12 km from Melbourne CBD in the City of Banyule. 407 children under five.
More about Heidelberg →
The top 3 childcare centres for Heidelberg families are St Hellier Street Child Day Care in neighbouring Heidelberg Heights (Meeting NQS, $119.20/day), Morobe Street Child Day Care Centre in Heidelberg (Meeting NQS, $106.00/day), and Goodstart Early Learning Heidelberg, also in Heidelberg (Meeting NQS, $183.85/day). Rankings draw on quality ratings and regulatory history from ACECQA, plus fees and inclusions verified on Starting Blocks.
Postcode 3084City of Banyule✓ Verified 20 August 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.How NQS ratings work, and what Meeting and Exceeding mean →
No.1 PICK
St Hellier Street Child Day Care
95 St Hellier Street, Heidelberg Heights VIC 3081
Meeting NQS · April 2025
All 7 quality areas: Meeting
Regulatory detail and operational conditions
Meeting NQS issued April 2025 — the most recent assessment of any service a Heidelberg family can enrol in — repeating the Meeting result from March 2021. None of its seven quality areas is rated above the national standard, which is true of every centre ranked on this page.
Regulatory visit March 2025: Last visited by the regulatory authority in March 2025. Starting Blocks records no current conditions on the service approval and no enforcement action in the past two years. Run by the City of Banyule. Source: Starting Blocks service record, retrieved 20 August 2026. Approved places not retrieved.
Daily fee
$119.20
Hours
Monday to Friday, 7:00am to 6:15pm
Ages
Birth to preschool age
CCS approved
Yes
Free Kinder
Yes, integrated
NQS
Meeting
St Hellier Street is a council-run service on St Hellier Street in Heidelberg Heights, operated by the City of Banyule. Weekday hours are 7:00am to 6:15pm and it takes children from birth to preschool age.
Its April 2025 assessment is the most recent of any service open to the public across both localities, and it returned Meeting in all seven quality areas, as the March 2021 assessment did.
The published rate is $119.20 a day at every age band. The register carries no inclusions list against it, so what that rate covers cannot be established from public data — this is the single most important question to ask on a tour.
No conditions sit on the service approval and no enforcement action has been recorded in the past two years.
Our take
St Hellier comes first because it wins on both of the two things left to decide this page. Every centre a Heidelberg family can enrol in is rated Meeting with no quality area above the standard, so the rating separates nobody; what remains is recency and cost, and St Hellier holds the newest assessment in that field, April 2025, while charging $64.65 a day less than the centre ranked third. There is no trade-off to weigh here, which is why it leads rather than being argued for. The qualification is real and worth stating: the register publishes no inclusions list for this service, so the $64.65 is a gap between a bare rate and an itemised one, not a proven saving. A day of meals and nappies does not plausibly consume $64.65, so a genuine advantage almost certainly survives — but "almost certainly" is the honest description, and the way to convert it into a fact is one phone call asking what is and is not covered.
Best for: Families who want the newest assessment available to them and a low published rate, and who are prepared to ring and establish what that rate actually covers.
Meeting NQS issued May 2023, following the same result in January 2018. None of the seven quality areas sits above the national standard. This is the oldest assessment of the three ranked here, by twenty-two months against the centre ranked third.
Regulatory visit May 2026: Last visited by the regulatory authority in May 2026 — fourteen months more recent than the visit to the centre ranked third. Two services were visited more recently: A2Z in July 2026 and Austin in August 2026, neither of which is ranked here. No current conditions on the service approval and no enforcement action in the past two years. Run by the City of Banyule. Source: Starting Blocks service record, retrieved 20 August 2026. Approved places not retrieved.
Daily fee
$106.00
Hours
Monday to Friday, 7:00am to 6:00pm
Ages
Birth to preschool age
CCS approved
Yes
Free Kinder
Yes, integrated
NQS
Meeting
Morobe Street runs from Oriel Street in Heidelberg and is the second of the two City of Banyule services on this page. It opens 7:00am to 6:00pm on weekdays — the shortest day of the three ranked — and takes children from birth to preschool age.
At $106.00 a day it publishes the lowest rate of any long day care service across Heidelberg and Heidelberg Heights, and that rate holds at every age band.
