Australian annual child care census which monitors State-funded initiatives, such as
integration support for special needs services, and the Victorian Office of Preschool and
Child Care (OPCC) collection of special needs data for preschools are two notable
exceptions (Appendix Table A4.4). Consequently, evaluation or monitoring of the use of
preschools by these consumer groups is difficult at both State and national levels.
The-proportion of children attending other formal service types who have been
classified as having at least one special need is similar: 16 per cent of children in long
day care, 15 per cent of children in outside school hours care and 16 per cent of children
in 'other formal care' services, although only 10 per cent of children in family day care
have a special need (Table 4.18 total special needs population figures, and Table 4.11
total CSP population figures).