Decide if you need a service
A best practice approach to setting up an Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) service.
There are 6 steps you should take:
- form a working group
- conduct a needs analysis
- assess venue against requirements
- consider operating models for delivering an OSHC service
- assess fees and costs
- report to school council based on working group findings.
Although this is set out as a progressive process, in practice the process can be flexible, and some steps may be considered at the same time or in a different sequence. For example, venue availability may influence the feasibility of establishing an OSHC service and therefore also the conduct of a needs analysis.
1. Form a working group
Forming a working group enables your school council to delegate the initial scoping work for an OSHC services to a dedicated group that reports back to your school council for decision making.
The working group members may include parents, school councillors and teachers.
Setting up a working group may be a short-term alternative to a school council subcommittee. Short-term working parties may oversee the implementation of tasks while allowing school councils to keep the number of subcommittees to a practical size. The working group coordinates the task of collecting information and assists with addressing the interests and concerns of all stakeholders.
The scope of work and the reporting expectations of the working group should be agreed with the school council before any work is undertaken.
If a working group is not established, the principal, or a school council nominee such as a parent volunteer, may be responsible to research whether to establish an OSHC service.
2. Conduct a needs analysis
It is important to understand the level of demand for an OSHC service. Look at the estimated enrolments of the service by surveying families at the school (and possibly neighbouring schools) to determine:
- if before school care, after school care or school holiday programs are needed
- the preferred hours and days of operation to give families access to care for their children when they need it most.
Determine the target population
To determine the number of families who may need an OSHC service, you may do the following:
- analyse school enrolment data (current school enrolments, past enrolment trends and projected enrolments)
- identify any services currently operating locally that are providing an OSHC service or alternative for school-age children
- determine the current capacity and waiting lists of any nearby existing OSHC services
- enquire if other schools within close proximity have a need for an OSHC service
- survey the target population.
To identify services operating locally that are providing an OSHC service or alternative education and care services for school-age children, you can contact:
- the local government area
- other schools in the area, including non-government schools
- nearby kindergartens or early childhood services
- sporting or leisure facilities.
This may present opportunities for you to collaborate with existing services, where schools can share services or facilities to meet community needs.
You can also use the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) national to identify existing nearby education and care services and view their quality rating. You can view the Victorian register online or export it to a .csv file, which you can filter by suburb, contact details, capacity, and recent quality ratings. You can also use a portal such as Starting to search the same information.
Note: The type of operating model can be determined by looking at the name of the service’s approved provider. A service run by a school council will have that council as the approved provider’s name, for example, Beaumaris North Primary School Council.
Surveying parents and carers
You can establish the number of potential users of the service to inform service delivery by surveying parents and carers of the target population.
Information gathered through a survey may include:
- families' current before school care, after school care and vacation care arrangements
- current age of each child or children in each family/carer group
- likelihood that a family will use each component of care (before school care, after school care or vacation care)
- days in the week that families are likely to use each component of care
- preferred operating times (open and close times of each component of care)
- whether any children who would use the service have disabilities or additional needs, or if there are any other demographic considerations
- parent and carer interest in joining an OSHC subcommittee (if appropriate).
Your school may wish to adapt the Template OSHC School Survey for use when surveying parents and the school community about the need for OSHC.
Analyse the data
Through analysing this data, you will be able to determine the type and frequency of OSHC service required and prepare a report outlining your findings and recommendations to the school council.
When you are analysing the demand for hours of a potential OSHC service, be aware that OSHC services must meet certain operational requirements to be approved for Child Care Subsidy (CCS).
Your service must:
- operate in at least 7 weeks per year for any of before school care, after school care or vacation care
- operate mostly for the purpose of providing care to children attending school.
For more information on the CCS, refer to the Child Care Subsidy .
Insufficient demand and other options
If your needs analysis identifies that there is not sufficient demand for an OSHC service, your report to the school council should include the reasons for this finding.
In this situation, you could arrange to share services with an existing local OSHC service or consider establishing an OSHC service in partnership with a nearby school or schools.
Alternatively, if you have found that there is demand for a service, your report to the school council should include a summary of the data upon which you have relied to make that finding, including identifying the components of care that are in demand (before school care, after school care, vacation care or any combination of these).
3. Assess potential venue against requirements
The National Quality Standard sets out ‘physical environment’ requirements for the operation of a service. If there is more than one suitable venue option, the pros and cons of each venue can be reported to the school council, against the requirements in the national regulations.
The National include specifications relevant to the venue that must be in place, including:
- 3.25 square meters of unencumbered indoor space per child (r.107)
- 7 square metres of unencumbered outdoor space per child. Under the National Regulations, indoor space may be used is outdoor space with permission from the Regulatory Authority, but this permission is generally only granted for vacation care, and not for before or after school care.
