Final - North Sydney Childcare Review · Government Policy Influences ... Reference Group and the expiration of Council’s 2010-2012 Children’s Services Strategic Plan. It

NORTH SYDNEY COUNCIL

REVIEW OF CHILDCARE SERVICES 2014

Prepared for North Sydney Council by

SNC – Social Needs Consulting Revealing the true needs of your community

Review of Childcare Services - 2014

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Contents

1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................................................... 4

1.1 Overview ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 4

1.2 Current Population ...................................................................................................................................................................... 4

1.3 Future Population ........................................................................................................................................................................ 6

2. Methodology ................................................................................................................................................................... 7

3. Assumptions ................................................................................................................................................................... 8

3.1 Time Lapse in Population Data ............................................................................................................................................... 8

3.2 Waiting List Information ........................................................................................................................................................... 8

3.3 Demographic Projection Data Accuracy .............................................................................................................................. 8

4. Approved Children’s Education and Care Service Types................................................................................ 9

4.1 Long Day Care (LDC) ................................................................................................................................................................... 9

4.2 Family Day Care (FDC) ............................................................................................................................................................... 9

4.3 Pre-schools (PS) ............................................................................................................................................................................ 9

4.4 Occasional Care (OC) .................................................................................................................................................................. 9

4.5 Out of School Hours (OOSH) .................................................................................................................................................... 9

5. Current Government Fee Subsidy Types ............................................................................................................10

5.1 Child Care Benefit (CCB) .......................................................................................................................................................... 10

5.2 Child Care Rebate (CCR) or Child Care Tax Rebate. (CCTR) .......................................................................................... 10

5.3 Jobs, Education and Training (JET) Child Care Fee Assistance.................................................................................... 10

6. Government Policy Influences ...............................................................................................................................11

6.1 Historical Influences ................................................................................................................................................................. 11

6.2 General Influences .................................................................................................................................................................... 11

6.3 Universal Access ........................................................................................................................................................................ 12

6.4 Paid Parental Leave .................................................................................................................................................................. 12

6.5 Budgetary Influences ............................................................................................................................................................... 12

6.6 Productivity Commission’s review into childcare............................................................................................................ 12

7. Demand Population ...................................................................................................................................................13

8. Current Supply of Children’s Education and Care Services .........................................................................14

8.1 Suburban Register of Population and Services ................................................................................................................ 14

8.2 Early Childhood Education & Care (ECEC) Services – Current Status ....................................................................... 18

Long Day Care (LDC) ............................................................................................................................................................... 19

Pre-schools (PS) ........................................................................................................................................................................ 19

Family Day Care (FDC) ........................................................................................................................................................... 19

Occasional Care (OC) ............................................................................................................................................................... 20

8.3 Out of School Hours (OOSH) Services – Current Status ................................................................................................. 20

After School Care (ASC) .......................................................................................................................................................... 21

Before School Care (BSC)....................................................................................................................................................... 22

Vacation Care (VC) ................................................................................................................................................................... 22

9. Service Provider Survey Results ...........................................................................................................................23

10. Parent Survey Results .............................................................................................................................................25

11. Current Supply & Future Demand ......................................................................................................................27

12. Overview of Demand Trends ...............................................................................................................................29

Long Day Care (LDC) ........................................................................................................................................................................ 29

Family Day Care (FDC) .................................................................................................................................................................... 29

Pre-school (PS) ................................................................................................................................................................................... 29

Occasional Care (OC) ....................................................................................................................................................................... 30

Out of School Hours (OOSH).......................................................................................................................................................... 30

13. Key Findings ...............................................................................................................................................................31

Recommendations arising from key findings .................................................................................................................. 31


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Executive Summary This review arises from discussions held by North Sydney Council’s Community Service Reference Group and the expiration of Council’s 2010-2012 Children’s Services Strategic Plan. It was determined that Council commission an updated review of childcare services operating within North Sydney. The review is primarily designed to determine the adequacy of the now entitled Children’s Education and Care Services in meeting the needs of families residing within the North Sydney Local Government Area, as well as to assess the need for such services into the future.

Data from the 2011 Census reveals that North Sydney is home to a young workforce (aged 25-34) with a strong emerging group of parents and homebuilders. These groups are all of childbearing age suggesting the possibility of a large increase in the numbers of young children from 2011 into the future. In 2011, of the total population of 67,722 persons residing in the local government area, there were 5,993 young children aged 0-12. This was an increase of 1,282 (27%) since 2006. As well as being a direct provider of childcare, North Sydney Council has historically resourced and supported other children’s services operating within its community for many years by way of subsidised facility provision, facility maintenance and upgrading, community grants, promoting and marketing, advocacy, information dissemination, forums, events, advice and attendance at childcare services provider networks. This review reports on the outcomes of broad as well as specific consultation with local childcare service providers and families via online surveys and individual discussion. The results help expose current and emerging issues including levels of unmet demand, lack of places for specific service types, affordability, barriers to access and the impact of government policy on service provision and their ongoing viability. Key Findings

• There is a large concentration of work related Long Day Care services in central business districts (North Sydney & Crows Nest/St Leonards), with a high proportion of places being taken up by children of parents residing outside, but working inside, the local government area.

• There is an undersupply of Long Day Care for children under 2 years old. Although many services are approved to provide care for a smaller number of this age group, not all actually do so.

• There is an undersupply of affordable Long Day Care services in suburban areas prioritising access for locals.

• There is a current and increasing demand for Out Of School Hours services, particularly for After School Care, leading to a need for the roles & responsibilities of Local Government, Department of Education, non-profit community based and private operators to be defined in the delivery of these services.

• There is a current and increasing demand for more community based traditional Pre-school as a result of government policy for universal access of a minimum of 15 hours per week of early childhood education for all children in their year prior to entering formal education.

• There is a need for more Occasional Care to meet the increasing casual work/study needs of parents.

• There is a need for Occasional Care and traditional Pre-school parents to have access to higher paid Child Care Benefit if these services are used for work purposes.

• There is a need to undertake an urgent review of the current Family Day Care business model due to the forecast loss of operational funding from July 2015 to see where financial opportunities may exist to ensure the continuation of the service into the future.


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• The whole childcare sector awaits the outcome of the Productivity Commission report into Children’s Education and Care services with an understanding there may be possible impacts across the sector (e.g. offering parents a Government rebate toward the cost of hiring private nannies).

