buildAutomation

AI Automation for Childcare centres in Brisbane

Childcare centres lose enrolments when tour enquiries from prospective families go unanswered for days and the waitlist is run off a spreadsheet. We train two or three of your team to build automations that capture every enquiry, nurture the waitlist and handle enrolment and Child Care Subsidy paperwork, then build the harder ones with them so it runs without adding office staff.

~7%

of Australian SMEs have AI running a real process

National AI Centre, 2026

Most agencies build your automations and bill you forever. We do the opposite - we train your own people to build and own them, so when we leave, the capability stays in your business.

Callum Holt, Founder, 13Labs

Last updated: 2026-06-30

Where the manual work hurts in childcare centres

For most childcare centres, the same handful of jobs eat the week - answering tour enquiries, managing the waitlist, enrolment paperwork, CCS submissions and parent communications. Here is where Brisbane childcare centres lose the most time and money:

1. Tour and waitlist enquiries from prospective families go unanswered for days and the family enrols down the road.

2. The waitlist is run off a spreadsheet, so vacancies are offered slowly and rooms sit below licensed capacity.

3. Enrolment paperwork, immunisation records and Child Care Subsidy confirmations are chased by hand.

4. Daily reports, fee reminders and absence follow-ups pull educators away from the room.

None of these are your actual trade or service. They are the repetitive admin wrapped around it - which is exactly the work that can be automated and owned in-house.

What your team will automate

These are real flows we build with childcare centres - mapped to your workflows on the tools you already run (Xplor, OWNA, Storypark, HubHello), not generic templates:

Tour enquiry capture. Web and phone enquiries are captured instantly, the family is booked for a centre tour and added to the waitlist.

Waitlist nurturing. Families on the waitlist get automatic vacancy and availability updates so they do not enrol elsewhere while waiting.

Enrolment onboarding. An accepted offer triggers enrolment forms, CCS enrolment confirmation and immunisation record collection.

Vacancy filling. Casual and short-notice vacancies are offered to waitlisted families to keep each room at licensed capacity.

Parent communications. Daily reports, fee reminders and absence follow-ups go out automatically without educators leaving the room.

We start with whichever of these is costing you the most right now, so you see something working early rather than at the end.

How the program runs

Over six to twelve weeks, shaped around your business and your heroes. Done with you, not to you.

Map and diagnose. We sit with your team and map your real workflows, then pick the automations with the best payback.

Build along, together. Weekly working sessions where your people - your centre director or administration officer is the typical hero - build real automations on your own tools, with us beside them.

We build the hard parts. The genuinely tricky, integration-heavy or compliance-sensitive flows we build with your team so they learn by seeing it done.

Independence and handover. Your heroes run solo. We leave a documented playbook and an optional low-touch get-unstuck line. No retainer required.

Own it, do not rent it

Most Brisbane childcare centres have two options today: pay an agency a retainer that never ends, or try it themselves and watch the pilot quietly die because nobody owns it.

buildAutomation is the third way. One investment that ends, not a cost that never does. Your people make changes instantly instead of raising a ticket. The capability stays and compounds in-house instead of walking out the door with a contractor. And you finish with live automations running your business, not a slide deck of ideas.

See exactly how buildAutomation works.

Childcare centres in Brisbane

Brisbane's SME base skews toward trades, construction and field-service businesses servicing a fast-growing south-east Queensland, alongside a tightening cluster of tech and professional firms around Eight Mile Plains and Newstead. With margins under pressure from the building boom, training an in-house hero to own enquiry response and quote follow-up is far cheaper over time than a monthly retainer, and the knowledge stays local when staff turn over. Eight Mile Plains hosts the Brisbane Technology Park, the city's largest tech and startup cluster, while Fortitude Valley and Newstead have become the inner-city hub for creative agencies, and the 2032 Olympics is driving sustained construction and trades activity across the south-east corridor.

We run buildAutomation with childcare centres right across Brisbane - including Brisbane CBD, Fortitude Valley, Newstead, Eight Mile Plains, Milton, South Brisbane - in person where it helps and remotely where it does not. 13Labs is a Melbourne software studio, and the program is the same wherever in Queensland you are: train your team, build the hard automations together, and leave the capability behind so you own it.

At a Glance

Manual job todayWhat we automateWhat you get back
Tour and waitlist enquiries from prospective families go unanswered for days and the family enrols down the roadTour enquiry capture: Web and phone enquiries are captured instantly, the family is booked for a centre tour and added to the waitlistTime back and a process that runs itself - owned by your team
The waitlist is run off a spreadsheet, so vacancies are offered slowly and rooms sit below licensed capacityWaitlist nurturing: Families on the waitlist get automatic vacancy and availability updates so they do not enrol elsewhere while waitingTime back and a process that runs itself - owned by your team
Enrolment paperwork, immunisation records and Child Care Subsidy confirmations are chased by handEnrolment onboarding: An accepted offer triggers enrolment forms, CCS enrolment confirmation and immunisation record collectionTime back and a process that runs itself - owned by your team
Daily reports, fee reminders and absence follow-ups pull educators away from the roomVacancy filling: Casual and short-notice vacancies are offered to waitlisted families to keep each room at licensed capacityTime back and a process that runs itself - owned by your team

Frequently Asked Questions

Can this actually grow our enrolments?

Yes. The biggest leak in most centres is enquiries that go cold, so the first flow we build captures every tour and waitlist enquiry instantly, nurtures families with vacancy updates and moves them through enrolment, turning interest you already get into filled places.

Our educators are flat out with the children - who runs this?

Your centre director or an administration officer, not your educators. This is point-and-click automation connected to your software like Xplor or OWNA, not coding. We train them, start by automating the enquiry and enrolment admin that eats their week, and leave a playbook so it keeps running.

We handle children's and family records - is the data safe?

Children's and family data is sensitive, so data handling is something we design around from the start. Automations run on your existing centre software and Australian-hosted tools, we map exactly where every record flows before going live, and you approve every parent message before it sends.

How much does buildAutomation cost for a childcare centre?

It is a one-time program fee, scoped to your business and the number of heroes you want trained - not a monthly retainer. Tell us where the manual work hurts most and we will come back with a clear scope and price.

Are you based in Brisbane?

Yes. 13Labs is a Melbourne software studio working with businesses across Queensland and Australia, in person where it helps and remotely where it does not.

Related Pages

Train your childcare centres team to own automation

Tell us where the manual work hurts most. Callum reviews every enquiry personally and will come back with a clear next step - a one-time program, not a retainer.

Enquire about buildAutomation