A re-elected Minns Labor Government will deliver 100 public long day care centres across NSW as part of its commitment to expanding access to affordable, high-quality early learning, support community preschools and give thousands more families access to early learning close to home.
For too many families across NSW, access to early learning depends on where they live and what they can afford. Some families face long waiting lists, while others simply don't have a service nearby.
When parents can't find a place, it can mean turning down work, reducing their hours or missing out on a job altogether.
Currently, 43 per cent of NSW communities do not have enough access to early learning places and research commissioned by the Government shows that NSW needs 21,000 additional new early learning places by 2030.
With families in some parts of the state facing early learning deserts with no services nearby and waitlists of up to two years, it's clear more needs to be done to prevent thousands of families missing out on vital early learning opportunities.
100 public long day care centres
A re-elected Minns Labor Government will deliver 100 public long day care centres across the state typically operating from 7am to 6pm, five days a week, and 50 weeks a year.
The publicly-operated centres will be located in communities where early learning places are in short supply or existing services are unable to meet growing demand from families.
Co-located with public schools, the centres will eliminate the double drop off for thousands of parents and help address the shortfall of places in long day care centres across NSW.
Using existing public school land will also avoid the cost of purchasing separate sites, making better use of government land and reducing the cost of delivering new childcare places.
Every centre will offer a preschool program as part of its long day care, ensuring children can access high-quality early education in the two years before kindergarten.
These reforms are funded in the NSW Budget, with responsible management of the state's finances meaning the Minns Labor Government can continue investing in early learning.
The Minns Labor Government's record stands in stark contrast with that of the Liberals and Nationals who failed to build a single public early learning facility in 12 years.
Helping community preschools welcome more families
The Minns Labor Government is reforming preschool funding to help community preschools make better use of existing capacity and welcome more local families.
There is potential for more than 10,000 additional children to attend existing community preschools, and these reforms are designed to make those places available to more families.
This is a significant change that will take time to implement, and the Government will work with the sector to address their concerns. To give services certainty as they make these changes, the Government will introduce a two-year Community Preschool Funding Guarantee for all community and mobile preschools.
For 2027 and 2028, services will be guaranteed at least their 2026 funding allocation, adjusted for operational changes such as enrolments and opening hours. This will help preschools retain staff while expanding access to more families.
Fairer access to early learning and long-term economic benefits
Together, building 100 new public long day care centres and making better use of existing community preschools will help give more families more opportunities to access quality early learning.
Over time, these changes will also help more parents, particularly women, return to work or increase their hours, supporting workforce participation and productivity in NSW.
According to the NSW Government's 2026 Women's Strategy Report Card, 29.3 per cent of women who want to work are not actively looking for a job because of childcare responsibilities.
By making early learning more accessible, these reforms aim to remove some of the barriers preventing parents from working, while giving more children access to quality early education.
The Minns Labor Government is committed to responsible financial management, ensuring we can continue investing in essential services like early education while keeping the state's finances on a sustainable footing.
The Minns Labor Government's record stands in stark contrast with that of the Liberals and Nationals who failed to build a single public early learning facility in 12 years.
Premier of New South Wales Chris Minns said:
"For too many parents, finding affordable childcare is the difference between being able to work or having to stay home."
"We need more places, and we need to make better use of the places we already have.
"That's why, if we're re-elected, we'll deliver 100 public long day care centres in communities where families need them most.
"This is about making life easier for working families, giving more children a great start in life and helping more parents get back into the workforce."
Deputy Premier and Minister for Education and Early Learning Prue Car said:
"We know families are juggling parenting, work and a high cost of living. Our public long day care centres will go a long way to help by ending the double drop off and providing affordable quality childcare close to home."
"Too many parents, particularly women, cannot work because childcare is unavailable or unaffordable. Access to high-quality early learning can make the world of difference to working families."
"Despite significant government investment, around half the state remains undersupplied with early learning places. Something has to change. Our reforms will deliver more high-quality places through community preschools and in 100 long day cares co-located with our public schools.
"Labor has a proud track record when it comes to public education because we see it as an investment in our state's future, with transformative benefits for children, families and communities.
"We are on track to deliver 100 public preschools by 2027. Now we are going further, delivering 100 public long day care centres to meet the needs of even more families."
