Kincumber contains 3 Long Day Care centres (156 places), 1 preschool/kindergarten facility (40 places) and 2 OSHC facilities (96 places), with overall provision relative to the local child population aligning with national benchmarks, though with certain cohorts and service types experiencing tighter provision. Combined service provision across long day care and preschool/kindergarten services, and the approximate 377 children in the cohort, sees a ratio of children per place of 1.9 - 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 2.4 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 156 places across 3 facilities serving 225 children while preschool supply is strong with 1 facility providing 40 places (3.8 children aged 3-4 per place compared to the Greater Sydney average of 8.3). Projected population decline of 22.5% 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 female labour force participation of 45.5%, as well as strong 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 22.3 per 100 residents with 1,656 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. Proximity analysis saw distances of local residents to their nearest child care centre being relatively in line with national benchmarks.
6 school catchments intersect Kincumber (note; school catchment data provided for public schools only), in which a combined 2,139 children aged under 5 reside, served by 1,773 LDC and preschool places. The overall demand-to-supply ratio across these catchments is 1.2 children per place, with significant variance in this ratio. Meanwhile, the discrepancy in this ratio between Kincumber and the intersecting school catchments highlights the need for a catchment based approach for specific site assessments.