Full List: Every Queensland childcare centre rated

The top rated and underperforming childcare centres across Queensland can be revealed. Search and see the list and watch our exclusive video.

Exclusive: Queensland has a smaller proportion of ‘outstanding’ childcare centres and more that are underperforming than the national average, according to new data.

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

Out of more than 3200 childcare services in Queensland, Southern Downs Regional Council OSHC in Stanthorpe came bottom in the state — and was the lowest rated in the country.

It was the only centre in Australia to receive a ‘poor’ rating, with a score of just 4.5 out of 10.

There were also 231 Queensland childcare centres that received the second lowest category of ‘fair’.

SEE QUEENSLAND'S 2024 CHILDCARE CENTRE RATINGS HERE

KindiCare founder Benjamin Balk said centres that had 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.

The best rated centre in the state was Everton Park Child Care and Development Centre in north Brisbane with a near perfect score of 9.9.

The centre boasted an oversized toy-free outdoor classroom where kids were encouraged to play with sticks.

Rose Edwards, Lexi Price and Matilda Mortimer playing at the Everton Park Child Care and Development Centre. Picture: Supplied

“We understand that young children’s brain development really needs large blocks of uninterrupted play time in natural environments,” Centre Director Jon Webb said.

“So, our outdoor classroom is a free-flow zone, where children can play with all ages and move inside and outside whenever they like.

“The outdoor classroom is toy-free and totally focused on loose parts, because a stick can be a zillion things, but a dinosaur toy is always a dinosaur.”

A spokesperson for the council said there were shortcomings in Southern Downs Regional Council’s Outside School Hours Care (OSHC)’s first official assessment, but the regulator had acknowledged its “willingness to responsibly and meaningfully participate in this process”.

The spokesperson said the assessment provided a “benchmark from which to implement those actions necessary to deliver a continued improvement of service to its community”.

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

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.

Tagai State College – Mabuiag Island (Mabuygiw Ngurpay Lag) Kindergarten was run by the state government and received the second lowest rating.

A spokeswoman for the department said “KindiCare ‘ratings’ were not official government quality ratings, nor endorsed by the Department of Education. As such, the Department is unable to comment on the KindiCare methods of ‘assessing quality’ or its ranking system.”

The spokeswoman added that the official quality rating for Tagai State College – Mabuiag Island was ‘meeting’ national standards, which was awarded to the service by the Queensland Government in August 2023.

Ziggy Taylor playing at the Everton Park Child Care and Development Centre. Picture: Supplied

“A rating of ‘meeting’ National Quality Standards (NQS) means that the service is meeting each of the 40 elements of the NQS and providing a quality education and care service to children,” the spokeswoman said.

Nationally, Victoria had the largest percentage of ‘outstanding’ centres (4.8 per cent), compared with South Australia where none of its centres achieved the top classification.

While, Tasmania had the highest proportion of centres rated ‘fair’ (12.7 per cent), compared with the ACT with just (2.4 per cent), and Victoria (4.2 per cent).

The majority of the centres unable to be rated by KindiCare were new centres that had opened in the last two years.

Mr Balk 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).

“And no surprise, the higher the KindiCare Rating, the more likely it is that the centre has a more recent and better NQS rating and parent reviews than centres that are lower,” Mr Balk said.

Families have been smashed by higher fee increases, 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 was now $131.64, with parents in the ACT paying the most per day on average ($142.25) with Victoria the second most expensive ($138.79).