Two years later more than 24 per cent of Australia is still in an ECEC desert

In March 2022 Victoria University’s Mitchell Institute published the first publicly released nationwide examination of early childhood education and care (ECEC) supply and demand, in a landmark report which became a key tool to explore the core issue of ethics of access and the availability of care. 

At the time the Deserts and Oases: How accessible is childcare in Australia? report showed that 35 per cent of all Australians live in “Childcare Deserts” – communities that suffer from a structural undersupply of ECEC services, where parents and families are seeking care, but where care is either not available at all, or waiting lists stretch beyond the period for which care would be required. 

Two years on the Institute has issued new findings, showing that about 700,000 Australians live in areas with virtually no access to childcare (sic.) at all.

The research is part of a massive international study that mapped ECEC accessibility across nine nations and for more than 10 million children. It also examined which approaches lead to better and fairer access for families.

Mitchell Institute Director and lead author, Associate Professor Peter Hurley, said the world-first global tracking of ECEC access provides vitally important information.

“We know that high-quality accessible childcare has huge benefits, for both workforce participation and helping young children to thrive,” he said. 

“Governments around the world are committing billions of dollars, pounds and euros to increase the supply of childcare, without much understanding of the best way to do it.” 

Known as The International childcare report: Mapping the deserts, the report allows policy makers, advocates, decision makers, parents, families and others to view the impact of  different government policies and how nations compare. 

One of the key findings of the report is simple – when it comes to accessing childcare in much of the world, where you live matters. More affluent neighbourhoods have the best access to childcare. These are the neighbourhoods that also have higher childcare fees, showing providers are attracted to areas where they can charge more.

Not all nations followed this pattern, however. Sweden and Norway enjoyed some of the greatest and fairest access, regardless of affluence levels. France, England, Wales and Australia, report authors argue, would benefit from greater government involvement in the funding and location of childcare equivalent to that of the primary school system to ensure better access in more disadvantaged areas.

When the nations in the study were ranked from best to worst, in terms of access to ECEC, Australia came in fourth place, of the nine countries included. 

While the number of ECEC places in Australia increased by about 70,000 between 2020 and 2024, many neighbourhoods continue to miss out. 

This research fills massive gaps in our understanding and is an important step in ensuring nations can learn from each other so that all families can access childcare when they need it, Associate Professor Hurley said. 

To highlight the findings of the report, Victoria University has produced a series of interactive stories. The full international study: International childcare report: Mapping the deserts will be released from early September. 

An outline of data highlighting the position of each state and territory in Australia is available here.