Wollongong suburbs are in a childcare 'desert', according to a first-ever project mapping childcare availability in every neighbourhood in Australia.
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Researchers classified a neighbourhood or area a childcare desert if it had more than three times as many children as childcare places.
The report from the Mitchell Institute for Education and Health Policy at Victoria University found more than one in three Australians are living in a childcare 'desert'.
This included suburbs such as Helensburgh, Dapto and Avondale. In the Dapto-Avondale area there were only 0.1172 places per child. Helensburgh had 0.1816 spots per child.
Katie Coleman, the director of Happy Hearts Academy Early Learning Centre in Helensburgh, said educators had seen first-hand the struggles local families had trying to secure vacancies for their children into long day care facilities.
"That's why in 2021 Happy Hearts Academy invested in expanding our services and facilities to help cater to more families," she said.
"We are delighted to announce that we have grown to a service that serves 96 children and their families each day.
"Since January 2022 we have been able to offer quality care to more families. We have been able to offer positions to our wait-list families and to the wider community.
"The expansion from a 46 place to 96 was about offering some relief to local families and the Illawarra community."
The Deserts and Oases: How accessible is childcare in Australia? report shows just over 30 per cent of families living in major cities live in childcare deserts, compared with 42.6 per cent and 62.6 per cent of people living in inner regional and outer regional neighbourhoods.
The contrast is even more stark with remote and outer remote areas having the highest levels of childcare deserts at 87.5 and 79.9 per cent respectively.
Big Fat Smile CEO Jenni Hutchins said the report did not paint an accurate picture as it looked at only long day care services and not other sector options.
"They are also equating one child to one place, which isn't how it works. On average you have two and a half children to one place because most children come to our service for two to three days," Ms Hutchins said.
"I would suggest that data is not reflective of what families here are seeing or saying. Families have choice. They have a choice about what they want to use.
"We certainly have vacancies across the Illawarra.
"The biggest demand we have is the birth to two-year-old and the two to three-year-old space. After that demand lessons because once again more and more options come in like schools, transition to schools and other options in the market which gives families greater choice.
"We would always recommend and support greater diversity in rural towns because choice is important for families, as is quality.
"The most important thing for children's outcomes is a high-quality early learning and care environment.
"Quality along with choice is what parents look for. That is why we are always looking at opportunities to expand where the demand is and where the need is and communities.
"We look at the demography of communities, where families are moving to and then we look at our options."
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Agron Latifi
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
Wollongong born and bred. I love reporting about the Illawarra region and have been doing it for more than 20 years. I've moved into sport recently after covering the education round for the last five plus years for the Illawarra Mercury. It's been a great pleasure.
