The Hon Michael Keenan MP
Thousands of Australian families have been taking advantage of a new online tool that helps them find childcare places in their local area with just the click of a button.
Following its launch in December, more than 100,000 people a month are visiting the new Child Care Finder website at childcarefinder.gov.au.
Minister for Human Services and Digital Transformation Michael Keenan said the website replaced the previous My Child site and enables families to easily locate service providers and vacancies in their area.
"They can also see at a glance important information like opening hours and fees, which is a welcome addition for time-poor families who want to quickly compare options in their neighbourhood," Minister Keenan said.
"Families have searched for child care in over 4,000 unique locations, with Melbourne, Parramatta and Blacktown the most searched areas."
When searching by location, results can easily be filtered using a range of search criteria including vacancies, type of service and whether there are any inclusions such as meals and nappies.
Families can also see how providers are rated against the National Quality Framework, which is the benchmark for quality of education and care services in Australia.
"A new vacancy alert functionality will be available later this year, with families able to register to be notified when a child care place meeting their criteria becomes available," Minister Keenan said.
"The Child Care Finder is the first service that has been made available through the new whole-of-government platform 'Service Connect'. This new platform allows people to access services in a way that is better, quicker and cheaper than ever before.
"Such initiatives are part of our ongoing digital transformation journey which is helping to deliver smarter and more convenient services for all Australians."