Recommendations arising from key findings Based on the findings of this review, it is recommended that: 1. Council continue to monitor supply and demand of Children’s Education and Care services and conducts similar reviews directly after each Census is conducted and new community population data is released. The intention of such reviews being to keep Council, current and future service providers and the community informed about the status of children’s care service provision within the local government area. 2. Council provides existing and potential Children’s Education and Care service providers with a copy of this review to increase awareness and understanding of the level of unmet demand for services and to encourage them to consider locations and service models that are suited to current and future demand trends. 3. Council organise a forum for local Children’s Education and Care service providers to discuss the findings of this review and to keep abreast of current and emerging challenges facing the sector. 4. Council liaise with Government approving bodies of Children’s Education and Care and local Long Day Care service providers to see where opportunities exist to grant a number of prioritised approved places to residents and also, if approved to do so, provide more care to local residents with under 2 year old children. 5. That once released, Council review the Federal Government’s Productivity Commission report into Children’s Education and Care services to consider its impact on services in relation to future childcare provision and needs within the local government area. 6. Council continue to explore opportunities to address the gaps identified in this report, specifically:

• Expansion of community Pre-schools, Out of School Hours and Occasional Care services;

• Inclusion of Out of School Hours services to operate within local school grounds or within close walking proximity and to liaise with and support school principals and Department of Education officers to develop a framework that clearly defines the roles and responsibilities of each entity in relation to the supply and demand of such services; and

• Review the current FDC operating business model to see where financial opportunities may exist to ensure the continuation of the service into the future due to the loss of Federal Government operational funding.


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1. Introduction

1.1 Overview

One of the trends which emerged from the 2011 Census was a significant increase in the number of families with young children living in the North Sydney local government area (LGA). Between 2006 and 2011, the number of children aged 0 to 11 years grew by 1,282 (or 27%). This is equivalent to an additional 263 children arriving each year for the last five years. The increasing number of families living in the area has implications for the type and number of services provided by Council and the local community. To better understand these implications, in 2013 North Sydney Council surveyed parents with young children to identify the challenges and issues families were facing. One of the main issues identified was access to children’s education and care services (‘childcare services’). Government approved childcare services are fee paying services outside a child’s family care and home environment and operate external to formal school education institutions. Families typically prefer such services to be in close proximity to their homes or workplaces. Childcare service providers aim to respond to local demand conditions. North Sydney Council believes it is important to keep its community informed about the supply of such services within the LGA so that residents have access to information about the range of service options in their community. It also serves to inform local childcare operators and potential operators about the current and future market forces for this sector within the LGA. The purpose of this review is to determine the capacity of current approved childcare services within the LGA to meet the existing as well as future demand. It discusses areas where there may be an oversupply of a certain service type and an under supply of another type. It also provides an assessment of the likely future needs for services arising from forecast population growth. It reviews local demographics, childcare service types and their capacity. It also takes into account the data and responses from recent childcare surveys and consultations. The responses provide information about barriers to accessing services other than just availability and capacity. These included fees for service, support for families and children with additional needs, cultural and language barriers, lack of information and transport issues as well as services’ ability to attract quality staff and offer quality childcare while remaining sustainable within a highly regulated marketplace.

1.2 Current Population

The total number of young children that live in the LGA is shown in Table 1. This shows that in 2011, there were 5,993 children aged 0-11 years living in the area (an increase of 1,282 children since 2006). Over 50% of all young children live in the adjoining suburbs of Cremorne, Cammeray and Neutral Bay.


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Table 1 North Sydney LGA Child Population

Child’s Age Change

from 2006

Suburbs Total 0 – 4 5 – 11 Cremorne 1313 704 609 +20%

Cammeray 909 475 434 +39%

Neutral Bay 852 454 398 +13%

Wollstonecraft 649 416 233 +35% Crows Nest/St Leonards 529 314 215 +16% North Sydney 492 264 228 +43% Waverton 299 165 134 +2%

Cremorne Point 233 129 104 +32%

Kirribilli 231 151 80 +46%

Milsons Point/Lavender Bay 203 103 100 +209% McMahons Point 148 88 60 -13% Kurraba Point 135 74 61 +30%

Total 5993 3,337 2,656 +27%

Source : Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing 2006 and 2011. Compiled and presented by Community profile.id.

Between 2006 and 2011 there was also an increase of 767 households with young children within NSLGA of which 706 were couple parents and 61 were single parents. Table 2 Change in households with young children

Source : Australian Bureau of Statistics, Census of Population and Housing 2006 and 2011. Compiled and presented by Community profile.id

North Sydney LGA Households with children 2011 2006 Change Couples with children 4,820 3,993 +827

Couples with young children 3,290 2,584 +706

Couples with mixed-age children 309 265 +44

Couples with older children 1,221 1,144 +77

Sole parents with children 1,490 1,441 +49

Sole parents with young children 502 441 +61

Sole parents with mxd-age chln 81 88 -7

Single parents with older children 907 912 -5

Total households with children 6,310 5,434 +876 Total Households 31,365 30,171 +1,194


1.3 Future Population

Population growth is driven by a complex matrix of factors which ebb and flow over time. As a result, forecasting population growth is notoriously difficult. For example, demographic analysis tool Forecastforecast using projections based on ACouncil. As shown in Figure 1, iyear age bracket. Figure 1 North Sydney Forecast Population

For the purposes of this reviewas they significant underplay the impact of the future growth of emerging homebuilder cohort who are increasingly this report is based on the population growth experienced over the last five years continuing (refer to section 3.3 Assumptions for more information).

2014

Population growth is driven by a complex matrix of factors which ebb and flow over time. As a result, forecasting population growth is notoriously difficult. For example, Informed Decisions’

orecast.id (available on Council’s website) provides a based on Australian Bureau of Statistics data and housing data from

As shown in Figure 1, it forecasts very little growth between 2011 and 2031

North Sydney Forecast Population

ew, such forecast numbers need to be viewed with the impact of the future growth of a large young worker and

erging homebuilder cohort who are increasingly residing in apartment dwellings. Accordingly, this report is based on the population growth experienced over the last five years continuing

to section 3.3 Assumptions for more information).

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Population growth is driven by a complex matrix of factors which ebb and flow over time. As a Informed Decisions’

provides a population and housing data from

between 2011 and 2031 in the 0-11

viewed with extreme caution, large young worker and

apartment dwellings. Accordingly, this report is based on the population growth experienced over the last five years continuing


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2. Methodology

By way of a starting point, it was important to establish the current supply of approved childcare services operating within the LGA. A complete list of services and their approved place numbers was provided to Council by the NSW Department of Education and Communities (DEC). Service providers within the LGA were also surveyed and asked about operational matters and vacancy rates. Of the 49 local services asked to complete the surveys, 24 (49%) responded. Of the 49 services operating in the LGA, 25 are approved to offer care for 0-2 year old children. Based on these numbers, it was important to identify from the survey responses, the actual numbers of 0-2 year olds being cared for in the 25 services. Although services may be approved to provide 0-2 year old care, some view the high cost of care for this age group as prohibitive and so do not offer it. To assess the current and future need for services against the population data, information was drawn from the Community.id and Forecast.id datasets (available on Council’s website) for the overall Council area and also for each suburb within the LGA. These datasets are prepared from data gathered by the Australian Bureau of Statistics past and future population and housing development data provided by Council. Further market information was obtained from the Childcare and Early Learning in Summary June 2013 quarter review by the Australian Department of Education. These tools and reports enabled the following methodology to be developed:

• Map the population cohorts of age groups 0 - 6 years and 6 -12 years (being birth to under 12 years) across all LGA suburbs;

• Review approved childcare service types and numbers of approved places within those services across the LGA;

• Extrapolate numbers of children from couple and sole parent families in the LGA where

both/sole parents work/study - to be known as ‘potential demand population’ for approved childcare services;

• Estimate the numbers (%) of children 0-12 years within the ‘potential demand population’ receiving informal care or shared parental care. Deduct this number (%) to determine an ‘actual demand population’;

• Calculate ‘future demand population’ by adding a 25% population growth projection to ‘actual demand population’ across the LGA; and

• Estimate the number of times one approved childcare place is generally used per service type known as ‘occurrences’. For example, two children from two different families often use one approved place over the course of a week. Compare this occurrence data against numbers of children in the ‘actual demand population’.