The May 2023 assessment returned Meeting in all seven quality areas, as January 2018 did. It is the oldest current rating among the three ranked. Against that, the regulatory authority visited in May 2026, which is considerably more recent than the March 2025 visit to the centre ranked below it.
The register lists no inclusions for this service, so meals, nappies and program costs cannot be assumed either way. No conditions sit on the approval and no enforcement action has been recorded in two years.
Our take
Morobe Street is second on the same reasoning that puts St Hellier first, and applying that reasoning consistently is the point. Its rate is $77.85 a day below the centre ranked third — a wider gap than the $64.65 that decides first place — at the same Meeting rating and the same absence of a published inclusions list. If a fee advantage of that size is strong enough to settle the top of the page, declining to let it settle second place would be arbitrary, and the earlier proposal for this page did exactly that, dropping Morobe on assessment date while keeping the same logic at number one. What Goodstart holds against it is genuine: an assessment twenty-two months newer, March 2025 against May 2023, and an older rating describes a service as it was rather than as it is. Two things sit on the other side. The regulator visited Morobe in May 2026 and Goodstart in March 2025, so recent regulatory contact runs the other way. And $77.85 a day is roughly $4,000 a year at four days a week, which is not a rounding difference in a household budget. The honest caveat is the same one that applies above: with no inclusions list published, part of that gap may be meals and nappies you would pay for separately. Ask, and then decide.
Best for: Families for whom daily cost is the binding constraint, who want a centre inside Heidelberg itself, and who will ask what the rate covers rather than assume.
Meeting NQS issued March 2025, following the same result in May 2021. No quality area sits above the national standard. This is the second most recent assessment among the centres open to the public, one month behind the centre ranked first and twenty-two months ahead of the centre ranked second.
Regulatory visit March 2025: Last regulatory visit March 2025, the oldest of the three ranked here. One condition sits on the service approval: it appears on the state Category 4 bushfire list, and the provider must ensure the service does not operate on a day declared Catastrophic on the fire danger rating. That is a categorical clause applied to services in a mapped risk area, not a finding against this centre. No enforcement action in the past two years. Operated by Goodstart Early Learning, which runs 667 services. Source: Starting Blocks service record, retrieved 20 August 2026. Approved places not retrieved.
Daily fee
$183.85
Hours
Monday to Friday, 6:30am to 6:30pm
Ages
Birth to preschool age
CCS approved
Yes
Free Kinder
Yes, integrated
NQS
Meeting
Goodstart Early Learning Heidelberg is on Rosanna Road, operated by Goodstart Early Learning, a not-for-profit group running 667 services nationally. Its 6:30am to 6:30pm weekday span is the longest of the three ranked here — three quarters of an hour longer than St Hellier Street and a full hour longer than Morobe Street.
The daily rate is $183.85 at every age band, with five inclusions listed. It is the only centre ranked on this page that publishes an inclusions list, which is the reason its higher rate is not a straight comparison against the two above it.
March 2025 returned Meeting across all seven quality areas, as May 2021 had. That assessment is twenty-two months newer than the one held by the centre ranked second — the strongest argument for placing this centre higher.
One condition sits on the approval, a categorical bushfire clause tied to the state Category 4 list rather than to anything found at this service. The last regulatory visit was March 2025, the oldest of the three ranked.
Our take
Goodstart is third on price and it is the closest call on the page. Its case is the assessment date: March 2025 against May 2023 for the centre ranked second, twenty-two months of difference, and a rating describes a service at the moment it was assessed. If that is how you weigh evidence, this belongs second and the order above it is the one to argue with. What sits against it is $77.85 a day, and the fact that the regulator has been through Morobe more recently — May 2026 against March 2025 here — so "more current information" does not point cleanly in one direction. It is also the only centre ranked here that publishes what its fee includes, five items, and that genuinely narrows the gap in a way the raw numbers overstate; a family that would otherwise buy meals and nappies separately should do that arithmetic before treating the cheaper rates as cheaper. The other thing it offers is the day itself: 6:30am to 6:30pm, opening half an hour before either centre above it and closing between fifteen and thirty minutes later, which for a shift worker or a long commute can decide the question on its own.
Best for: Families who want a published inclusions list and a long day, who value a recent assessment over a lower rate, and who need care from 6:30am or until 6:30pm.