- outdoor spaces which provide adequate shade and allow children to explore the natural environment (r.113/114)
- areas in which children can rest, if needed (r.81)
- accessible toilets (r.109)
- adequate heating, cooling, ventilation and natural light (r.110)
- administration space and space for conducting private conversations (r.111)
- that the area promotes visibility and facilitates effective supervision (r.115)
- the cleanliness and safety of the premises, furniture and equipment (r.103).
The NQS Quality Area 3 — physical requires a physical environment that:
- is safe
- is suitable
- provides a rich and diverse range of experiences promoting children’s learning and development.
In addition to complying with the national law and national regulations, any venue must comply with the building code of Australia and applicable Australian standards. For example, a venue must also comply with the Food Safety in areas where food is being prepared.
Use of school facilities – buildings and grounds
School councils must comply with the information set out by the Victorian School Building Authority (VSBA) in the Schools Policy and Advisory Library (PAL) including:
- school councils’ financial delegation to enter into contracts to carry out self-funded building works or improvements including minor capital works
- requirements at each stage of the school assets lifecycle including the planning stage
- delivering co-located facilities in established schools.
Schools must comply with these requirements irrespective of:
- if the school council is considering a licence agreement for the non-exclusive use of an area of the school by a third party, or
- planning to use, modify or build a facility for a school council managed OSHC service.
Schools must ensure facilities comply with:
- the Building Code of Australia (BCA)
- any applicable Australian standards
- ministerial directions
- the Building Quality Standards Handbook produced by the VSBA.
4. Consider operating models for running an OSHC
Selecting an operating model is a decision for school council. An OSHC service is a school trading operation for which school council approval is required.
There are 2 possible operating models for Victorian government schools seeking to establish an OSHC service:
- school council managed
- third party provider managed.
This means that your school council may:
- operate the service, or
- enter into a licence agreement with an approved provider to operate the service.
The service may be either on:
- the school premises, or
- premises under the control of the Minister
- another premises that is conveniently located to the school, such as a community hall. This is a less common arrangement generally only used where the school does not provide a suitable space for OSHC.
Your school council is responsible for regulating and facilitating the after hours use of your school’s premises and grounds.
For more information see:
- the Finance Manual – Section 12 Trading Operations
- school council constituting orders.
Regardless of which option you pursue, your school council is responsible for choosing an operating model that:
- is sustainable and efficient
- is suited to the community’s needs
- is reflective of the needs analysis
- is delivered by a provider that has an appropriate governance structure and management arrangements, and that these provide for ongoing and regular review.
Two or more schools may work together to deliver joint services on-site or at a local community venue. If you have an off-site venue you must consider child transportation to and from the service. Note that in a joint service arrangement, only one school, or one provider, operates the OSHC service, but the other school(s) have access on an equal basis.
Governance structure and financial management
Your school council has governance and financial oversight in relation to their key functions outlined in the Education and Training Reform Act 2006 Refer to the Department's policy on School Council – Power and Functions for further information on the key functions of a school council.
School council managed service
If your school council decides to become the approved provider of an OSHC service, they are responsible for all aspects of the service. Your school council can:
- form an OSHC subcommittee to assist with management and decision making in relation to the service (recommended), or
- assume direct management of the service.
School councils may form a subcommittee to assist the council for a particular purpose, such as overseeing the implementation of the OSHC at the school:
- School councils must decide the purpose and terms of reference of subcommittees.
- As with all subcommittees, the sub-committee must consist of at least 1 member of the school council and be at least 3 members overall.
- A subcommittee meets as directed by the school council and reports in writing to school council.
- The OSHC subcommittee cannot make decisions on behalf of your school council. In schools where there is no OSHC subcommittee, the school principal or assistant principal may take on the management of the service together with the OSHC coordinator.
- A staff member must be nominated who will have responsibility for the day-to-day management of the service. Under the National Law this person is usually the Nominated Supervisor of the service, however they may be referred to in other contexts as the OSHC Coordinator or OSHC Manager.
Sample terms of for a school council managed sub-committee are available. For further information about school council subcommittees, refer to School Council – Subcommittees.
School councils have legal responsibilities when running an OSHC service as the approved provider. The school council (as an entity), person with management and control, and nominated supervisor may be liable for offences under the National Law.
