Can I open a childcare centre on any block of land?

No. A childcare use must be permissible under the site's zoning, and even where it is, approval is not guaranteed. The planning controls and assessment depend on your local council and your state or territory, so you should confirm approvability before committing to a site.

What makes a site likely to be approved?

Sites that suit a childcare use tend to have appropriate zoning, safe traffic and access arrangements, room for parking and pick-up, adequate outdoor play space, and limited conflict with neighbours. The specific standards vary by council and state or territory.

How does the site affect how many places I can licence?

Licensed places are driven by the indoor and outdoor space available, which the site and building footprint largely determine. A larger, well-configured site with sufficient outdoor area can support more places, but the exact requirements depend on your state or territory.

How to Choose a Site for a Childcare Centre

Choosing the right site is the single most important decision in developing a childcare centre. Get it right and the rest of the project has a fighting chance. Get it wrong and you can spend months and significant money on a site that was never going to be approved, or that will struggle to fill once it opens.

The key principle: assess approvability and viability before you commit. A site is only as good as the centre you can actually licence, build and fill on it.

Start with catchment demand

A centre needs families, and families come from a catchment. Before anything else, understand who lives and works around the site.

Demographics: Are there enough young children in the area, and is the population growing? New housing estates and family-heavy suburbs are very different to ageing or transient populations.
Workforce patterns: Centres near employment hubs, transport corridors and routes parents already travel tend to perform better.
Future supply of children: Approved residential developments nearby can signal future demand, but timing matters.

Demand is the foundation. Everything else is about whether you can build the right centre to meet it.

Map the existing competition and supply

Demand alone is not enough; you need demand that is not already met. Look at the existing and approved centres nearby, their size, their occupancy where you can gauge it, and their fees and quality.

An undersupplied catchment is an opportunity. An oversupplied one means you are competing for the same families, which pressures occupancy and fees. Remember to count not just operating centres but those already approved and not yet built, because they will be in the market by the time you open.

Confirm zoning and whether the use is realistically approvable

This is where many projects come unstuck. A childcare use must be permissible under the site’s zoning, and even where it is permissible, that does not mean it will be approved.

Planning controls, assessment pathways and the standards a centre must meet depend on your local council and your state or territory. What you are testing is whether a childcare centre of the scale you need is realistically approvable on this specific site, considering:

The zone and what the planning scheme allows.
The council’s track record and attitude to childcare applications.
Likely conditions and constraints that could limit the design or hours.

Treat approvability as a go or no-go gate. It is far cheaper to walk away early than to discover the problem after settlement.

Assess traffic, parking and access

Childcare centres generate concentrated traffic at drop-off and pick-up. Councils and assessors scrutinise this closely.

Access: Can vehicles enter and leave safely, ideally without dangerous turns across busy traffic?
Parking: Is there room for the parking and short-stay pick-up the council will require? The numbers depend on your local council and state or territory.
Pedestrian safety: Footpaths, crossings and a safe path from car to door all matter.

Poor traffic and parking outcomes are a common reason centres are refused or heavily conditioned.

Check outdoor space and the building footprint

Outdoor play space is essential and often the binding constraint on a centre’s size. The site and building footprint together determine how much indoor and outdoor area you have, and that in turn drives how many licensed places you can offer.

A site might look large enough until you account for setbacks, parking, driveways and outdoor play requirements. The space standards depend on your state or territory, so model the achievable layout early rather than assuming a place count.

Visibility and presence

A site that families can see and find easily has a real marketing advantage. Corner sites, frontage to a well-travelled road and clear signage opportunities all help fill a centre faster. Visibility will not save a poor catchment, but it adds value to a good one.

How site choice drives places, DA risk and viability

These factors are not separate checklists; they compound:

Licensed places flow from the indoor and outdoor space the site allows.
Development approval risk flows from zoning, traffic, parking, neighbour impact and council attitude.
Viability flows from demand, competition, place count and the cost of acquiring and developing the site.

A site that scores well on demand but cannot be approved is worthless. A site that can be approved but only for a small centre may never be viable. The goal is a site that passes all three tests together.

This guide is general information only. Site requirements depend on your local council and state or territory.

Get expert eyes on it before you commit

Site selection rewards homework done early. If you are weighing up a site, a structured feasibility study can test demand, supply, approvability and viability before you sign anything, and our development application support can guide the approval pathway once you have the right site. To talk through a specific location, get in touch and we will help you assess it with clear eyes.