Future Western Sydney: Demand for childcare outstrips supply in Wentworth Point, Schofields

Working families in Western Sydney are fighting an uphill battle to give their kids the best possible start to life. Here are the ten suburbs screaming out for more childcare.

Melissa Scaife, Managing Director for Fit Kidz Learning Centres, with Audrey Williams, 4, Carter Jones, 3, Nixon Sanders, 1, Ava Westcott-Lewis, 3, and Nate Bishop, 4, at her Rouse Hill service. Picture: Justin Lloyd

Working families in parts of Western Sydney are fighting an uphill battle to give their kids their best start in life, with the biggest childcare shortfalls in suburbs like Wentworth Point, Schofields and Bardia on the outskirts of Liverpool.

Since 2016, census data calculations conducted by Westpac show the gap between supply and demand has dropped from a high of 1,259 places in Liverpool, to a maximum of 512 places in Wentworth Point in 2021.

However, eight of the top ten greatest need suburbs are in Sydney’s west, amounting to nearly 3,200 families who were forced to search outside their area for childcare.

Fit Kidz founder Melissa Scaife operates nine childcare services across Sydney with husband Michael, predominantly in the west. She’s opening a tenth centre at Box Hill this year due to the demand.

“We definitely have waiting lists at our Western Sydney centres. There are so many new housing estates and young families,” she said.

“There are more and more centres opening … but families are quite savvy, they want high quality early childhood education rather than just centre on the corner of their road.”

As the number of childcare centres grows, so does the task of attracting and retaining staff. NSW is expected to fall short of early childhood educators by 17,000 people.

3-year-olds Carter Jones and Ava Westcott-Lewis at FitKidz in Rouse Hill. Operator Melissa Scaife is opening a tenth childcare centre this year due to the demand. Picture: Justin Lloyd

“Our sector never got a break (through the pandemic) and it was really tough on our people – we’ve definitely seen a higher level of burnout than ever before,” Ms Scaife said.

Ms Scaife said the state government needs to do more to acknowledge the skill and hard work of childcare workers.

“Just put really simply, our educators need to earn more money,” she said.

“They need to be paid more, and we need to be supported by the government, because we as operators can’t facilitate the wages we believe our educators deserve or our fees would be out of control for families.”

Westpac’s NSW/ACT general manager of commercial banking Jeff Hurdis said the Scaifes are one of many businesses enjoying the benefits of the region’s population and investment boom.

“Western Sydney is a powerhouse economy and a key growth market for many of Westpac’s customers,” he said.

“We’re proud to have been part of the Western Sydney community for more than 160 years. We have deep and local expertise in the region, with almost half our Greater Sydney workforce calling Western Sydney home.”