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3. Assumptions

3.1 Time Lapse in Population Data

At the time of developing this review, population data could only be drawn from the 2011 census. This is the most up to date data available until the 2016 census is undertaken (and its data made available). Therefore, given this time lapse, it is important to note the challenges of collecting reliable and accurate population data and then developing suitable formulae in order to report the kind of information required for the purpose of this review.

3.2 Waiting List Information

For the purpose of this review, childcare service’s waiting list numbers and data were not considered to be reliable. There are inherent problems arising from using waiting lists to gauge demand where one child may be on several services lists or may even be already enrolled in an approved service but their parents retain their name on several other service lists to keep their options open. Also, some families on waiting lists may not require care for a year or more (or never) but may still be counted as requiring immediate care.

3.3 Demographic Projection Data Accuracy

Caution needs to be exercised if relying purely on Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data when estimating future populations. For example, Leichhardt Council reported that both State Planning NSW and NSW Health Projections data significantly underestimated future population projections of 5-11 year old children within its LGA by 2016 - by a suggested 890 children (source: Feb 2014 Leichhardt Children Projections 2011-2013). This had a dramatic effect on the supply and demand for Out Of School Hours (OOSH) services in their LGA. Therefore, although the forecast increase in the North Sydney LGA of children 0-12 between 2011 and 2031 is not considered by the ABS to be of significance, other social factors not readily available have been considered when determining to use a 25% projected increase up 2021, as follows:

• Between 2006 and 2011 there was a significant increase of 1,282 (27%) of 0 -12 year old children not accurately forecast in the previous Census data.

• As has happened since the 2006 Census, it is likely that a growing number of young couples and their future families will have a preference to remain in units and apartments rather than follow the historic trend to move into houses in outer suburbs that are now becoming less accessible and affordable than they once were.

• Emerging factors such as increasing numbers of families from other cultures that have

a preference to reside in apartments or smaller residences closer to the city, shopping, schools and transport where they are not as reliant on private motor vehicles.

• The new 3 bedroom house on the quarter acre block is becoming less of a dream for

young Australian families where both parents are busy building careers than are necessarily building new homes in inaccessible outer suburbs. Instead, many are developing a preference for purchasing older homes in suburbs closer to the city and restoring them.

• Educational factors where the NSW Government’s “My School” website scores often

encourage young families into particular areas or suburbs where schools may appear to yield better academic results.


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4. Approved Children’s Education and Care Service Types

While it is widely recognised that families use a wide variety of service options for their children, including informal care by family and friends or private nannies, this review only considers the availability of government approved and regulated service types that are away from a child’s home. They are as described as follows:

4.1 Long Day Care (LDC)

LDC centres are children’s education and care facilities for children from birth to under formal school age. A LDC centre generally operates long hours, usually between 8 and 12 hours per day, primarily to provide support to families who work or study. Children can attend a LDC centre full-time or part-time depending on their family requirements and the availability of care. Fees vary.

4.2 Family Day Care (FDC)

FDC is children’s education and care service operating from the homes of approved registered educators for small groups of children from birth to under 12 years of age. Educators work in partnership with parents, scheme management and trained professional staff to provide education and care in a home-like environment. Fees and operational times of FDC educators are individually negotiated with families.

4.3 Pre-schools (PS)

PS services are centre-based facilities catering to children 3+ years school generally in the year or two prior to attending formal school. Their operational hours have been historically six hours a day and are consistent with the public school term dates and hours. However, some PS are now known as “extended hours” PS and operate throughout the year similar to LDC with the option of education and care for up to five days a week.

4.4 Occasional Care (OC)

OC services are centre based facilities providing intermittent education and care for children under school age. These services provide flexible care for one-off or short term needs and are generally used by families for shopping, attending appointments, casual work commitments or respite purposes. Operational hours and fees vary.

4.5 Out of School Hours (OOSH)

Is centre-based education and care services for primary school aged children outside of normal school hours. These services are general broken into three types:

• Before School Care (BSC) – generally operate between 7am-9am during Department of Education (DE) school terms;

• After School Care (ASC) – generally operate between 3pm-6.00pm during DE school terms; and

• Vacation Care (VC) – usually operate during DE school holidays between 8am-6pm. Fees and hours vary between service types.


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5. Current Government Fee Subsidy Types

The Federal Government provides eligible families help with approved and registered child care service fees. The current Government childcare fee subsidies provided to families are complex and difficult to understand and administer. They are currently part of the Government’s productivity review into childcare.

5.1 Child Care Benefit (CCB)

To be eligible to have this benefit provided by way of reduced fees administered by an approved child care service, parents or guardians need to meet all of the following:

• Be using an approved or registered child care service; • Be the responsible person for paying the child care fees; • Ensure their child is immunised (or on an immunisation catch-up schedule) or is exempt

from the immunisation requirements; • Meet the residency requirements; and • Meet income test requirements.

5.2 Child Care Rebate (CCR) or Child Care Tax Rebate. (CCTR)

Assists all families regardless of income by refunding a percentage of the out-of-pocket expenses for approved or registered childcare if parents/guardians are working, studying or training.

5.3 Jobs, Education and Training (JET) Child Care Fee Assistance

Helps with the cost of out of home childcare for sole parents wanting to enter the workforce after having a child and doing activities such as job search, work or study. Eligibility criteria apply.


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6. Government Policy Influences

Over the past 20+ years there have been significant Federal Government policy changes that have influenced supply and demand for childcare services across the nation and within the LGA. These are:

6.1 Historical Influences

During the 1990’s, the Federal Government applied a consumer based market driven model to all out of home childcare services. This included a major shift in the way the funding model had been operating. It meant direct financial support provided to non-profit community LDC and some OOSH service operators via recurrent operational funding and start-up LDC capital grants were removed. Such funding had enabled community based non-profit services to keep their fees at a reasonable and accessible level. It had also allowed services to provide an income tested government fee subsidy for low-income families using non-profit community based services. This fee subsidy was then known as Child Care Assistance (CCA). It was also removed. All subsidies were replaced by the current universal CCB & CCR fee subsidy systems and made available to all families using any approved or registered childcare service which now included private for-profit services. All families were now eligible to apply for and receive at least the minimum CCR subsidy. Anything above the minimum being dependent on the amount of family income. Result: Over the years since this shift in policy the result is: a misdistribution of services; too few high cost 0-2 year old places; increasing unchecked fee increases; no control over where new services are established; and open slather for CCB & CCR funding. Fees of up to $165 per day are charged in LGA with start up capital funding no longer being made available to community based non-profit operators in areas of high demand.

