6 March 2026
The Greens have today announced plans for a $180 million investment in 20 new public long day-care centres across SA. The plan would add 2000 places for children under five and focus on covering the areas of the state where there are major gaps in access to childcare.
Key facts:
- The Greens would invest $180 million to establish and operate 20 new long-day care early learning centres around the state.[1] The investment covers capital expenditure required to build, lease and/or renovate appropriate properties for the early learning centres. This will add approximately 2000 new state-run places for children under five to access quality early childhood education and care.
- The new ECEC centres will be concentrated in areas of highest need, or “childcare deserts,” which are defined as areas with significantly fewer places in ECEC than eligible children.
- The plan would be implemented over five years, with the establishment of new early learning centres staggered from 2027 to 2031
- Overall, South Australia has only one available spot in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) for every two children. Some of the areas in South Australia with the lowest child to ECEC spot include Clarendon (0.05 places per child) Uraidla-Summertown (0.14 places per child) and Aldgate-Stirling (0.4 places per child).[2]
Quotes Attributable to Robert Simms MLC
“The cost-of-living crisis and lack of available childcare places is forcing parents to make impossible choices: put careers on hold, miss out on income, or skip early education altogether. This can mean children lose out on vital learning and development in the most critical early years.”
“Access to high-quality childcare shouldn’t depend on income and postcode. Early childhood education should be treated the same as primary and secondary school - the Greens will push to ensure that there are new publicly owned childcare centres across our state to ensure access isn’t a postcode lottery.”
“Labor’s announcement to extend OSHC is welcome but still doesn’t address the gaps in childcare for children under school age.”
Quotes Attributable to Senator Steph Hodgins-May
“Early learning is a fundamental right, yet state and federal Labor governments have failed to guarantee quality access for too many families and children.
“Almost a quarter of Australians live in a 'childcare desert.' In parts of South Australia there’s only one spot in childcare for thirty children.
“People who can find a spot are facing sky-high fees, with massive for-profit providers draining money out of this system for their shareholders.
“This announcement is a step toward our vision of a truly universal, high-quality, state and community-run early learning system that puts kids, not profits, first.”
Quotes Attributable to Heysen Candidate Genevieve Dawson-Scott
“I am privileged to work with hundreds of families across Heysen in the playgroups, kindergartens and community services I am involved with, and I hear stories of fear and grief every week as parents face impossible choices with how they can provide care for their children. For most families, childcare and early learning centres are essential, not optional, especially in the current economy.”
“The evidence is clear that not-for-profit childcare and early learning offers a higher quality and safer experience, but the reality is that for most families they are unable to access places in these services. The Greens know we can do better, and that we must. I am committed to being a voice for children in Parliament, for those who cannot speak up for themselves yet, and to demand that we care and protect the youngest and most vulnerable in our society.”
[1]Indicative cost based on a comparable program costed by SA Labor to deliver preschools, allowing some extra due to the lower occupancy of long day care centres.