7 km from Melbourne CBD in the City of Boroondara. 846 children under five.
More about Hawthorn →
Hawthorn Early Years (Exceeding NQS, October 2025, no daily rate published), West Hawthorn Early Childhood Centre (Exceeding NQS, July 2024, $196.00/day) and Little Lane Early Learning Centre Hawthorn (Meeting NQS, November 2024, $190.00/day). Ranked on NQS rating and its date, then program, fees and practical fit.
Postcode 3122City of Boroondara✓ Verified 22 October 2026
How we chose: we weigh five things together: NQS rating and how recently it was issued, parent reviews, program and environment, fees and inclusions, and practical fit including hours and Free Kinder access. We do not accept payment from any centre to appear on this list, and we do not rank by who owns a centre. Read how we rank.What an Exceeding NQS rating actually means →
No.1 PICK
Hawthorn Early Years
584-586 Glenferrie Road, Hawthorn VIC 3122
Exceeding NQS · October 2025★ Google 3.3/5 · 13 reviews
Google reviews, captured 22 October 2026
All 7 quality areas: Exceeding
Regulatory detail and operational conditions
Exceeding NQS issued October 2025, in all seven quality areas, as the September 2022 assessment was. Exceeding is the highest rating available through standard assessment; Excellent is a separate designation awarded only on application to ACECQA and held by fewer than 1% of services.
Regulatory visit September 2026: No conditions on the approval and no enforcement actions in the past two years. Operated by a not-for-profit incorporated association, which has held the approval since April 2013. Source: Starting Blocks service record, retrieved 22 October 2026; approved places from the ACECQA national register.
Hours
Monday to Friday, 7:30am to 6:00pm
Ages
6 weeks to 6 years
CCS approved
Yes
Free Kinder
Yes, integrated
Capacity
155 children
Hawthorn Early Years operates from Glenferrie Road with 155 approved places, the largest of the four long day care services in the locality. It is run by a not-for-profit incorporated association and opens 7:30am to 6:00pm on weekdays.
Its educational approach is grounded in the Early Years Learning Framework, with child-led, play-based inquiry and an outdoor program that uses the site's grounds as a teaching space.
The October 2025 assessment returned Exceeding in all seven quality areas, repeating the September 2022 result, and the regulator visited again in September 2026. The register publishes no daily rate and no inclusions list for this service, so nothing can be said here about what a day costs without asking the centre. Its Google figure is 3.3 from 13 reviews.
What parents say
“We've had a great experience with HEY. The staff are caring and professional, and the environment is safe, fun and welcoming. The grounds are also very beautiful. My daughter loved attending every day - it's by far the best daycare we have attended.”Sheridan M.
Our take
Hawthorn Early Years is first on the date of its rating. It and West Hawthorn are the only Exceeding services in the locality, both above the standard in all seven areas, and its October 2025 result is 15 months newer, which settles the pair at the same level. It carries no conditions on its approval. Two things to weigh: it publishes no fee, so ring before you tour, and its Google figure of 3.3 from 13 reviews is low and thin; it did not decide the order.
Best for: Parents who want every quality area above the standard, assessed most recently of the four, in the largest centre in the locality, and who will ring for a fee before comparing on price.
Too few reviews to show an average — captured 22 October 2026
All 7 quality areas: Exceeding
Regulatory detail and operational conditions
Exceeding NQS issued July 2024, in all seven quality areas, repeating the October 2019 result.
Regulatory visit January 2026: No enforcement actions in the past two years. Six conditions on the approval: comply with environmental advice (Atma Environmental, reference 786) and inspect the outdoor space before children use it each day; communicate and enforce that advice for everyone on site; a waiver of regulation 108(2) (outdoor space) applies while planned works are undertaken; safe access to outdoor space during the renovation; educators, staff and volunteers made aware of the risk assessment; and notify the regulator within 14 days once the waiver is no longer required. Source: Starting Blocks service record, retrieved 22 October 2026; approved places from the ACECQA national register.
Daily fee
$196.00
Hours
Monday to Friday, 7:30am to 6:00pm
Ages
Birth to preschool age
CCS approved
Yes
Free Kinder
Yes, integrated
Capacity
40 children
West Hawthorn Early Childhood Centre is a not-for-profit run by an incorporated association from Church Street, with 40 approved places, the smallest of the four long day care services in the locality. It opens 7:30am to 6:00pm on weekdays, and its own material describes a shutdown of about two weeks over Christmas.
