Minns vows to open 100 long-day childcare centres if re-elected

In short:

The NSW Labor government has pledged to open 100 new long-day childcare centres if re-elected in March. 

It is on top of an existing promise from the Minns government to build and open 100 new preschools by January.

The government expects 8,000 families will benefit from 5,000 new placements at long-day childcare centres.

The NSW government will open and operate 100 new long-day childcare centres to address demand if it wins the state election in March.

The centres are in addition to an existing government pledge to build 100 new preschools and have them operational from January next year.

In the private sector, long-day centres offer early childhood services for children from birth to four years old and operate between 7am and 6pm.

The announcement on Saturday from the Minns government will deliver the first publicly owned long-day childcare centres in NSW, providing 5,000 places for about 8,000 families.

Premier Chris Minns said the centres would be built on existing public primary school sites and in areas deemed so-called childcare deserts.

He said the government would "not be indiscriminate" about new locations and that he expected many to open in Western Sydney and regional NSW.

"The reality is, for us in New South Wales, if we want a productive economy, we want to make sure that we're giving every family the opportunity to get ahead," Mr Minns said. 

"So many people are missing out and they're missing out for the most obvious reasons [and] that is that after they have a child, they can't get affordable child care."

Deputy Premier Prue Car said families desperately needed the extended care hours the centres would provide.

"That will end the double drop off and it will make it easier for parents to get back into the workforce," she said.

"It will also create an opportunity for high quality early learning as children transition into kindergarten and primary school."

The government will also extend the transitional funding period for community run preschools.

As part of the NSW government's early childhood education reforms, the Universal Preschool Funding Program will replace the Start Strong arrangement from January 1.

But community preschool operators, which are not-for-profit, expressed concern earlier in the week that the new funding model would affect the quality of care and leave some centres financially worse off.

According to the government, 10,000 families are missing out on community preschool places.

"We have listened to the concerns of the sector, and we've responded to that by guaranteeing their funding for two years," Mr Minns said on Saturday. 

"That will freeze their funding at, at least, last year's level.

"So that will give community preschools a funding guarantee that they will not go backwards while we work with them on how we can get more children into their high quality preschool."