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If the school governing council has decided that they will be the approved provider of an out of school hours care (OSHC) service, these are the steps involved in setting up the service.
Apply to become an approved provider of OSHC
- Contact the Education Standards Board on 1800 882 413 (free call).
- Complete ACECQA's provider approval related forms, which must be submitted online using the National Quality Agenda IT System (NQA ITS).
All applications are processed by the regulatory authority in your state or territory.
Applications can take up to 60 days to process.
Apply for a service approval
- Contact the Education Standards Board on 1800 882 413 (freecall).
- Complete the ACECQA's service approval and related forms, which must be submitted online using the National Quality Agenda IT System (NQA ITS), to the Education Standards Board.
Applications can take up to 90 days to process
Policies and procedures must be prepared according to Regulation 168 as part of the service approval application. A full list of required policies is outlined in the guide for developing policies in OSHC to comply with Regulation 168.
Apply for child care subsidy approval
Apply for child care subsidy approval as outlined on the becoming an approved child care provider page.
A number of documents will be required including provider and service approvals, under the national law.
Contact the Australian Government Department of Education on 1800 363 079 (freecall) or via email ChildcareSA [at] education.gov.au with queries or system technical difficulties.
Financial assistance
The Australian Government’s Community Child Care Fund (CCCF) is designed to help eligible child care services address barriers to early learning and child care participation, particularly in disadvantaged communities via an open competitive grant opportunity. Details on the CCCF are available on the Department of Education website. To ensure that you receive notification of future rounds, and the eligibility criteria, please visit the Community Grants Hub and Grant Connect website to register your interest.
Return to Work SA
School governing councils employing OSHC staff must register with Return to Work SA by notifying the Work Health and Safety on 8226 1440.
The department arranges the bulk payment of all premiums to Return to Work SA.
Public liability
All services provided by government schools and school governing councils in government schools are covered by public liability insurance provided by the South Australian Government.
Finance
The school governing council can talk to Financial Services on 1800 100 191 (freecall) for support to develop a couple of different budgets to present to school governing council. If operating an OSHC service at the school is not viable you will need to identify and promote alternative care options in the local community.
The finance checklist (PDF 115 KB) can help with developing a budget and fees.
Contact Financial Services on 1800 100 191 (freecall) to set up Company 4. OSHC finances are managed in Company 4.
Recruitment and employment
The school governing council instrument of authorisation (PDF 202 KB) is an agreement about the extent of the principal's responsibilities and authorisations. This document must be tabled, minuted and endorsed at a governing council meeting prior to signing. This process must be done whenever the school governing council members change.
To find out more information about recruitment, pre-employment and induction of new staff see employment and governing councils.
Education and Care Services National Regulations policies
OSHC services must comply with Education and Care Services National Regulations and meet the National Quality Standard to ensure high quality and consistent early childhood education and care.
Each service will be assessed and rated at ‘significant improvement required’, ‘working towards National Quality Standard’, ‘meeting National Quality Standard’, or ‘exceeding National Quality Standard’ rating.
Ratings are published on the ACECQA website, as well as StartingBlocks.
Other service management supports
Department for Education administrative units relating to human resources, industrial relations, facilities, financial management and legal services may also be accessed by schools governing councils for information and advice.
Contact details for these units can be found on the OSHC contact list (PDF 120 KB) .