The July 2024 assessment returned Exceeding across all seven quality areas, as the October 2019 assessment did before it. The fee is $196.00 a day at every age, with eight inclusions covering all meals, nappies, education programs and excursions.
Six conditions apply to its approval, centred on a waiver of the outdoor space regulation while renovation works proceed and a requirement to inspect the outdoor area against environmental advice before children go out each day. None is an enforcement action; ask what stage the works have reached when you tour.
Our take
West Hawthorn matches the centre above it on the assessment itself, every one of the seven areas above the standard twice over, and comes second on recency: July 2024 against October 2025, more than a year apart at the same level. It sits above both Meeting-rated services on rating level. Three practical points separate it from Hawthorn Early Years: 40 places against 155, a shutdown of roughly two weeks over Christmas, and six conditions tied to an outdoor-space renovation, where the centre ranked first carries none.
Best for: Households after a small, community-run centre with every quality area above the standard, who can work around 40 places, a Christmas shutdown and an outdoor space under renovation.
Meeting NQS · November 2024★ Google 4.7/5 · 15 reviews
Google reviews, captured 22 October 2026
Educational program and practice: Exceeding · Collaborative partnerships with families and communities: Exceeding · 5 areas Meeting
Regulatory detail and operational conditions
Meeting NQS issued November 2024, with educational program and practice and collaborative partnerships rated Exceeding; previous rating Meeting (May 2019). Both were issued under the current operator, which has held the approval since August 2018.
Regulatory visit April 2026: No enforcement actions in the past two years. Three conditions on the approval: no climbable or movable play equipment on levels 1 and 2 within 1.9m of the perimeter fencing; all children must have regular excursions to genuine outdoor space and natural environments; and the waiver from regulation 108 (outdoor space) relates only to the partially covered play area on level 1 west. Source: Starting Blocks service record, retrieved 22 October 2026; approved places from the ACECQA national register.
Daily fee
$190.00
Hours
Monday to Friday, 6:30am to 6:30pm
Ages
6 weeks to 6 years
CCS approved
Yes
Free Kinder
Yes, integrated
Capacity
146 children
Little Lane Early Learning Centre Hawthorn is on Glenferrie Road and opens 6:30am to 6:30pm, 52 weeks a year, the longest day in the locality. Its website sets out care from six weeks to six years, funded kindergarten for three and four-year-olds, and music, atelier art and Mandarin programs.
Its November 2024 assessment returned Meeting overall, with educational program and family partnerships above the standard, and the May 2019 assessment was also Meeting; both were issued under the operator that has held the approval since 2018. Three conditions apply, covering play-equipment setbacks on its upper levels, regular excursions to natural outdoor space, and an outdoor-space waiver for one partially covered area.
The register approves 146 places, but it also lists outside school hours care at this service, so that figure may include school-age children. The rate is $190.00 a day at every age. The register lists no inclusions, while the centre says meals, nappies, tissues, wipes and hats are provided, so confirm the detail when you enquire.
Our take
Little Lane takes third from Only About Children, the other Meeting-rated service. Their ratings are eight months apart, which our method treats as a tie. Fees come out level: both charge $190.00 for a child under three, though Only About Children lists eight inclusions and drops to $185.00 from 36 months. Practical fit goes to Little Lane, which opens at 6:30am against 7:15am. We did not count capacity, because Little Lane's 146 places may include school-age care. Weigh the three conditions on its approval and ask what the daily rate covers.
Best for: Working parents who need the longest day in Hawthorn, 6:30am to 6:30pm year-round, with funded kinder and casual places showing.
Rates from Starting Blocks, read 22 October 2026. Two of the three publish one, $190.00 and $196.00 a day before the Child Care Subsidy, each the same at every age. No average is given: Hawthorn Early Years publishes no rate, and averaging two of three would describe nothing. All three are CCS approved, worth up to 90% of the fee depending on household income and recognised activity.
Childcare fees vary by age group. The rates shown may reflect different age bands at different centres, so confirm the rate for your child's age directly with each centre.
