In 2012, around 19,400 child care and early learning services enrolled more than 1.3 million children
in at least one child care or preschool program (Productivity Commission 2014). Just under one-half
(48%) of all children attended either formal or informal day care in 2014. Children aged 2 (70%) and
3 (73%) were the most likely to attend child care, with most 3 year olds being in long day care (49%)
(ABS 2015a).
In Australia, 24% of child care is provided within formal service settings and 33% is informal care.
One-parent families used child care more than couple families (57% and 46% respectively), while
couple families use grandparents as informal carers at a higher level than one-parent families (30%
to 23%) (ABS 2015a).
The employment status of a child’s parents and the composition of their family appears to influence
the use of child care. Sixty per cent of families where both parents are employed use child care. In
one-parent families with the parent in employment, 72% of children aged 0–12 were attending some
type of care. In the Childhood Education and Care Survey (ABS 2015a), ‘work-related reasons’ was the
main reason provided for children attending formal (73%) and informal (60%) child care (ABS 2015a).
In recent years, the Australian Government and state and territory governments have committed
to increase participation in high-quality early childhood education and care. There has also been a
focus on increasing the participation rates of Indigenous children and children from disadvantaged
backgrounds. The Australian Government is currently reviewing child care and early childhood
learning. The final report from the review was released in February 2015 and is available at
http://pc.gov.au/projects/inquiry/childcare.