Rates from Starting Blocks, captured live on 20 August 2026 at every age band each service publishes. All three charge one rate from birth to preschool age. Average across these three centres: $136.35 a day before the Child Care Subsidy — an average of the three ranked here only, not of the two localities. Two of the three publish no inclusions list at all, which is missing information rather than a statement that nothing is included, so the gap between them and the third is not a like-for-like comparison. 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.
Heidelberg has just three long day care services of its own, which is too few to choose between: a ranking of three drawn from a field of three selects nothing. This guide therefore covers Heidelberg 3084 together with the adjoining locality of Heidelberg Heights 3081, immediately to the north, giving seven services to assess. Two of the three centres ranked below are in Heidelberg and one is in Heidelberg Heights, and each is identified by locality throughout.
One of Heidelberg's three is not open to the public. Austin Child Care Centre, on the hospital site, restricts enrolment to Austin Health employees and staff of approved associated organisations — its waiting list sits behind a staff-only intranet and its fees are debited from wages. That matters more here than it would elsewhere, because Austin is the only service across both localities rated above the national standard. Every centre a Heidelberg family can actually enrol in is rated Meeting, and none of the six holds a single quality area above the standard.
That is what shapes the ranking below. With the rating identical across the field, the page turns on what is left: how recent each assessment is, what a day costs, and what the fee covers. Every centre was checked against Starting Blocks and the ACECQA national register on 20 August 2026, with fees captured live at every age band. Approved places are the one field not retrieved — the register rate-limited on the day — and the page says so rather than carrying a number it has not confirmed.
Heidelberg 3084 holds three long day care services and Heidelberg Heights 3081 holds four. This page ranks three of those seven, two in Heidelberg and one in Heidelberg Heights, because a field of three is a list rather than a choice — and because one of Heidelberg's three is not open to the public.
Why this page crosses a boundary, and why it matters more here
The live register enumeration on 20 August 2026 returned seven long day care services across Heidelberg 3084 and Heidelberg Heights 3081 — three and four respectively — plus one standalone kindergarten and two other services that are not long day care. Ranking Heidelberg alone would mean selecting three from three, which selects nothing. The complication is that one of those three, Austin Child Care Centre on the hospital site, takes only Austin Health staff, so a Heidelberg family choosing from its own suburb is really choosing between two. Widening to Heidelberg Heights takes the field to six services actually available.
Every available centre is rated Meeting
Austin Child Care Centre holds Exceeding NQS in all seven quality areas and is the only service across either locality rated above the national standard — and it is closed to the public. Of the six a family can enrol in, all six are rated Meeting, and not one holds a single quality area above the standard. That is unusual and it changes how this page ranks: with the quality evidence identical, the order rests on assessment date, on daily cost, and on what each fee covers. Exceeding is the highest rating available through standard assessment; the separate Excellent designation is awarded by ACECQA on application and is held by fewer than 1% of services.
Two of the three ranked publish no inclusions list
St Hellier Street and Morobe Street, both run by the City of Banyule, show no inclusions against their fees on the register. That is missing information, not a declaration that nothing is included — a service can provide meals and nappies without listing them. It means the gap between $106.00 or $119.20 and Goodstart's $183.85 is not a like-for-like comparison, because only one of those figures comes with a statement of what it buys. Ask each centre what a full day covers: meals, nappies, sunscreen, program and excursion costs. On a gap of $64.65 to $77.85 a day a genuine advantage almost certainly survives the answer, but the size of it is not knowable from public data.
Fees are flat, and one figure in circulation is wrong
Every service across both localities charges one rate from birth to preschool age; none varies the fee by age band. Rates were captured live on 20 August 2026 by stepping through each band on each service page. One caution: Cheeriokids Heidelberg currently publishes $182.90, up from $166.00 in July 2024, and a figure of $172.90 is still circulating in indexed data. If you see $172.90 quoted anywhere for that centre, it is out of date.
Approved places are not published on this page
Approved places, the licensed capacity of a service, are held only on the ACECQA national register. The register rate-limited the session on 20 August 2026 and capacity was not retrieved for any centre here. This page records that as not retrieved rather than carrying an unverified number or implying none exists. Ask each centre directly if capacity matters to your decision.
