Macedon contains 1 Long Day Care centre (51 places), 1 preschool/kindergarten facility (33 places) and 1 OSHC facility (45 places), with overall provision relative to the local child population appearing favorable compared to national benchmarks, and above the Greater Melbourne average. Combined service provision across long day care and preschool/kindergarten services, and the approximate 82 children in the cohort, sees a ratio of children per place of 1.1 - 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 1.9 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 51 places across 1 facility serving 57 children while preschool supply is strong with 1 facility providing 33 places (1.1 children aged 3-4 per place compared to the Greater Melbourne average of 2.6). With projected population growth of 20.9% between now and 2041, and 3.7% in the under 5 age group in particular. As well as this projected growth, other drivers of note in the area are 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 29.7 per 100 residents with 627 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 longer than typical nationally.
6 school catchments intersect Macedon (note; school catchment data provided for public schools only), in which a combined 2,370 children aged under 5 reside, served by 2,098 LDC and preschool places. The overall demand-to-supply ratio across these catchments is 1.1 children per place, with moderate variance in this ratio.