Full List: Every South Australia childcare centre rated

South Australian daycare centres have performed poorly in the latest rankings, with SA being the only state in the country to not feature a daycare centre in the top 600. Search the list to see where your centre ranks.

Exclusive: South Australia has performed poorly in the latest childcare centre ratings.

It is the only state in the country to not have any childcare centres rated as ‘outstanding’ and none that feature in the top 600.

KindiCare, a child care app, rated 17,300 centres across Australia, based on the results of official inspections, as well as parent reviews.

Out of 1280 childcare centres in South Australia, not one achieved the top rating.

And the state’s highest rated centre – Goodstart Early Learning Ingle Farm in Adelaide – only came in at 606th on the national list, with a rating of 9.4 out of 10.

The figures show that 5.6 per cent – or 72 centres in the state – were rated as ‘fair’, or underperforming.

Happy Haven OSHC Cobdogla finished bottom in the state, with a score of just 6.5 out of 10.

KindiCare founder Benjamin Balk said centres with a rating of ‘fair’ typically provided early learning services that were well below the national average.

“These centres often have limited or poor reviews from families or have been assessed as ‘working towards’ the National Quality Framework in some or all areas,” Mr Balk said.

Search our table below for your childcare centre’s rating and watch the video tour above of the best performing childcare centre in Australia rated by KindiCare.

A spokeswoman for Happy Haven OSHC Cobdogla, which was more than two and hours drive inland from the state capital, said it looked after just six children, some with disabilities.

She said following their first government inspection in late 2019, it was found to be meeting 23 of the 40 standards, but they were now confident it was meeting 35.

“The recruitment of qualified staff remains an ongoing sector challenge,” the spokeswoman said.

She also said they had not had any complaints from families in the last 12 months and KindiCare did not have access to its private portal where parents leave most of their reviews.

She said they were “proud to have supported children at the school living with severe disabilities, even when these don’t reflect in rating results”.

Other centres in the bottom five were also approached for comment.

Meanwhile, Kelly Brennan, centre director of the state winner, Goodstart Early Learning Ingle Farm, said dedicated staff were the “backbone” of the centre’s success.

She said educators continually updated their skills and knowledge to stay at the forefront of early childhood education trends and practices.

The children also get a rich education in the cultural heritage of Australia’s First Nations peoples.

Senior educator Donna Williams and Noah Brennan at South Australia's top rated childcare centre, Goodstart Early Learning Ingle Farm. Picture: Supplied

Nationally, Victoria had the largest percentage of outstanding centres (4.8 per cent), while, Tasmania had the highest proportion of centres rated fair (12.7 per cent).

Mr Balk said the majority of the centres unable to be rated by KindiCare were new centres that had opened in the last two years and had not had an official inspection yet.

In South Australia nearly one in five – 61 centres – were unrated.

He said families were likely to pay higher fees for new centres, many of which offered modern facilities and were new builds.

He said those with better ratings also tended to be more expensive.

He said a centre assessed as exceeding by the national regulator cost on average $12 per day more than one that working towards the National Quality Standards (NQS).

Families have been smashed by higher fee increases in 2023, despite the Albanese government upping subsidies for around 90 per cent of parents.

An interim report by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission found that childcare fees had risen between 20 per cent and 32 per cent in the last four years, faster than inflation and wages.

KindiCare said its data shows that the average long daycare fee in Australia was now $131.64.