Children and families

The City of Canada Bay has a range of child services and programs available to the community including: 

• Early Childhood Education (Long Day Care Centres, Preschools/Kindergartens, Occasional Care Centres, Out of School Hours Care)
• Child and Family Health Centres 
• City of Canada Bay Children's Services Networking Meeting: A networking group open to all those who work in early childhood education and care within the LGA. Email wellbank@canadabay.nsw.gov.au / victoria.avenue@canadabay.nsw.gov.au for more information or to get involved. 

For a complete listing of all children's services in your area please visit the L.I.N.C.S. or MyChild website for further information.

Council operates and provides the following children's services:

Wellbank Children's Centre

51-place long daycare centre for children aged 6 weeks to 5 years. For more details visit the Wellbank Children's Centre website.

Victoria Avenue Children's Centre 

47-place long daycare centre for children aged six weeks to 5 years. For more details, visit the Victoria Avenue Children's Centre website. 

City of Canada Bay Family Day Care (FDC) service

The City of Canada Bay Family Day Care Scheme was transferred to Family Day Care Sydney Wide in 2015 and is operated by The Infants' Home Ashfield. For more information, please visit The Infants' Home website. 

Parenting programs 

In partnership with Drummoyne Community Centre, Council provides a quarterly calendar of programs, workshops and seminars designed to increase understanding of parenting issues and an opportunity to discuss ideas and strategies. For further details, visit Drummoyne Community Centre. 

Phone: 9719 8102
Email: info@dcc.org.au

Transitioning to school

Starting school is an exciting but also potentially stressful time for both children and families. Click here for culturally and linguistically diverse resources to help children transition to school.

Children at the libraries 

The City of Canada Bay's library service offers a range of programs and activities for children from birth to Year 6, including Baby Rhymetime, Toddlertime, Preschool Storytime, after school book groups and school holiday activities.

Child-friendly City

City of Canada Bay is committed to creating a more child friendly environment for the benefit of families and children across the area. Council provides quality services and works in partnership with community stakeholders to achieve this. Council provides a range of services, programs and activities aimed at creating a more child friendly city including: 

• Activities for babies and children at the libraries
• Holiday activities for school children
• A Child Friendly Guide for Businesses
• Environmental and sustainability workshops to inform and educate children and families
• Bike and pedestrian pathways across the city
• Well-maintained parks and inclusive playgrounds
• Child Care Development Control Plan to ensure development of quality childcare centres
• Quality childcare services such as Wellbank Children's Centre and Victoria Avenue Children's Centre
• Parenting calendar of programs and seminars
• Consultations with children and families about parks and playgrounds in their area
• New resident tours to welcome families.

Child-friendly venues

The City of Canada Bay encourages business owners to consider how to make their businesses more child friendly and has published a Child Friendly Guide for Businesses. This guide contains practical information and advice to business owners on how to implement and manage a child friendly environment to ensure best service is delivered to their customers. 

Child-friendly playgrounds

The City of Canada Bay is renowned and valued for its open space and parks. For a list of local playgrounds, visit our Parks and Playgrounds pages. 

Useful links:

• Playgroup NSW 
• Playgroup Australia 
• NSW Government - Department of Family and Community Services 
• Healthy Kids 
• NSW Government - Department of Family and Community Services - Parenting 
• NSW Government - Commission for Children & Young People 
• Resourcing Parents - Parenting events and workshops in Sydney 
• Raising Children Network 
• My Child
• Starting Blocks 

The Australian Government Department of Education and Training released the free 'Learning Potential' App for parents and carers. It includes articles, tips, suggestions and videos to help parents be actively involved in their child's learning. For further information visit their website.

Resources and more information

• Starting School Practical Advice for Families Booklet - English
• Starting School Practical Advice for Families Booklet - Chinese
• Starting School Practical Advice for Families Booklet - Korean

View the City of Canada Bay Child Safe Code of Conduct and Children and Young Persons Protection Policy.

All children and young people have the right to feel safe and protected from all forms of abuse, harm, and neglect, as well as the right to a safe, positive, and enjoyable environment.

The City of Canada Bay is a Child Safe Community that recognises and advocates for the rights of children and young people. Our policies and procedures aim to reduce the likelihood of harm to children and to increase the likelihood of identifying and reporting harm and responding appropriately to disclosures, allegations, or suspicions of harm.

We believe it ‘takes a village to raise a child’ and that protecting the vulnerable in our community is everybody’s responsibility, including parents and families, the greater community, non-government organisations and government organisations such as Local Councils.

The City of Canada Bay is committed to the recruitment and training of its staff in being aware of potential issues, seeking to prevent harm and responding appropriately to suspected risks posed to children and young people.

