South Hobart contains 3 Long Day Care centres (283 places), with overall provision relative to the local child population appearing favorable compared to national benchmarks, and above the Greater Hobart average. With no preschool/kindergarten services observed in the area (such services generally provided within schools in TAS), only long day care, the ratio of children per place for the under 5 age group is 0.8 - placing the area among the top 20% nationally for supply per child. With projected population growth of 10.9% between now and 2041, and 9.6% in the under 5 age group in particular, 32 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 64.3%.
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 7.8 per 100 residents with 462 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. Additionally, the level of school places per child care place (LDC+PSK) is moderate. 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.
5 school catchments intersect South Hobart (note; school catchment data provided for public schools only), in which a combined 1,350 children aged under 5 reside, served by 969 LDC and preschool places. The overall demand-to-supply ratio across these catchments is 1.4 children per place, with moderate variance in this ratio.