24-Hour / Emergency & Casual Care in Perth Metropolitan
A guide to Perth's 24-hour, emergency and casual child care providers: what the service covers, what to check before booking, and how we rank the 18 options.
Sometimes the usual daycare roster doesn't cover it: a night shift, an early flight, a sick regular carer, or a last-minute gap that leaves you stuck. This category covers the 18 Perth metro providers set up for exactly that, offering overnight care, weekend or public holiday cover, short-notice bookings, and casual sessions for families who don't need (or can't get) a permanent long day care place.
What this service actually involves
Providers in this group typically run in-home overnight care, extended-hours centres, or on-call casual booking pools staffed by qualified educators or nannies. Some specialise purely in emergency backup care for working parents, others fold casual and 24-hour options into a broader long day care service.
What to check before booking
- Working With Children Checks and first aid certification for every carer, not just the office staff
- Ratios and supervision for overnight and solo shifts
- How far in advance you need to book for casual or emergency slots, and what the cancellation policy looks like
- Whether pricing is a flat casual rate or scales with time of day, weekends and public holidays
Our ranked guide to Perth child care agencies scores every provider on the same criteria, so you can compare this category against standard long day care options. The full scoring approach is on the methodology page.
Find care for 24-hour / emergency & casual care
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All 24-hour / emergency & casual care, ranked by score and relevance
We found 18 businesses offering 24-hour / emergency & casual care; 16 met the criteria for the scored directory. The order weighs each business's overall score by how much of its reviewed work is 24-hour / emergency & casual care, so a lower-scored specialist can rank above a higher-scored generalist. Filter and sort below, or open the full map view.
When you submit a quote or contact form here, we may share your enquiry with partner providers who can do the work. We may receive a referral fee for those introductions, but our rankings and scores are based on our published method only and are never affected by referral payments.
Common questions about 24-hour / emergency & casual care
- How much does emergency or 24-hour child care cost in Perth?
- Casual and emergency bookings almost always cost more per hour than a standard long day care place, since you're paying for flexibility and short notice rather than a fixed roster spot. Overnight care is priced higher again, and rates typically climb further for weekends and public holidays. Ask for a written rate card covering daytime, evening, overnight and holiday rates before you book, since verbal quotes often miss the surcharges.
- How often do families actually use this kind of care?
- Most families use it irregularly rather than as their main arrangement: shift workers filling rostered nights, parents covering a sick nanny or a closed daycare day, or anyone needing cover during travel. A smaller group of shift-based households (nurses, hospitality, FIFO workers) use it as a recurring weekly booking.
- What should I expect on the day of an emergency booking?
- Expect the provider to ask for your child's routine, allergies, medication needs and emergency contacts even for a one-off booking, plus proof of the carer's Working With Children Check. A short handover, either in person or by phone, is standard. If a provider skips these checks to get you booked in fast, treat that as a warning sign rather than good service.
- How do I judge the quality of a casual or overnight provider?
- Look past the booking speed and check the same things you'd check for regular care: staff qualifications, WWCC and police clearance status, insurance, and what happens if the assigned carer cancels. Ask how they matched carers to your child's age group in the past, and whether you get the same carer on repeat bookings or a different person each time.
Guides to choosing 24-hour / emergency & casual care
- Building a backup child care plan before you need emergency care
How to set up a backup child care plan in Perth before your regular arrangement falls through, from vetting an agency in advance to what to have ready.