This includes all staff, volunteers, contractors, and partners in the work of the City of Canada Bay. We support the UN Declaration on the Rights of the Child and adhere to the Children and Young Person (Care and Protection) Act 1998 and the Children’s Guardian Act 2019. This is supported by the NSW Office of the Children’s Guardian Child Safe Principles as implemented through the Child Safe Standards and the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse Final Report 2017.

If a child or young person is at immediate risk of abuse, contact the Police by calling 000.

If you suspect on reasonable grounds that a child or young person is at risk of significant harm, you can report your concerns using one or more of the channels below:

• Speak with a City of Canada Bay staff member, who will direct you to a Child Protection Officer
• Complete a City of Canada Bay Complaints and Allegations Form
• Call a City of Canada Bay Child Protection Officer on 02 9121 0252 or 02 9911 6561
• Report directly to the Child Protection Helpline on 132 111
• If you are a mandatory reporter, you can also make a report through the Department of Communities and Justice’s ChildStory Reporter webpage.

You can also read information about making a complaint concerning child protection in the following languages: English, Korean, Greek, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese and Italian. 

The Office of the Children’s Guardian has published resources, including translations in multiple languages, to increase awareness of child abuse and support community members to recognise and respond to child safety and protection concerns. Click here to view these important resources.

Victoria Avenue Children's Centre is a long day care facility directly managed by the City of Canada Bay. It opened in March 2015. 

Victoria Avenue Children's Centre is located within the Victoria Avenue community precinct, providing convenient onsite access to Victoria Avenue Public School, Early Childhood Health, Out of School Hours Care and community playing fields.

The centre caters for 47 children per day, aged from six weeks to school age, and operates between 7:30am and 6pm, Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays).

The centre offers:

• Educational programs
• Three playrooms and two outdoor yards
• Online parent portal with access to centre documents, children's developmental records and the centre's program
• Natural, home-like environment to support and stimulate children's development and learning
• Highly qualified and experienced staff
• School readiness and transition to school program, developed and implemented in partnership with the primary school
• Three healthy and nutritious meals prepared fresh, onsite each day by the in-house cook
• Alternate menu to support children with allergies and/or food restrictions.  

Fees

The daily fee for the 2024-25 financial year for all age groups is $169 per day.

Wait list

To join our waitlist, click here.

Due to the unpredictable nature of long day care waiting lists, the Centre can make no guarantees that a placement will be available when you require care, nor can we provide estimated times of when positions will be offered.

Contact us

Phone: 9911 6230 (Centre Administration)

Email: children.services@canadabay.nsw.gov.au

For more information about childcare in the City of Canada Bay, please visit our new Children's Service website.

More information

• Victoria Avenue Children's Centre Virtual Tour
• Children's Services Parent Handbook
• City of Canada Bay Children's Services Website
• Children's Services Waitlist Policy

Wellbank Children’s Centre is a long day care facility owned and operated by the City of Canada Bay. The Centre is located within the Concord community facility which hosts Concord Library, an occasional care centre and Wellbank Children’s Centre.

The centre operates 52 weeks of the year, between 7:30am and 6pm (excluding public holidays). It provides quality care for 51 children per day, aged between six weeks to five years old. At the Centre, we offer:

• Quality educational programs that recognise the unique individuality of each child
• A safe, caring and stimulating environment
• School readiness and transition to school program
• Healthy and nutritious meals
• Creative indoor and outdoor spaces to play
• Experienced and qualified staff. 

Fees 

The daily fee for the 2024-25 financial year for all age groups is $169.

Wait list

To join our waitlist, click here.

Due to the unpredictable nature of long day care waiting lists, the Centre can make no guarantees that a placement will be available when you require care, nor can we provide estimated times of when positions will be offered. 

Contact us

Phone: 9911 6250 (Centre Administration)

Email: children.services@canadabay.nsw.gov.au

For more information about childcare in the City of Canada Bay, please visit our new Children's Service website. 

More information

• Wellbank Children's Centre Virtual Tour
• Children's Services Parent Handbook
• Children's Services Waitlist Policy

The City of Canada Bay Family Day Care Scheme has been transferred to Family Day Care Sydney Wide and is operated by The Infants' Home Ashfield. For more information, please visit The Infants' Home website. 

The Victoria Avenue Community Precinct was completed in January 2015.  

The project is a joint venture between the NSW Government and the City of Canada Bay that encourages the shared use of school facilities by the community to service a broad range of community needs at one location. The precinct is located at 64-66 Victoria Avenue, Concord West.  

The Precinct includes a new primary school catering for up to 600 students including four supported classes, a purpose-built outside school hours care centre, a 47 place children's centre for children from birth to school age and early childhood health services.

Victoria Avenue Public School opened in Term 1, 2015. For more information on the school, email Victoria Avenue Public School or visit their website.