Inner West Council removes waitlist fees in a bid to help with cost of living pressure

Freya Lucas

Mar 27, 2025

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Sydney’s Inner West Council has voted to abolish waitlist fees for all Council pre-schools, early learning centres and family day care services in a bid to support families in the community to better access early learning.

Across the early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector, early learning centres often have extensive waitlists due to factors such as population growth, limited places and demand for high quality, particularly in heavily populated areas such as Sydney’s Inner West.

The high demand for ECEC services in the Inner West means that families often need to join waitlists at multiple centres, often paying multiple waitlist fees, compounding costs on family budgets with little to no certainty that they will obtain a place.

“We wanted to help families with cost of living pressures and ensure that vulnerable people within our community don’t have this financial barrier to accessing our world-class early learning services,” Deputy Mayor Mat Howard said.

The measure, Councillor Jo Carlisle explained, was made possible through responsible management of Council’s Budget. The Council anticipates that there will be a number of immediate benefits to the community including removing barriers to access for lower income and vulnerable families, and families being more likely to place their child/ren on the waitlist earlier, a move that will potentially aid in better planning and resource allocation across Council’s services.

This initiative will come into effect in July this year. Pictured are Councillor Jo Carlisle and Councillor Mat Howard at Cavendish Street Early Learning Centre.

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