Hawthorn is an established inner-eastern suburb about six kilometres from the Melbourne CBD, inside the City of Boroondara. Leafy streets, Swinburne University and the Glenferrie Road shops draw a mix of young professionals, growing families and long-settled households.
Four long day care services operate in the locality, a small field for an inner suburb, and two of them hold Exceeding NQS in all seven quality areas. Those two take the top places, the newer rating first. The other two are both rated Meeting, within a year of each other, so third place comes down to fees and practical fit.
Every centre below was checked against Starting Blocks and the ACECQA national register on 22 October 2026: rating and its date, all seven quality-area results, approved places, opening hours, conditions on approval and enforcement history. Where the register publishes no fee, this page says so rather than substituting a figure from somewhere else. The Prahran page covers that suburb's eligible long day care services.
Looking wider? Our Eastern Suburbs guide lists every suburb we rank across the area, with each one's top centres.
Hawthorn sits in the City of Boroondara, about six kilometres east of the Melbourne CBD. Four long day care services operate in the locality and two of them hold Exceeding NQS in all seven quality areas.
A four-service market
The register read for Hawthorn 3122 on 22 October 2026 returned four long day care services. Standalone kindergartens and outside-school-hours services also operate here but are not comparable for a family needing full-day care, and this page ranks three of the four.
Fees
West Hawthorn charges $196.00 a day and Little Lane $190.00, each the same at every age. West Hawthorn lists eight inclusions; Little Lane lists none on the register but says meals and nappies are provided. Hawthorn Early Years publishes no rate at all, so no fee comparison including it can be made from public data.
Conditions on approval vary
All three ranked centres have no enforcement actions in the past two years. Hawthorn Early Years carries no conditions. Little Lane carries three, about play-equipment setbacks, excursions to natural outdoor space and an outdoor-space waiver for one area. West Hawthorn carries six, tied to a renovation of its outdoor space. Ask about them on a tour.
On our published criteria, Hawthorn Early Years on Glenferrie Road ranks first. It holds Exceeding NQS in all seven quality areas from October 2025, the newer of the two Exceeding ratings in the locality, and carries no conditions on its approval. The caveat is that it publishes no daily rate on Starting Blocks, so ring the centre for a fee before you compare it on price.
How much does childcare cost in Hawthorn?
West Hawthorn Early Childhood Centre charges $196.00 per full day and Little Lane Hawthorn $190.00, each the same at every age (Starting Blocks, 22 October 2026). Hawthorn Early Years publishes no daily rate on Starting Blocks; ask the centre what a full day costs and what it covers. Most families are eligible for the Child Care Subsidy, worth up to 90% of the fee depending on household income and recognised activity.
Which centres in Hawthorn hold an Exceeding NQS rating?
Two of the four long day care services in the locality: Hawthorn Early Years, assessed October 2025, and West Hawthorn Early Childhood Centre, assessed July 2024. Both are above the national standard in all seven quality areas. Exceeding is the highest rating achievable through standard assessment; Excellent is a separate designation awarded only on application to ACECQA and held by fewer than 1% of services nationally.
Why is Little Lane third and not Only About Children?
Both are rated Meeting, eight months apart, which our method treats as a tie. Their fees come out level, so practical fit decides: Little Lane opens at 6:30am, 45 minutes before Only About Children. Capacity was not counted, because Little Lane's approved places may include outside school hours care.
What does the regulation 108(2) waiver at West Hawthorn mean?
Regulation 108 sets the outdoor space requirement for an education and care service. The register records a waiver of regulation 108(2) that applies while planned renovation works are undertaken; it is tied to those works and is not permanent. Related conditions require safe access to outdoor space during the renovation, risk-assessment awareness for staff, daily inspection of the outdoor space against environmental advice, and notice to the regulator within 14 days once the waiver is no longer needed. None of this is an enforcement action.
Do these centres offer funded kindergarten?
All three ranked centres indicate a funded kindergarten program within long day care hours. Victoria's Free Kinder program funds kindergarten hours for eligible three and four-year-olds. Confirm the current program and days directly with each centre.
Data sources: ACECQA (NQS ratings, approved places and conditions on approval), Starting Blocks (Fees, inclusions and hours). Information on this page was last verified 22 October 2026. top3elc.com.au does not receive referral fees.