Preschool education, Australia, 2012

This publication contains statistics of children\u27s enrolment and attendance at preschool programs across Australia in 2012. Key findings: In 2012, there were 7,594 service providers delivering a preschool program in Australia. Delivery models of preschool in Australia were comprised of \u27Preschool\u27 service providers and \u27Long day care\u27 (LDC) service providers that delivered a preschool program. A LDC can be responsible for delivering multiple preschool programs within the same location. These multiple programs may be delivered under different management structures even though the programs operate from the same location. In this publication, some government funded preschool programs at LDCs have been classified as \u27LDC with a preschool\u27 to reflect the integrated nature of preschool delivery models that operated in 2012 better. More information is provided on service provider classification concepts in the National ECEC Collection: Concepts, Sources and Methods, 2012 (cat. no. 4240.0.55.001). In 2012, of all service providers that delivered a preschool program, 4,307 (56.7%) were a Preschool (either stand-alone or as part of a school), and 3,287 (43.3%) were a LDC with preschool. In New South Wales there were 2,128 service providers operating a preschool program (875 preschools and 1,253 LDCs), Victoria had 2,007 (1,164 preschools and 843 LDCs) and Queensland 1,536 (561 preschools and 975 LDCs). There were 495 service providers in South Australia (384 preschools and 111 LDCs) and Western Australia had 927 (881 preschools and 46 LDCs). Of the 232 service providers in Tasmania, 222 were preschools and 10 were LDCs. In the Northern Territory there were 148 service providers (141 preschools and 7 LDCs) and the Australian Capital Territory had 121 (79 preschools and 42 LDCs). Nationally, 28.0% of total preschool providers were located in New South Wales, 26.4% were in Victoria and 20.2% were in Queensland. Together, Western Australia and South Australia accounted for 18.7% of preschool providers while the remaining 6.6% were in Tasmania, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory