Soldiers Hill contains 1 Long Day Care centre (114 places), 1 preschool/kindergarten facility (29 places) and 2 OSHC facilities (44 places), with overall provision relative to the local child population appearing favorable compared to national benchmarks, and above the Regional Vic. average. Combined service provision across long day care and preschool/kindergarten services, and the approximate 159 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 1.4 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 114 places across 1 facility serving 94 children while preschool supply is moderate with 1 facility providing 29 places (2.2 children aged 3-4 per place compared to the Regional Vic. average of 2.0). With projected population growth of 28.5% between now and 2041, and 38.4% in the under 5 age group in particular, 55 new places will be needed to maintain today's ratios. Socioeconomic performance in the area in the way of income and employment figures, including female workforce participation, are broadly in line with national averages.
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 14.9 per 100 residents with 410 enrolments across primary and secondary institutions. This above-average concentration of school places suggests the area serves as something of a destination for educational services, which typically supports elevated childcare demand through school run convenience patterns. Additionally, the level of school places per child care place (LDC+PSK) is lower than average. Proximity analysis saw distances of local residents to their nearest child care centre being relatively in line with national benchmarks. 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.
7 school catchments intersect Soldiers Hill (note; school catchment data provided for public schools only), in which a combined 6,107 children aged under 5 reside, served by 5,140 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.