Investing in and enhancing childcare at ANU

Since the 1960s, ANU has been at the forefront of supporting the University community by providing essential childcare services.

The longstanding partnership with childcare centres has played a vital role in fostering a supportive and inclusive environment for families at ANU.

ANU is committed to the ongoing provision of high-quality childcare for our community and will do this through two purpose-built facilities on the campus, which will be open from early 2025. One of these facilities is already built, with the second to be completed in the second half of 2024. These custom-built, high-quality facilities will have enough places to meet current demand on the campus.

Currently, four of the childcare centres on our campus are located in heritage-listed buildings requiring high levels of maintenance and remedial work due to the age of the buildings. This has sometimes disrupted the provision of childcare for our community.

The childcare centres’ licences to operate in these heritage-listed buildings expire in January 2025. We want to use this moment to invest in enhancing the childcare facilities on our campus so they are brand new and purpose-built.

By investing in these facilities, ANU can ensure our childcare services on campus continue to provide families with high-quality childcare in new facilities and with minimal disruptions.

The four centres currently occupying heritage-listed buildings on the ANU campus are invited to be part of a fair procurement process to identify potential providers. This process will open in July and details will be shared with all four operators.

ANU is already in discussions with the four providers occupying the heritage-listed buildings and will continue to consult with them.

Childcare services will continue to be provided on campus during the procurement process, ensuring there is no disruption to the care and education children from across the ANU community receive.