Where the school council manages the service as the approved provider, its key responsibilities include:
- quality and compliance of the service as required by the NQF including the development and implementation of the quality improvement plan for the service
- all financial management (revenue sits within school budget)
- determining fee structure, which includes setting and adjusting fees and imposing fines (for example, a fine for late pick up by parents and carers)
- all management responsibilities, which may involve an OSHC subcommittee
- promotion or raising awareness of the service in the community to increase enrolments, for example, advertising
- record keeping
- policy development and review
- developing and upholding a vision, philosophy and goals for the service
- staff recruitment, training, retention and staff replacement
- staff professional development, support and supervision
- sharing of resources and facilities between the school and the OSHC service as required, including developing suitable tracking systems to support equipment sharing, maintenance and replacement.
These responsibilities may be shared between the school council, an OSHC subcommittee, the OSHC co-ordinator and OSHC staff. This will vary depending on the school context as will the involvement of the school leadership and administration teams. Regular meetings may assist in ensuring these key responsibilities are met.
Meeting agenda are available for school council managed services.
Third party managed service
Where school council decides to engage a third party provider to operate the OSHC service, the third party is the approved provider with the relevant legal responsibilities for the service. However, the school council is responsible for:
- selecting and engaging a third party provider via an Expression of Interest (EOI) process (see category-specific tools and EOI template) and the use of the OSHC licence (login required)
- accessing the Department’s schools' procurement advice on the use of the EOI template
- accessing the Department’s Legal (login required) for advice on the terms of the licence agreement, including additions to the special conditions section around quality and value for money service delivery
- negotiating the terms of the licence agreement, including fees and any special conditions, and executing this agreement
- agreeing to any school-specific context or conditions, and incorporating these into a Memorandum of Understanding to cover elements not included in the licence agreement
- ongoing management of the licence agreement with the third party provider, including monitoring compliance with the National Law, compliance with the terms of the licence agreement and how the provider engages with children and families and responds to the needs of the community
- monitoring the service provision and, if unsatisfactory, determining whether changing the provider (either to another third party provider or to the school council) is required.
Even if a third party is managing the service, the functions of a school council ,detailed in the Education and Training Reform Act 2006, still apply:
- to regulate and facilitate the after hours use of the school premises and grounds
- to exercise a general oversight of the school buildings and grounds, and ensure that they are kept in good order and condition.
To assist your school council to meet their ongoing responsibilities with the third party-provider, there are templates for:
These templates support you to work together with the third party provider to benefit children’s wellbeing, learning and development. For example, the process for sharing children’s transition learning and development statements with the OSHC service can be overseen by the OSHC subcommittee to support a positive start to school for children and their families.
Types of third party providers
Third party providers can operate under various ownership structures such as community-based, not-for-profit, local government or private-for-profit. In all cases, the third party provider takes on all legal responsibilities for the operation of the service and is responsible for following relevant legislation and ensuring the safety of children is protected.
Not-for-profit encompasses a number of types of provider that would operate a service with no aim to make a profit, with any profit made invested back into the service. The approved provider may include a parent incorporated body or another community or charitable organisation.
Incorporated body — this is a type of non-profit, where a group of volunteers (typically parents who will use the service) become an incorporated body that takes on the legal responsibility for the OSHC service. Members are usually voted in annually and oversee the governance of the service. Day-to-day operations are generally managed by an OSHC coordinator employed by the incorporated body. For more information about incorporated associations refer to Consumer Affairs .
Community-based organisation(s) range from small to large in size and are another type of not-for-profit provider. These organisations generally focus on charity, youth work or community development. Examples include churches and community health organisations. These organisations may provide services on school premises, but may also use their own facilities.
Local government is when the service is managed by local government as the approved provider. Many, though not all, local government councils operate one or more types of children’s services, which will sometimes include outside school hours care. In this model, responsibility for the operation of a service, or multiple services in the municipality, rests with a team leader or manager, including budget management, recruitment and policy development. Coordinators are often also employed for each service to manage staff and the day-to-day operations.
Private-for-profit providers own and manage services privately. This is usually done through a company structure but may also be a sole trader or partnership. The provider may be a small owner-operated business with one service, or a large provider with multiple services in Victoria or nationally, and provides the service for the purpose of making a profit.
Choosing third party providers
School councils are strongly encouraged to approach multiple third party providers through an EOI process based on the school’s service requirements and preferences before putting the OSHC licence agreement in place. Before choosing a third party provider, school council should consider the third party provider’s:
- experience
- quality ratings
- size (number of existing services under their management)
- fees charged to parents for care.
Quality ratings are available at Starting for quality ratings of existing services. Large providers (managing and operating multiple OSHC services) may:
- offer efficiencies through economies of scale such as professional development and career progression opportunities for staff, but
- be less able to tailor the service to a specific school and their community.
