Toowoomba child care centre fees ranked, cheapest suburbs revealed

With fees expected to rise in the coming months, here are the cheapest suburbs in Toowoomba for child care, with every centre ranked. VIEW THE INTERACTIVE MAP:

An analysis of child care fees has revealed the cheapest suburbs across Toowoomba for long day care services, as experts warn the cost of child care will increase in the coming months.

Data provided by child care comparison website KindiCare found the average cost of long day care services across all centres and age groups in Toowoomba was $111.39 per day for a full day session, which is below both the national average and the Queensland state average.

Centenary Heights came in as the highest average price within the region at $122.06, while Kearneys Spring and Wilsonton Heights were the cheapest at an average of $106 over the past year.

Rangeville Early Education Centre was found to have the most expensive average per day long day care service fee at $126.50, while FKG Building Blocks Early Learning Centre was the cheapest at $80.

The highest rated service in Toowoomba was Springs Early Education in Kearneys Spring with a KindiCare Rating of 9.47 and a government rating by ACECQA of Exceeding the National Quality Standard. This centre also charged below the average for the area at an average fee across all age groups of $104 per day compared to the postcode average of $111.39 making it Excellent Value for Money according to KindiCare’s Value for Money Index.

Founder and CEO of KindiCare Benjamin Balk said he expects price increases of 6-8 per cent on average nationally this year; however, regional areas are likely to see lower increases than capital cities.

“Almost all childcare providers have been impacted financially by Covid, despite additional government support,” he said.

“The cost of centre closures, increased cleaning, replacement casual staff, gap fee waivers for parents etc. With the majority of early learning services being run by for profit private operators, there is a real impact to operating costs.”

Mr Balk said employment trends also revealed a growing shortage of early learning educators in the sector which is driving wage growth and increased costs for childcare providers.

“The impact of Covid has only exacerbated this as many worn our early childhood education and care workers choose to leave the sector at a time where not enough new workers are entering early education,” he said.

“Childcare properties are highly sought after in the current economic environment as they are considered ‘safe assets’ with effectively government backed rent through childcare subsidies.

“This attractiveness of asset together with growing demand for early learning services is driving up the cost of building a centre with record prices being paid for purpose build early learning centres. This is resulting in an increase in commercial rents for childcare providers, many whom didn’t receive rent relief from their landlords during Covid despite periods of lower occupancy and revenue.”