6.2 General Influences

The Federal Government no longer undertakes their regular childcare needs analysis which had previously identified areas of high to low demand. Instead the “My Child” website was introduced. Parents were now required to shop around for their childcare and check where vacancies existed in approved services that may or may not be within their capacity to pay. There was no longer a proper assessment of areas of demand for prospective childcare operators to research business potential and enter with some degree of certainty and sustainability. Over time, these changes led to a huge, unrestrained, for-profit based sector within the sector. Large private commercial entities and corporations grew so much that childcare now found itself floated on the stock exchange, leading to aggressive takeovers of small private and community based operators by the giants, such as ABC and Universal Childcare, right across the nation, only to eventuate in eventual collapses. Nevertheless, high numbers of private and commercial operators have remained in low cost property suburbs becoming ever dependent on CCB for their business viability and their ability to charge high fees and make a profit. However, many have failed. On the other hand, lower numbers of private and new corporate operators entered into high property cost areas such as the North Sydney LGA leading to an unmet demand for LDC and even higher fees all now due to the market forces of supply and demand.


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Private commercial and corporate childcare services now monopolise the sector, particularly in the 2-5 year old smaller LDC service area. This has led to a stagnated development of new or upgraded community based non-profit LDC centres. This stagnation also applies to traditional 9am -3pm PS services which are mostly community based but not approved as work related services and whose consumers are ineligible for the higher rate of CCB. Result:

• For an increasing number of smaller private LDC operators there is no financial incentive in offering higher costed care for children under two years of age. As such, there remains a consistent high demand for this age group.

• Skyrocketing fees and stagnation in the development of non-profit community operated LDC and PS services means the undersupply continues in high value property areas and an oversupply in lower value property areas.

6.3 Universal Access

The Federal Government policy of Universal Access to Early Childhood Education providing access for a minimum of 15 hours of pre-school education per week over 40 weeks of the year prior to entering formal school is yet to be fully implemented in NSW. Result:

• Potential increased demand for PS services. • In order to meet the 15 hours criteria traditional 9am-3pm, 2 and 3 day grouping services

will be required to alter their operating model. • Parents using traditional PS services are not eligible for the higher CCB fee assistance.

6.4 Paid Parental Leave

Potential introduction of a new Federal Government paid parental leave system. Result:

• Middle to high income earners are set to receive higher levels of government support while on parental leave.

• Potential reduction in 0-2 year old demand places trending over time.

6.5 Budgetary Influences

Federal Government’s announcement of 2014 budget. Result:

• Changes to the criteria required to receive funding via the Government Support Programme (GSP) means a loss of operational funding for most FDC services from July 2015. This will have serious consequences to the ongoing sustainability of many city, suburban and even regional services.

• Impacts on families with the removal and/or income testing for receiving Family Assistance Part B.

6.6 Productivity Commission’s review into childcare

Thousands of sector submissions have been received. The majority being from the larger private sector. Possible inclusion of private nannies being approved for childcare fee subsidy systems. Final Report to be released.


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7. Demand Population

According to a customised report from the ABS, in 2011, 3,570 or 59.6% of the total number of 0-12 year old children (5,993) residing within the LGA had parents who were in the workforce or undertaking formal studies. These children form the base ‘potential demand population’ for childcare. Further, according to the ABS (4402.0 – Childhood Education and Care Australia issue May 2012):

“Around a quarter of children (26%) were usually cared by their grandparents”

This is considered informal care. From this we estimate that at least 20% of those 3,570 children with working/studying parents prefer their children to continue to receive informal care from grandparents, relatives and/or friends, leaving 80% of 3,570, or 2,856, who need or already use approved childcare.

Therefore for the purposes of this review, 2,856 now form our ‘actual childcare demand population ’ cohort. In the past, the employment status of parents had less influence on the demand for traditional 9am-3pm PS and OC services. These service types are currently not deemed work related under the government’s work based Children’s Education & Care Services CCB criteria. As such, parents using these services are only entitled to the lower level CCR. However, demand for these services is shifting and they are now being used by a growing number of families whose parents work part-time, casually or are self employed and/or work from home. Added to this, the recent government policy, regarding universal participation in a formal Early Childhood Education Service in the year prior to attending formal schooling, may potentially be a new key driver of demand for traditional as well as extended hours PS services. Based on the ages of our ‘actual childcare demand population’ (2,856), the number of 0-6 year old children that were current or potential consumers of the childcare services of LDC, PS, FDC and OC, totals 1,694, of which 965 were children 0-2 years of age and 729 were 2-6 year olds. Also, there were 1,163, primary school aged children being current or potential consumers of Out of School Hours (OOSH) care services of ASC, BSC and VC. Table 3 Actual Current Demand Population requiring Children’s Education and Care services

Age of children 0 – under 2 2 – under 6 Primary school age TOTAL Actual demand

population 965 729 1,163 2,856


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8. Current Supply of Children’s Education and Care Services

8.1 Suburban Register of Population and Services

The map below provides an overview of the geographical distribution of long day care and preschool services in the North Sydney LGA. Map 1 Long Day Care & Preschool Services in the Nor th Sydney LGA

To provide a more detailed picture, following is a register revealing the population as at 2011 of children 0-under 12 years of age for each NSLGA suburb and the approved number of places per service type currently operating within those suburbs.


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When viewing the following register, give consideration to the compact geographical nature of the LGA. There may be suburbs where no services operate but neighboring suburbs have services operating within a short time/travel distance. CAMMERAY Population Children 2011 Birth – under 6 years 475 5 – under 12 years 434 Total child population 909 Childcare supply Long Day Care places 177 Pre-school places 40 Family Day Care (6 educators) 42 Occasional Care nil After School Care places 170 Before School Care places 170 Vacation Care places 0 Total Childcare places 599 CREMORNE Population Children 2011 Birth – under 6 years 704 6 – under 12 years 609 Total child population 1,313

Childcare supply

Long Day Care places 191 Pre-school places 60

Family Day Care places (2 educators) 14 Occasional Care nil After School Care places 46 Before School Care places 0 Vacation Care places 46 Total Childcare places 357 CREMORNE POINT

Population Children 2011 Birth – under 6 years 129 6 – under 12 years 104 Total child population 233

No childcare services


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CROWS NEST – ST LEONARDS Population Children 2011 Birth – under 6 years 314 6 – under 12 years 215 Total child population 52

Childcare supply

Long Day Care places 538 Pre-school places 25 Family Day Care places (1 educator) 7 Occasional Care nil After School Care places nil Before School Care places nil Vacation Care places nil Total Childcare places 570 KIRRIBILLI


Long Day Care nil Family Day Care places (2 educators) 14

Occasional Care nil After School Care places nil Before School Care places nil Vacation Care places nil

