Around 700,000 Australians have virtually no access to childcare due to living in areas classified as ‘childcare deserts’, where there are more than three children per childcare place.
This alarming finding comes from a world-first study by Victoria University’s Mitchell Institute, published in International childcare report: Mapping the deserts. It’s part of a massive interactional study that mapped childcare accessibility across nine nations and for over 10 million children.
“For the first time, we can see the impact of different government policies and how nations compare. The results will affect the lives of millions of families around the world,” said Associate Professor Peter Hurley, the lead author and Mitchell Institute Director.
“There’s a lot of anecdotal evidence around the lack of childcare in Australia, but there wasn’t an analysis about the why or the how.”
“We have examined a huge amount of publicly available official datasets and provided a clear picture about access, or the lack of, to childcare. We hope the report gets people thinking about the entire childcare structure, and how we can make it better.”
The study’s results found that when it comes to accessing childcare, the uncomfortable truth is that where a person lives matters. Access to childcare has more to do with socioeconomic status. Affluent neighbourhoods hold the highest concentration of childcare access, as the ability to charge higher fees in these areas attracts more providers.
Researchers focused on one type of childcare, centre-based day care, which is subsidised by the Commonwealth Child Care Subsidy and is the service most used by children and families.
The study’s figures also confirm that access to childcare remains disproportionately in favour of metropolitan pockets and major regional areas, while remote areas continue to struggle.
While the number of childcare places in Australia has increased by about 70,000 between 2020 and 2024, rural Australia is still lagging behind, and the gap is only growing between rural and metropolitan areas.
When it comes to which states have better childcare access, the top three positions are held by Queensland (13 per cent), Victoria (15 per cent) and ACT (9 per cent). Meanwhile parts of NSW, Western Australia and Tasmania take the bottom three positions.
“All children and families should have the right to access high-quality early learning and care, no matter their postcode,” said Jay Weatherill from the Minderoo Foundation’s Thrive by Five campaign.
“Our early learning system disincentives early learning providers to operate in areas with smaller populations like regional communities, or lower-income areas, because it is based on a subsidy model.”
“The only way to address this challenge is by building a truly universal early childhood education and care system in Australia,” he said.
“A universal early learning and care system is in Australia’s best interest, and we strongly encourage the Federal Government to work towards making it a reality.”