Engagement of a third party OSHC provider is not a departmental procurement activity. It is a licence agreement enabling the shared use of school facilities and premises.
5. Assess fees and costs
Costs for establishing an OSHC service will vary for each school according to the operating model, and in the case of a third party managed service, are subject to specifications in the licence agreement.
It is recommended that you, as the working group, undertake a cost-benefit analysis of both operating models when deciding on the most appropriate model. This analysis should consider any in-kind contributions. For example, the time it takes for school staff, including the principal, to manage issues and follow up complaints, concerns and fee payments from families. Cost considerations include:
- Establishment:
- application fees for provider approval (a third party provider usually already has provider approval)
- application fees for service approval (to be submitted by the approved provider)
- business establishment fees (ABN/ACN, bank account).
- Venue preparation:
- rent (if using an off-site facility)
- maintenance and modification
- utilities
- information communications technology (ICT) equipment
- materials for program set up.
- Staffing:
- wages of regular staff
- wages for casual relief educators
- staff induction, training and professional development, such as ensuring staff have the relevant qualifications and meet first aid requirements, and are aware of the school and service policies
- costs associated with staff recruitment such as advertising positions.
- Administration costs:
- book-keeping
- annual regulatory fees
- auditing accounts
- advertising of the service
- any additional insurance required.
- Service delivery:
- food and beverages
- resources
- activities, excursions, incursions.
Third party provider service costs
Your school council should review and agree to the third party costs before finalising the licence agreement and engaging the provider. Third party providers have different cost structures:
- service costs may change over the life of the licence agreement
- third party providers may charge a flat fee per term in addition to other costs
- third party providers’ approaches to service delivery will vary including how fees for parents and carers are set, complaints and grievances processed and how agreements are terminated.
School councils should use the OSHC licence agreement rather than a third party provider’s own contract to manage the risk of school council bearing additional costs. For example, the OSHC licence (login required) prevents schools bearing the cost of low enrolment numbers or any legal proceedings. If a third party insists on using its own contract or would like to change a clause or add special conditions to the OSHC licence agreement, it is recommended that the principal contacts Legal Services for advice.
Note: When assessing the options, it should be considered that while a third party provider generally is a source of income as they licence part of the school to deliver the service, the benefit of this may be reduced by the fact that the provider may have to charge parents a higher fee for the service.
6. Report to school council based on working group findings
When deciding whether to establish an OSHC service and its operating model, your working group should present a report to school council. It should include:
- data on the demand for the OSHC service as determined by the needs analysis
- options for a venue (and any improvement or ongoing maintenance works that may be required to ensure the venue is suitable)
- an analysis of operating models
- associated costs of the operating models including a cost-benefit analysis of each model
- recommendations about establishing an OSHC service and the preferred operating model.
After the working group presents their recommendations, your school council will need to decide if they will establish a service.
In accordance with the Department's school council guidance, the school council, by law, is a unit, a body corporate. This means decisions made by the council must be those of the group rather than of an individual. As a school councillor, you must adhere to the school council code of conduct in your decision making regarding OSHC, including:
- acting in good faith in the best interests of the school
- acting fairly and impartially
- using information appropriately.
Your overriding commitment must be to a shared vision and plan reflecting the broad values of the school community. For more information read School Council – Overview or download Managing School Council .
Documenting the decision
You must document the decision of your school council in meeting minutes. The minutes must include a summary of the reasons for the final decision.
If the school council decides not to establish an OSHC service, no further action is required. The school council may wish to re-visit this decision if the needs of the school community change or new information becomes available.
If the school council decides to establish an OSHC service, the school council should also record the decision. Information that should be captured includes:
- the preferred operating model
- the location or venue for the service
- care components to be offered
- the budget available to deliver the service.
If your school council is planning to establish a service they may include this decision in their school strategic plan and annual implementation plan, including identifying links to the Framework for Improving Student Outcomes (FISO) improvement model, showing how the service contributes to improving student outcomes. The below summary details the state-wide priorities and the improvement initiatives that may be relevant to planning to set up a service or improving service quality.
FISO state-wide priority
- professional leadership
Improvement initiatives
- not applicable
Other dimensions
- vision, values and culture
- strategic resource management
FISO state-wide priority
- positive climate for learning
Improvement initiatives
- empowering students and building school pride
- setting expectations and promoting inclusion
Other dimensions
- health and wellbeing
FISO state-wide priority
- community engagement in learning
Improvement initiatives
- building communities
Other dimensions
- parents and carers as partners
- networks with schools, services and agencies
The extent to which establishing an OSHC service authentically links to the FISO dimensions will depend on the school’s unique context, circumstances and needs.
Reviewed 06 March 2024