THERE has been an upsurge in demand for home-based childcare as families affected by the closure of some ABC Learning Centres move away from large childcare services.
THERE has been an upsurge in demand for home-based childcare as families affected by the closure of some ABC Learning Centres move away from large childcare services.
ABC Learning, which operates more than 1,000 centres nationwide, has 241 centres deemed unprofitable by court appointed receivers Stephen Parbery and Daniel Bryant from PPB, and have been grouped ABC2.
With hundreds of children without day care as a result, at-home services such as Elite Childcare, The Nest Family Resource Centre, and Bright Futures Family Day Care have reported an increase in placements and inquiries.
Figures from the Department for Communities show that there are 562 licensed childcare centres in Western Australia, providing care for children up to six years old, and 681 family day care centres, or at-home providers.
Elite Childcare operates 30 affiliated home-based operations throughout WA, offering 210 licensed childcare places.
Elite general manager Sonya Aylmore said the company has been growing "strength to strength" on the back of ABC Learning's woes, with disgruntled parents no longer confident with large childcare operations.
"There's been a massive shift now towards small group care," Ms Aylmore told WA Business News.
"A lot of staff from the likes of ABC [Learning] are also sick and tired of working for the big operations and are establishing their own services and this really is a boom time for them."
Elite Childcare operates in a similar way to a franchise model, where government-approved carers are able to care for up to seven children in their own home. Elite also offers marketing advice and assistance with policy and procedures.
Buggles Childcare general manager David Lyons said there had been a slight increase in demand since PPB was appointed receivers of ABC Learning.
"We've probably benefited from the fact that there's been a loss of competitors' centres in Perth in general and we have people now that are coming to us and saying we were going to ABC [Learning] but now we're changing to Buggles," he said.
"We're still looking to expand and to grow, albeit in a measured and sustainable way."
Mr Parbery said PPB would look at a range of options for ABC2 group childcare centres, including their sale to new owners or, in some cases, the transfer of children to suitable alternative arrangements.
"We will continue to work closely with the government to ensure the provision of sustainable, high quality care is available for Australian families into the future," he said.
Perth-based community group Child Australia is a member of Children 21, a consortium of six not-for-profit organisations that has launched a bid for the 241 former ABC Learning centres so they can be operated by the community sector.