Of the centres a family can actually enrol in, St Hellier Street Child Day Care — though it is in neighbouring Heidelberg Heights 3081 rather than Heidelberg itself. It holds the most recent assessment of any available service, April 2025, and at $119.20 a day it is $64.65 below the third-ranked centre. If you need a centre inside Heidelberg 3084, Morobe Street on Oriel Street is ranked second at $106.00, the lowest rate across both localities. The genuinely highest-rated service in the area, Austin Child Care Centre, holds Exceeding NQS in all seven quality areas but takes only Austin Health staff.
How much does childcare cost in Heidelberg and Heidelberg Heights?
The three centres ranked here publish $119.20, $106.00 and $183.85 a day, an average across these three of $136.35 before the Child Care Subsidy. All three charge one rate from birth to preschool age, confirmed against every age band on 20 August 2026. These figures describe the three ranked centres only and are not an average for either locality. Bear in mind that the two cheaper centres publish no list of what their fee includes, while the third lists five inclusions, so the difference between them is not a straight comparison. Most families are eligible for the Child Care Subsidy, worth up to 90% of the fee depending on household income and recognised activity.
Why is the highest-rated centre in Heidelberg not in the top three?
Austin Child Care Centre is the only service across Heidelberg and Heidelberg Heights rated above the national standard — Exceeding NQS in all seven quality areas, issued December 2023 — and it also had the most recent regulatory visit in the set. It is excluded because it is not available to the public: Austin Health limits enrolment to its own employees and to staff of approved associated organisations, the waiting list is obtainable only from a staff-only intranet, and fees are debited from wages. A family with no Austin Health payroll relationship cannot enrol there. If you do work for Austin Health, it should be the first place you call.
Why is Morobe Street ranked above Goodstart when Goodstart was assessed more recently?
On fee, applied consistently. Every centre available in this area is rated Meeting with no quality area above the standard, so the rating separates none of them, and the page turns on assessment date and cost. Morobe Street charges $77.85 a day less than Goodstart — around $4,000 a year at four days a week — which is a wider gap than the one that decides first place on this page. Ranking on that gap at the top and then ignoring it at second place would be inconsistent. Goodstart's counter is real and worth weighing: its assessment is twenty-two months newer, March 2025 against May 2023. Two things sit against it. The regulator visited Morobe in May 2026 and Goodstart in March 2025, so recent regulatory contact runs the other way, and Goodstart is the only one of the two that publishes what its fee includes. If a newer assessment is what you weigh most heavily, the two are close enough to swap.
Why is A2Z not in the top three?
A2Z Childcare and Kindergarten is a close call and worth a look. It has the most recent regulatory visit of any service open to the public here, July 2026, publishes seven inclusions — more than any ranked centre — and at $179.00 a day undercuts the third-ranked centre by $4.85. It sits outside the three on assessment date: its rating was issued in July 2024, eight months older than Goodstart's March 2025. With every centre in this area rated Meeting across all seven quality areas, assessment date is one of the few measures left to separate them, and a $4.85 daily difference is not wide enough to override eight months. If the longer inclusions list or the recent visit matters more to you than the assessment date, ring them.
Do any centres in Heidelberg hold an Exceeding NQS rating?
One: Austin Child Care Centre, assessed December 2023, above the national standard in all seven quality areas — and it is restricted to Austin Health staff. Every other long day care service across Heidelberg 3084 and Heidelberg Heights 3081 is rated Meeting, and none holds a single quality area above the standard. 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.
Is the Child Care Subsidy available at all centres here?
Not at all of them. The three ranked centres are all CCS approved. But Ivanhoe Children's Community Co-operative in Heidelberg Heights shows as CCS not offered on Starting Blocks, which means the subsidy does not apply to fees paid there — a family assuming it did could be out by up to 90% of the fee. Always check the CCS status on a service's Starting Blocks record rather than assuming a fee implies subsidy eligibility.
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, days and any age cut-off directly with each centre, as availability changes year to year.
Data sources: ACECQA (NQS ratings and quality area results), Starting Blocks (Fees, inclusions, hours, CCS status and conditions on approval). Information on this page was last verified 20 August 2026. top3elc.com.au does not receive referral fees.