Total Child Care places 14

KURRABA POINT Population Children 2011 Birth – under 6 years 74 6 – under 12 years 61 Total child population 135

No Childcare services McMAHON’S POINT Population Children 2011 Birth – under 6 years 88 6 – under 12 years 60 Total child population 148

No Childcare services


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MILSONS POINT


No Childcare services NEUTRAL BAY


Childcare supply Long Day Care places 152 Pre-school places 59 Family Day Care places (I educator) 7 Occasional Care nil After School Care places 209 Before School Care places 150 Vacation Care places 45 Total Childcare places 622 NORTH SYDNEY/LAVENDER BAY

Population Children 2011 Birth – under 6 years 264 6 – under 12 years 228

Total child population 492 Childcare supply

Long Day Care places 536 Pre-school places 98 Family Day Care places (1 educator) 7 Occasional Care nil After School Care places 310 Before School Care places 71 Vacation Care places 309 Total Childcare places 1,331 WAVERTON


No Childcare services


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WOLLONSTONECRAFT Population

Total Persons 2011 Birth – under 6 years 416 6 – under 12 years _23

Total child population 649 No Childcare services

8.2 Early Childhood Education & Care (ECEC) Services – Current Status

Approved 0 - under 6 year old childcare services are now referred to by the Government and the sector as ‘Early Childhood Education and Care’ services (ECEC). The following table reflects each of the different ECEC service types and their number of approved places for this population cohort in each suburb of the LGA. Apart from traditional pre-schools not open during school holidays and only offering ECEC to 3-5 year old children, all operate throughout the week and across the year. All offer their service to working/studying parents as well as a small number of those requiring respite care. Hence, all target the same population cohort and compete within the market at the same time. This is particularly the case with the large number of LDC services. For this reason the below table provides numbers of approved places per service type as well as the total number of ECEC places across all suburbs and service types to demonstrate the number operating at the same time. For example, there are 1,392 LDC + 115 FDC + 15 OC = 1,522 ECEC places operating at similar times and days across the week competing for a similar population cohort. Table 4 Approved Places for 0-Under 6 Year Olds in the LGA

Suburb LDC PS FDC OC 0-6 Cammeray 177 40 - - 475 Cremorne Cremorne point

191 60 - - 833

Crows Nest St Leonards

269 25 - 15 314

Kirribilli - - - - 151 Kurraba Point - - - - 74 McMahons Point 24 - - - 88 Milsons Point Lavender Bay

- - 31

- - 103

Neutral Bay 152 59 - - 454 North Sydney 539 67 - - 264 Waverton - - - - 165 Wollstonecraft 40 - - - 416 LGA Wide 115

19 educators

Totals 1,392 282 115 15 3,337

Total 0-6 y/o service places

1,804

Total 0-under 6 y/o population

3,337

0-under 6 y/o actual demand

population 1,694 (see Table 3)


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Long Day Care (LDC)

Research conducted for this review revealed there are 24 LDC services operating within the LGA of which most are approved to care for under two year olds. These services provide a total of 1,392 approved places for children 0-6 years. However, service delivery operations differ, as do the numbers of children in each age category and the geographical concentrations of services and demographics of user groups. Nevertheless, all operate under Children’s Education and Care services National Regulations and National Quality Standards (NQS).

Pre-schools (PS)

There are just 282 approved PS places for children aged 3 – under 6 years operating within the LGA. These services traditionally operated 9am -3pm with an option of two or three days per week operating during school terms. Traditional PS has always been seen as a transitional early childhood education service preparing this age group for formal schooling. However, more and more families are also using traditional PS for work purposes and as such many believe these services should be considered for CCB approval. The previous coalition of Australian Governments (COAG), along with the former Government, introduced universal pre-schooling for all children for the year prior to commencing school. The why has been a well accepted concept, the how has become quite controversial in that there has been no offset funding or approval for CCB. Nor have the hours a child must attend been determined in NSW, where traditional service operational hours do not match with the 15 hours per week that government policy requires. As a result, there is still much confusion as to how the universal pre-schooling policy is to be rolled out across the nation. The majority of community based non-profit pre-schools in NSW were established when State Government funds assisted with the cost of construction. This funding source has been discontinued for quite some time and as a result, no community based or non-profit pre-schools have been established in the LGA for some time. Around the same time, all State Government operational funding was frozen. Anecdotal evidence also suggests that community based traditional pre-school growth across NSW has since stagnated because they are ineligible to offer families the higher level CCB. This has led to an increasing level of services offering extended hours PS (or pseudo LDC). More and more commercial operators are coming onto the market for this age group, attracted to the guaranteed higher CCB income stream and thus charging higher fees than traditional community based non-profit pre-schools.

Family Day Care (FDC)

The North Sydney Family Day Care (NSFDC) service is directly managed and operated by North Sydney Council. Families can access the services’ home-based educators residing and operating within and across the LGA (2 educators are located in neighboring LGA’s). A total of 19 registered educators have the capacity to provide education and care for up to 7 children per day of which only 4 can be under school age. Collectively the current NSFDC educators have the capacity to provide care for 115, birth – under 6 year old children per day. As a result of the new National Regulations FDC Educators are now required to hold or be working towards a minimum Certificate III in Children’s Care & Education. FDC is a popular childcare choice for families because children are cared for by the same educator in small groups within a home environment. FDC also provides employment, professional development and small business opportunities within the community. Currently a major concern exists among the FDC community regarding its ongoing feasibility and sustainability. This concern has arisen because of the forecast loss of Government operational funding under the Community Support Programme (CSP) for the majority of FDC schemes across the nation. Services currently receiving CSP assistance will now be assessed under new eligibility criteria. The criteria is such that the majority of schemes, particularly those in city and


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suburban areas will loose many tens of thousands of dollars in operational funding including the NSFDC scheme currently managed by Council. The impact of this loss, including possible redistribution of funds, is yet to be properly reported by the Government or assessed by peak FDC bodies. Given this situation, there is a need to undertake an urgent review of the current FDC business model to see where financial opportunities may exist to address this loss and ensure the survival of the service into the future.

Occasional Care (OC)

There is only one 15 place OC service operating in the LGA plus one other LDC service offering a few unspecified places. Like traditional PS, OC is not designated as an approved service type for CCB. However, due to the inflexibility of the other service types, it is being increasingly used in a semi-permanent way by working/studying parents who may need to attend classes, complete assignments, or undertake contract or casual work. This service type and the flexible care arrangements it offers may have increasing appeal to families with casual or contract work and as such should be approved for CCB as should traditional PS.

