Woodridge contains 3 Long Day Care centres (250 places), 2 preschool/kindergarten facilities (46 places) and 1 OSHC facility (42 places), while overall provision relative to the local child population appears limited compared to national benchmarks, and is below the Greater Brisbane average, though with certain cohorts and service types experiencing tighter provision. Combined service provision across long day care and preschool/kindergarten services, and the approximate 1,130 children in the cohort, sees a ratio of children per place of 3.8 - placing the area among the bottom 20% nationally for supply per child. Looking at long day care specifically against the under-5 population, the ratio is 4.5 children per place (lower quintile supply). Further breakdowns by age, to help in identifying the most in-need services, show an undersupply of LDC places across the infant and toddler cohort (<3yo) with just 250 places across 3 facilities serving a total of 676 children while preschool supply is moderate with 2 facilities providing 46 places (9.8 children aged 3-4 per place compared to the Greater Brisbane average of 11.1). To meet the Greater Brisbane average 437 new places would be required (LDC+PSK to service the under 5 age group). Meanwhile, projected population decline of 13.5% 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 39.4%, as well as lower 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 9.4 per 100 residents with 1,332 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. Out of school hours child care provision is similarly constrained, with 42 places for the 5-12 cohort. Proximity analysis saw distances of local residents to their nearest child care centre being shorter than average while fees are notably lower than national averages.
8 school catchments intersect Woodridge (note; school catchment data provided for public schools only), in which a combined 8,439 children aged under 5 reside, served by 5,100 LDC and preschool places. The overall demand-to-supply ratio across these catchments is 1.7 children per place, with limited variance in this ratio. Meanwhile, the discrepancy in this ratio between Woodridge and the intersecting school catchments highlights the need for a catchment based approach for specific site assessments.