Kids in New England start school behind due to state's worst childcare shortage: report

The Division of New England has the lowest levels of access in NSW, and among the biggest "childcare deserts" in the country, according to new analysis from Victoria University's Mitchell Institute.

For every childcare place in the electorate, there are four children eligible for it, the report said.

About one in four children in the New England are considered "developmentally vulnerable" but 70.6 per cent of them live in a "childcare desert".

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Little Kindy company director Arzal Arzal said many city-based companies will shrink from providing childcare because it is difficult to manage from a distance.

"I think some areas are undersupplied and some areas are oversupplied," he said.

Little Kindy has yet to hear back from Tamworth council about a proposal for a new centre in South Tamworth.

Education Policy Fellow at the Mitchell Institute, Hannah Matthews, said the biggest problem in rural areas is that government doesn't centrally plan childcare like other education.

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"Our research is showing that childcare services are in high supply in inner city electorates where fees for childcare are much higher," she said.

"The sector is also facing a shortage of workers with vacancy rates almost doubling since 2019."

Of the 1.1 million Australians with no access to centre-based day care within a twenty-minute drive, almost all of them are outside Australia's major cities, the report shows.

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