8.3 Out of School Hours (OOSH) Services – Current Status

Consideration must be given to the fact OOSH services operate at different times of the day and year. Therefore, unlike ECEC services, OOSH services mostly operate independent of each other. So they are not necessarily competing against each other unless they are same service types e.g. BSC operates in the mornings and independently of ASC services operating afternoons during school terms. VC operates only during school holidays. So we need to view OOSH services differently in terms of competition in the market place and how many approved places there are for each service type. For example there are 780, ASC places for a total of 1,163, primary school aged demand population children within the LGA. However, it is also important to note that most OOSH service places are not accessible to all the LGA demand population as many places are exclusively for students attending the specific school within which they operate - including private and independent schools. The demand for OOSH service places also reflects the critical need for additional public primary schools within the LGA. To that end North Sydney Council has negotiated with the Department of Education to establish a new 1,000 place public primary school on the site of the former ANZAC Club. This critical lack of public schools across the lower north shore area appears to validate the difficulty in accurately forecasting population growth and delivering services to match. It would be highly advantageous if OOSH services are incorporated into this new school. Since the emergence of this critical need for a primary school there has also been a great deal of recent debate surrounding who is actually responsible for the facilitation and delivery of OOSH services. Is it the responsibility of local government, Department of Education, non-profit organisations or commercial operators? Historically, both schools and local government have provided facilities and/or directly managed OOSH services. However, as the reduction and devolution of State Government funding and service responsibility lands in local governments’ hands, some councils have been forced to review such an ongoing duel role in the provision of community services such as OOSH. Added to this is the impact of National Quality Standards and Regulations for OOSH services where shared community use of Council facilities necessitated a review of their appropriate use by OOSH services. The many increasing administration costs and safety issues of transporting or


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walking children between schools and council facilities not positioned in what is now considered a reasonably safe distance can impact on the staffing numbers required and the quality of program delivery. Therefore, it is now evolving that the most appropriate delivery model of quality OOSH services are those situated within a child’s own school or within a council owned and/or shared use community centre located within a very short and safe walking distance from schools. These services are generally managed by school management, school parent committees or contracted lease arrangements with non-profit or commercial operators. Table 5 Approved places 6 - under 12 yrs LGA

Suburb BSC ASC VC 6-12 year olds Cammeray 170 170 - 434 Cremorne Cremorne point

- -

46 46 609 104

Crows Nest St Leonards

- -

- -

215

Kirribilli - 45 - 80 Kurraba Point - - 61 McMahons Point - - 60 Milsons Point - - 100 Neutral Bay 150 209 45 398 North Sydney Lavender Bay

75 -

310 -

309 228

Waverton - - - 134 Wollstonecraft - - - 233 Totals 395 780 400 2,656

2011, 6-12 y/o

population 2,656

2011, 6-12 y/o demand population 1,163 (see Table 3)

After School Care (ASC)

ASC has the highest level of demand and is the most utilized of the OOSH services. It provides care for school-aged children during the gap hours after their school day has finished and parents’ work or study commitments are completed for the day. Services generally operate until 6pm or later. The majority of children attend on a part time basis meaning enrolled children do not all attend the service every day of the week. As such one approved ASC service place may often care for two or more children over the week (e.g. one child attends Monday-Wednesday another Thursday & Friday) thereby servicing the ASC needs of more than one family. This doubling of use is known as ‘occasions of care’. It means we should not presume or plan one for approved ASC place for every actual demand population child. Currently, there are only 780, ASC places for the 1,163 actual demand population based on the 2011 census data for this age cohort. Prior to, as well as since, 2011 a critical shortage of public primary school places has emerged. It must therefore be assumed there has been a significant and unplanned growth in the number of this age group between 2006 and 2014 that has not yet been formally identified by the ABS. As such, there may also be a significant increase in the actual demand population for ASC services explaining why current approved numbers are not meeting actual demand.


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Before School Care (BSC)

Historically, there been less demand for BSC than ASC services. Not as many providers operate within the LGA, offering only 395 places for a total actual demand population of 1,163. Therefore, for planning purposes, it is safe to assume not as many of the actual demand population will continue to require as many BSC places now or into the future.

Vacation Care (VC)

VC remains the only OOSH service to receive some operational funding from the State Government. It provides care with an emphasis on recreational activities for primary school aged children during school holidays. VC also falls under the National Quality Framework and National regulatory requirements. There are currently 400 VC places operating within the LGA. As with North Sydney Council, other Councils continue to provide facilities but have moved on from directly operating and managing VC. This has meant that new non-profit and commercial operators have moved into the delivery of these services over the past few years. The majority of VC places (400) are situated in the suburb of North Sydney. As with other OOSH services it is forecast that a demand for VC will increase over time.


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9. Service Provider Survey Results As part of this review, in April 2014, all approved childcare providers operating within the LGA were invited to respond to a survey. The survey questions were tailored to elicit information about the service types, their locations, the capacity of services, the fees charged, the number of children attending in each age group, if the service is private for profit or community based non-profit, how many of the children attending reside out of the LGA, whether they are operating to capacity, if they have a wait list, if yes do they charge a wait list fee and how much is it, are any experiencing financial difficulties or operational barriers, and do they care for children with diagnosed additional needs? Of the 49 approved services operating in the NSLGA 51% (25) responded the numbers and service types being as follows: - (9) LDC (1) traditional pre-school (4) extended hours pre-school (1) OC (1) BSC (1) FDC (2) BSC (3) ASC (2) VC (1) unspecified Although this would normally be seen as a significant response rate, the results are nonetheless skewed as the majority of responding services were not truly representative of the services or operators in the LGA as most were community based non-profit services. Of the 25 services respondents, 7 were private for profit and 17 were community based non-profit. Of those 7 private services, 5 were LDC, 1 VC and 1 PS (Figure 1). Given the fact that the highest proportion of services operating within the LGA are private for profit but were the least number who responded, it is safe to assume that of the total 49 services, less the 25 responders there are a further 24 services operating in the LGA, the majority of which are privately operated LDC. Figure 1 Childcare Types

Although 11 out of the 25 responding services reported they are approved to offer care for under 2 year old children with an average capacity of 10.8 per service (118 places) not all these places are required by law to actually be occupied by this age group. Therefore, for this review and the fact the majority of privately operated LDC services did not complete the survey, it was difficult to determine exactly how many approved under 2 year old places there are in the LGA in order to then determine how many are actually being filled by this age group. Because of the high costs associated with the care of under 2’s in terms of the child to staff ratios, equipment and resources, it is safe to assume that not all approved places for under 2’s are actually occupied by this age group.

