Richmond contains 12 Long Day Care centres (900 places), 3 preschool/kindergarten facilities (180 places) and 4 OSHC facilities (332 places), with overall provision relative to the local child population appearing favorable compared to national benchmarks, and above the Greater Melbourne average on a resident basis — though likely far tighter supply once significant daily workforce inflows to the area are considered. Combined service provision across long day care and preschool/kindergarten services, and the approximate 1,131 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 on a resident basis, though closer to ~1.1 once estimated daytime workforce inflow is factored in. Looking at long day care specifically against the under-5 population, the ratio is 1.2 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 900 places across 12 facilities serving 659 children while preschool supply is moderate with 3 facilities providing 180 places (2.4 children aged 3-4 per place compared to the Greater Melbourne average of 2.6). With projected population growth of 37.2% between now and 2041, and 29.0% in the under 5 age group in particular, 350 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 72.5%, 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 10.3 per 100 residents with 3,221 enrolments across primary and secondary institutions. This middle-of-the-road rate of school supply suggests most local students are residents within the immediate area. Additionally, the level of school places per child care place (LDC+PSK) is lower than average. Out of school hours child care provision is similarly strong, with 332 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.
10 school catchments intersect Richmond (note; school catchment data provided for public schools only), in which a combined 7,707 children aged under 5 reside, served by 10,518 LDC and preschool places. The overall demand-to-supply ratio across these catchments is 0.7 children per place, with limited variance in this ratio. Meanwhile, the discrepancy in this ratio between Richmond and the intersecting school catchments highlights the need for a catchment based approach for specific site assessments.