Full List: Every childcare centre rated in Victoria

The top rated and underperforming childcare centres across Victoria have been revealed. Search and see the list and watch our exclusive video.

Exclusive: Victoria boasts a higher proportion of ‘outstanding’ childcare centres than any other state, but it also has a large number of centres that are unrated.

Out of 4720 childcare centres in Victoria, 4.8 per cent – or 225 childcare centres – were rated ‘outstanding’, but 13 per cent – 612 – could not be rated, mainly because they had not had an official inspection yet.

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

In Victoria 4.2 per cent – 197 centres – were rated as ‘fair’.

Guardian Childcare & Education Blackburn is the best rated in the country. (L to R) Harrison 3, Abigail 3, Jayden 4, Zachary 4 and Harrison 3. Picture: David Crosling

Me2 Family Day Care, Coburg came bottom in the state, with a score of just 6.5 out of 10.

SEE VICTORIA'S 2024 CHILDCARE CENTRE RATINGS HERE

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.

Centre manager Sarah Zafar, of Me2 Family Day Care, Coburg, Melbourne, said they had improved a lot since they were last visited by state inspectors in 2017 and were desperately keen to be reassessed to show how much they had improved.

Ms Zafar added it had been a “challenging time in Melbourne due to long lockdowns because of Covid and staff leaving”.

She said child safety was a priority at the centre.

Other centres which finished among the five lowest were also approached 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.

The best rated centre in the state – and the national winner – was Guardian Childcare and Education Blackburn West in Melbourne, which scored a near-perfect KindiCare rating of 9.9.

Here all the kids learned Mandarin and enjoyed babyccinos on trips to the local cafe.

The centre had staff and families from England, India, Greece, Italy, Bulgaria, Sri Lanka and Korea and learning is underpinned by the idea that children were competent and capable learners, with rights.

Guardian Childcare & Education Blackburn serves babycinos. (L to R) Abigail 3, Kaiya 4, Jayden 4, Zachary 4, and Harrison 3. Picture: David Crosling

Centre manager Julie Smith’s first language was English, but she also speaks Ukrainian, and although some children speak a second language at home, all of the children were learning Mandarin and there were regular trips to the community cafe.

“Going to the cafe is about community engagement and we learn about things like road safety,” Ms Smith said.

“They always get to have a nice babyccino, which they love.”

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.

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, with parents in the ACT paying the most per day on average ($142.25) with Victoria the second most expensive ($138.79).