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Figure 2

Most importantly, survey respondents reported an average of 30.5% of attending children reside outside of the NSLGA. Given the majority of respondents were community based providers it is reasonable to assume this is a very conservative estimate across all 49 LGA approved service because it is widely known that community based services tend to be more geographically situated in suburban areas and be most likely utilised by families within the local community. This is opposed to private and/or work based LDC services concentrated in the CBD’s of North Sydney, Crows Nest and St Leonards being more likely to provide care for children of workers commuting from other LGA’s. Therefore, an important finding for this review is that of the 49 services operating in the LGA a disproportionate number of children attending privately operated LDC services where most are concentrated and located in CBD areas, do not reside within the LGA. But of those children attending who do live in the LGA most would reside in neighboring suburbs. In terms of affordability of approved childcare services within the LGA, the service with the highest known fee charged is a private LDC service @ $165 p/d for under 2’s. Otherwise, see the following range of service survey respondent fees: LDC - $112 (non-profit) - $135 (private) per day under 2’s (lower for older age groups) FDC - $105 (average per educator) per day under 2’s (lower for older age groups) OC - $85 (non-profit) up to per day PS - $65 (non-profit) - $100 (private) VC - $50 (non-profit) - $125 (private) ASC - $21 - $32.75 (non-profit) per day Further responses elicited from service providers revealed 31.8% experience financial or operational issues impacting negatively on their service delivery. These included parking pick up & set down zones for parents, staff time and costs of additional administration now required for OOSH services because of new National Regulations and Quality Standards, facility maintenance and lease arrangement issues. Also, 37% are currently not operating to total capacity but most of those hold minimal vacancies on Fridays and Mondays. Many services have waiting lists where the largest demand appears to be for under 3’s totaling 783 of which 368 are under 2’s. Also, there were large numbers on community non-profit PS waiting lists and a large demand for ASC. Most services charge a one off wait-list fee with the average being $30.

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3-6 years (not attending school)

Primary school aged children

How many children in each age group is your service approved to How many children in each age group is your service approved to How many children in each age group is your service approved to How many children in each age group is your service approved to care for and educate?care for and educate?care for and educate?care for and educate?


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10. Parent Survey Results Parents were invited to provide input into the review process via an on line survey. 263 LGA residents responded most of whom resided in Cammeray, Wollstonecraft, Crows Nest and North Sydney. Of the total respondents, 93 (35%) reported an immediate unmet need for approved childcare. 46 respondents were in need of OOSH services and 61 required LDC. There were 19 sole parents, 58 were parents of children under 3 years of age and of these 38 had children under 2 years of age. Of the total respondents, 104 were currently receiving informal care and of these, 77 preferred to retain their informal childcare arrangement. Questions elicited information such as the type of care required, the reason for requiring approved childcare, the days of care required. There were also questions asking respondents about such things as any barriers to access they may be experiencing and also to rate the importance of their particular considerations when it comes to placing their children in a childcare service. Of the respondents the majority of 89.5% require childcare for work/study related purposes while 21% required care in order for themselves or their children to have social interaction. Also 16.2% required casual or occasional care in order to attend appointments or for casual work commitments. Figure 3

Of the major access barriers, 57.8% of respondents cited affordability and 25% location. 27% were currently on a waiting list, of which most had been waiting for an average of 3-12 months and had paid a one off average wait list fee of $30. Not surprisingly the quality of childcare was cited as being the most important consideration for families as was a well maintained child friendly environment and the dependability and consistency of care. Only 6.6% of respondents reported they were currently on work approved parental leave while 57% stated they wished to return to work when their child is between 6-12 months of age.

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Figure 4

Many respondents also provided comments to support their answers most of which could be summarised as follows:

• There is a major shortage of OOSH particularly ASC. • Affordability is becoming a major problem with most new private services charging $160+

per day. (One family cited they paid $480 per week for 3 days of care). • Parking for drop off and collection of children was often cited as an issue. • There was a call for more affordable non-profit community based childcare services in the

LGA. • There were comments relating to children becoming sick in childcare as was a call for

care of sick children. • Several comments brought attention to the need for more OC. • Many noted that services were often difficult to get to.

Overall, the above responses from resident families reflect the primary concerns and barriers parents face when accessing childcare services within the LGA. They also reflect and reinforce similar issues revealed earlier in this review.

How old will your youngest child be when you plan to return to the How old will your youngest child be when you plan to return to the How old will your youngest child be when you plan to return to the How old will your youngest child be when you plan to return to the workforce?workforce?workforce?workforce?

No current plan to return to the workforce

0-6 months

6-12 months

12-24 months

After 2 years

Do not know


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11. Current Supply & Future Demand Table 6 demonstrates service specific approved childcare service places required for current ‘actual demand population’ and estimated places required by 2021 for the ‘future actual demand population’. As explained earlier, it uses an estimated 25% population increase in the 0-12 year old population cohort by the year 2021. Also, in order to accurately forecast future demand for approved childcare services, consideration must be given to usual average multiple use of one approved place by more than one child across any given week known as ‘occasions of care’. Based on evidence from Childhood Education and Care, Australia (June 2011) the following average multiple use per place per service type are assumed:

• LDC, FDC, OC, PS = average 1.4 child usage rate per place per week. • OOSH services = average 1.25 child usage rate per place per week.

Table 6 Current and Future Demand Populations and Places Required Service Age Grouping

Current Number of Approved Places

Current ‘actual demand population’

Places required for current ‘actual demand population’

‘Future actual demand population’

Places required for ‘future actual demand population’ 2021

0-under 6 years

1,392 LDC

282 PS 115 FDC 15 OC 1,804

965, 0-2 yrs 729, 2-6 yrs

1,694 (see Table 3)

965/1.4 = 689 0-2 plc

729/1.4 = 520 2-6 plc

1,209 places

(1,694+25%) 1,206, 0-2 yrs 911 2-6 yrs

2,117

861, 0-2 y/o places 651, 2-6 y/o places

1,512 places (2,117/1.4)

6-under 12 years

780 ASC 391 BSC 401 VC

1,163 (see Table 3)

930 ASC (1,163/1.25) 605 BSC (65% ASC)

465 VC (50% ASC)

(1,163+25%)

1,454

1,163 ASC (1,454/1.25)

756 BSC (65% ASC)

581 VC (50% ASC)

Note: The above table represents only those children within ‘actual demand populations’ and ‘future actual demand populations’ that currently are residing and by 2021 will be residing within the LGA. It does not account for children residing in other LGA’s taking up childcare places in the LGA. Therefore, if just taking account of current and future ‘actual demand populations’ residing within the LGA, it is immediately evident there appears to be an oversupply of LDC for children aged 3-under 6 years, given all 1,804 ECEC places are able to cater to this age group. In the event no additional LDC services enter the market up to 2021, it is forecast that this will remain the case with LDC for this age group. However, there are only 282 PS places available for this age group. This means there is an obvious undersupply of PS places. As a result, there is little early childhood education choice for families residing in the LGA who are not working/studying but have children in this age group. This is of particular relevance given the government policy of universal access to early childhood education for all children in the year prior to attending formal schooling.


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Given most childcare services reported they are approved to care for children under the age of 2 years, it is not a legal requirement for them to do so. Based on high fees, along with the equipment, staff resources and therefore, high cost of care as well as the minimal number of places within each service for this age group it can only be assumed there is an undersupply of places for under 2 year old children who form the largest of the ‘current actual demand’ group for childcare services. Unless all childcare services opt to review their operating model and open up more of their under 2’s places or new services catering for this group enter the market it is forecast this will remain the case till 2021. There is also a chronic undersupply of OC (only 15 places reported) for parents of children 0-under 6 years who require this service type to meet casual work/study commitments or need respite care and are unable to call on friends or family. There is a clear and obvious undersupply of OOSH services the largest being the demand for ASC. This is evident given there are only 780 approved places for a current demand population of 1,163 children. This means the LGA is currently 150 places short of the 930 places that have been calculated to cater for this number of children. In the event no further ASC services enter into the market prior to 2021, this demand is only set to increase with a forecast additional 25% of children within this age group. As such, there will be a need for 1,163 ASC places to cater for the 1,454 of future demand population school aged children.


