34.4% in the under 5 age group in particular, 104 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 65.0%.
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 5.2 per 100 residents with 191 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. Fee analysis shows fees are notably lower than national averages. 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.
6 school catchments intersect Greta (note; school catchment data provided for public schools only), in which a combined 5,466 children aged under 5 reside, served by 3,821 LDC and preschool places. The overall demand-to-supply ratio across these catchments is 1.4 children per place, with limited variance in this ratio.