In 2023
- there were 337,305 children aged 4 or 5 years old enrolled in a preschool program
- 80% of children enrolled in a preschool program were aged 4 years and 20% were aged 5 years
- it is estimated there were 307,687 children aged 4 years and 310,777 aged 5 years resident in Australia as at June 2023. This indicates that 88% of all children aged 4 and 22% of all children aged 5 were enrolled in preschool programs
- 20% of all children enrolled in a preschool program resided in the fifth Index of Relative Socio-economic Disadvantage (IRSD) quintile (least disadvantaged) while 18% resided in the first quintile (most disadvantaged). The largest group of children (21%) resided in the fourth IRSD quintile
- over 96% of children enrolled were enrolled for 15 hours or more per week