Preschool Education, Australia

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Statistics about preschool education, including enrolment, attendance, fees and service providers

Reference period
2019
Released
13/02/2020

Key statistics

In 2019

  • the number of children aged 4 or 5 years old enrolled in a preschool program increased by 0.7% compared with 2018 (up to 335,804 children)
  • the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children aged 4 or 5 years old enrolled in a preschool program increased by 5% compared with 2018 (up to 19,449 children)
  • almost 40% of children enrolled in a preschool program in remote/very remote areas were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children
  • almost 21% of all children enrolled in a preschool program resided in the fifth SEIFA quintile (least disadvantaged) while 17% resided in the first quintile (most disadvantaged)

Children

  • there were 335,804 children aged 4 or 5 years enrolled in a preschool program, an increase of 2,272 (0.7%) since 2018
  • preschool program enrolments increased in Victoria (1.9%), the Northern Territory (1.0%), the Australian Capital Territory (1.0%), New South Wales (0.8%), and Queensland (0.7%) and decreased in South Australia (2.7%), Tasmania (0.8%) and Western Australia (0.5%) between 2018 and 2019
  • four in five children enrolled were aged 4 years and one in five were aged 5 years
  • over 83% of all 4 year old and 21% of all 5 year old children were enrolled in preschool programs
  • over 95% of children enrolled were enrolled for 15 hours or more per week

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children

  • there were 19,449 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children aged 4 or 5 years old enrolled in a preschool program, representing 5.8% of all children enrolled in preschool programs
  • the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children aged 4 or 5 years old enrolled in preschool programs increased by 5% compared with 2018
  • over 95% of enrolled Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children were enrolled for 15 hours or more per week
  • 47% of enrolled Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children were enrolled in preschool programs in inner and outer regional areas followed by major cities (38%) and remote and very remote areas (14%)
     

Enrolments by sector

  • there were 168,105 children enrolled only in preschool programs in centre based day care services representing 50% of all children enrolled, compared with 49% in 2018
  • there were 135,301 children enrolled only in preschool programs in dedicated preschools representing 40% of all children enrolled, compared with 43% in 2018
  • there were 32,402 children enrolled in preschool programs across more than one provider type representing 10% of all children enrolled, compared with 9% in 2018
  • in dedicated preschools 39% were enrolled in government preschools, 59% were enrolled in non-government preschools and the remaining 1% were enrolled in more than one preschool
  • enrolments across service delivery models varied by state and territory. Western Australia (75%), the Northern Territory (65%) and Tasmania (64%) had the highest proportion of children enrolled in dedicated preschools, while Queensland (68%), New South Wales (66%) and Victoria (46%) had the highest proportion of children enrolled in preschool programs in centre based day care services
     

Hourly fees

  • there were 254,075 children enrolled in preschool programs who paid $4 or less out of pocket per hour after subsidies were deducted, of these 73,729 children paid no fees
  • there was a slight decrease in the number of children who paid $4 or less per hour, declining from 77% in 2018 to 76% in 2019
  • there were 81,651 children (24%) enrolled in preschool programs who paid $5 or more per hour compared with 77,424 (23%) in 2018
     

Hourly fees by sector

  • there were 110,813 children enrolled in dedicated preschools who paid $4 or less per hour, of these 60,706 paid no fees
  • there were 116,830 children enrolled in preschool programs in centre based day care services who paid $4 or less per hour, of these 11,555 paid no fees
  • 45% of all children enrolled in dedicated preschools paid no fees, 37% paid $1-$4 per hour, and 18% paid $5 or more per hour
  • 7% of all children enrolled in preschool programs in centre based day care services paid no fees, 63% paid $1-$4 per hour, and 30% paid $5 or more per hour
  • of children who attended more than one provider type, 5% paid no fees, 77% paid $1-$4 per hour, and 18% paid $5 or more per hour

Service providers

  • there were 11,990 service providers delivering a preschool program to children aged 3 to 6 years, an increase of 2.5% compared with 11,695 in 2018
  • almost 36% of preschool program providers were dedicated preschools
  • nearly two-thirds (64%) of preschool program providers were centre based day care services
  • service delivery models differ across the states and territories. New South Wales and Queensland have largely centre based day care delivery models (accounting for 79% and 72% of preschool program providers respectively). Dedicated preschools made up the highest proportion of providers in Tasmania (63%), the Northern Territory (61%) and Western Australia (59%).

Data downloads

Preschool education, Australia, 2019 - summary tables

Preschool education, Australia, 2019

History of changes

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Previous catalogue number

This release previously used catalogue number 4240.0.

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