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12. Overview of Demand Trends

Long Day Care (LDC)

Over the past few years there has been considerable new investment in LDC within the LGA which has resulted in market saturation of this service type in some areas. It has meant the geographical spread of LDC is uneven with very few services if any operating in some suburbs. However, it could be argued that the compact geographical nature of the LGA with its proximity to other suburbs along with the age cohorts of some suburbs does not necessarily warrant the development of new services in these areas. On the other hand there are large concentrations of LDC services operating in the CBD’s of North Sydney, Crows Nest and St Leonards, most of which appear to be catering to a large and growing proportion of out of area children of working/studying parents. As a result it may be worthwhile for Council to seek to investigate the possibility of consulting with some LDC service operators to consider prioritising places for children of LGA resident population. This may also be an option for Council discussion when it comes to considering future development applications (DA’s) for this service type.

Family Day Care (FDC)

This service is currently facing a funding crisis where the Federal Government has flagged new strict operational funding criteria that few, if any, city suburban or even regional service schemes will be able to meet. Nevertheless, this service is unique in its ability to cater and care for large numbers of children per day while offering small business opportunities to members of the community. It offers intimate childcare in a homelike environment which many parents prefer particularly for their under 2 year old children. It has the capacity to offer more care for under 2 year olds per day than any other service type. There has always been large level of support for FDC from some quarters of the community. While currently the future of this service is of concern given its unique and positive social impact on the community, careful thought should be given to unpacking its operating model and reviewing new operational and fiscal opportunities for it to remain sustainable into the future.

Pre-school (PS)

There is an undersupply of PS places for the current population with considerable pressure on local services into the future given the imminent introduction of universal access to PS for the year prior to entering formal education. As a result, Council may consider ways to draw new investment in this service type either through the possible expansion of existing services or by bringing attention of this deficit with its potential to highly regarded private and/or community based non-profit sector operators. It is also important to consider the change of use for this service over recent years. Presently, many parents whose children attend traditional PS also work/study. However, because traditional PS services are not nominated as work based childcare services, parents are unable to claim the higher support payment of CCB. As a result, Council may consider advocating for a government review of its current work based childcare service type policy with a view to including PS work/study parents being approved to claim CCB.


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Occasional Care (OC)

There is a current shortfall of OC places to meet current potential demand for services. The gap in this service type is likely to increase given the emerging casualisation of the workforce and the need for parents to meet casual work/study commitments. OC also needs to be considered for CCB for working/studying parents using the service. As a result, Council may consider encouraging existing LDC services to review their capacity, reconfigure or possibly offer underutilised places as additional OC places within the community.

Out of School Hours (OOSH)

The current number of services and places available in the LGA is of concern given there is a very large current unmet demand (particularly for ASC) let alone looking at future demand trends, which are predicted to increase, without additional places or more services entering the market. Historically, OOSH services were often considered to be the responsibility of local government. Over time the Department of Education has only become involved in OOSH service provision where local P&C’s and/or school principals have seen the advantage and appropriateness of operating such services within school grounds. Without an understanding going forward of the differing roles and responsibilities of local government, the Department of Education, as well as private operators in providing OOSH services, any ability to meet an ever increasing demand (particularly for ASC) is unlikely to be met over time. Given these current and future issues surrounding the supply and demand for OOSH services in the community, Council may consider consulting with the Department of Education on the matter. An initial discussion point may be that be that the Department give consideration to the possibility of including OOSH services into any future planning for additional schools within the LGA and beyond.


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13. Key Findings

• There is a large concentration of work related Long Day Care services in central business

districts (North Sydney & Crows Nest/St Leonards), with a high proportion of places being taken up by children of parents residing outside, but working inside, the local government area.

• There is undersupply of Long Day Care for children under 2 years old. Although many services are approved to provide care for a smaller number of this age group, not all actually do so.

• There is an undersupply of affordable Long Day Care services in suburban areas

prioritising access for locals.

• There is a current and increasing demand for Out Of School Hours services, particularly for After School Care, leading to a need for the roles & responsibilities of Local Government, Department of Education, non-profit community based and private operators to be defined in the delivery of these services.

• There is a current and increasing demand for more community based traditional Pre-

school as a result of government policy for universal access of a minimum of 15 hours per week of early childhood education for all children in their year prior to entering formal education.

• There is a need for more Occasional Care to meet the increasing casual work/study

needs of parents.

• There is a need for Occasional Care and traditional Pre-school parents to have access to higher paid Child Care Benefit if these services are used for work purposes.

• There is a need to undertake an urgent review of the current Family Day Care business

model due to the forecast loss of operational funding from July 2015 to see where financial opportunities may exist to ensure the continuation of the service into the future.

• The whole childcare sector awaits the outcome of the Productivity Commission report into

Children’s Education and Care services with an understanding there may be possible impacts across the sector (e.g. offering parents a Government rebate toward the cost of hiring private nannies).

Recommendations arising from key findings

Based on the findings of this review, it is recommended that: 1. Council continue to monitor supply and demand of Children’s Education and Care services and conducts similar reviews directly after each Census is conducted and new community population data is released. The intention of such reviews being to keep Council, current and future service providers and the community informed about the status of children’s care service provision within the local government area. 2. Council provides existing and potential Children’s Education and Care service providers with a copy of this review to increase awareness and understanding of the level of unmet demand for services and to encourage them to consider locations and service models that are suited to current and future demand trends.


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3. Council organise a forum for local Children’s Education and Care service providers to discuss the findings of this review and to keep abreast of current and emerging challenges facing the sector. 4. Council liaise with Government approving bodies of Children’s Education and Care and local Long Day Care service providers to see where opportunities exist to grant a number of prioritised approved places to residents and also, if approved to do so, provide more care to local residents with under 2 year old children. 5. That once released, Council review the Federal Government’s Productivity Commission report into Children’s Education and Care services to consider its impact on services in relation to future childcare provision and needs within the local government area. 6. Council continue to explore opportunities to address the gaps identified in this report, specifically:

• Expansion of community Pre-schools, Out of School Hours and Occasional Care services;

• Inclusion of Out of School Hours services to operate within local school grounds or within close walking proximity and to liaise with and support school principals and Department of Education officers to develop a framework that clearly defines the roles and responsibilities of each entity in relation to the supply and demand of such services; and

• Review the current FDC operating business model to see where financial opportunities may exist to ensure the continuation of the service into the future due to the loss of Federal Government operational funding.

Documents

Final - North Sydney Childcare Review · Government Policy Influences ... Reference Group and the expiration of Council’s 2010-2012 Children’s Services Strategic Plan. It