The Royal Commission's Out of School Hours Care (OSHC) roundtable met for the second time on 18 May, holding a productive discussion about ideas to support OSHC availability and accessibility in schools, preschools and regional areas.

Members discussed how expansion of OSHC has been supported in New South Wales, and the different types of initiatives that might help OSHC availability, including:

• infrastructure
• workforce qualifications
• regulation
• transport (including from schools to alternate sites with OSHC).

Members noted the South Australian context and heard about how our services are rated by the Education Standards Board and about some of the workforce challenges - where the workforce comes from, and other options that could be tapped into.

The challenges around OSHC as a career path were discussed, along with the importance of professional development and mentoring, and relationships with schools and principals. These were considered to be crucial factors that impact on quality.

Importantly, the relationship between OSHC and parents was also considered crucial - in some families, parents and caregivers have more interaction with OSHC educators than with teachers due to the drop off/pick up arrangements they might have.

There was also discussion about the governance of OSHC and some of the complexities in contracting, particularly for principals, governing councils and larger providers who work in multiple school sites.

The important question of the need to expand capacity and maintain or uplift quality was raised and members noted the risk of quality declining if expansion is too fast. Infrastructure is critical, and shared spaces can be suitable but require more work along with good relationships between OSHC and school leadership.

Workforce qualifications were discussed, and members agreed that quality leadership of OSHC is important to establish culture within a service.

The challenges of OSHC in small sites with one educator were also discussed, as were the challenges of finding a suitably qualified workforce in some regional areas and the equity issues faced by small, rural and remote communities and the associated challenges in providing a service within these settings.

The importance of ensuring OSHC is available and suitable for all children, including children with disability or trauma was also noted.

The Commission heard about OSHC for preschool aged children, including where preschools are co-located on school sites, and parent demand in some locations. It was agreed that better data and some demand modelling would help us to understand this. Members agreed that placing children at the centre of any model would prioritise OSHC onsite to reduce transitions for small children, and that some structural reforms would be needed to allow this to happen.

The Commission also heard about the importance of building connections between preschool and school, and that this is a particular strength in South Australian government preschools.

The Royal Commission extends its thanks to all who have participated in the OSHC roundtable. The commitment that members have made to attend, provide insight and share ideas has been invaluable to our inquiries.

During the first discussion on how OSHC can be made more accessible and expanded to include preschool, it was agreed amongst roundtable members that the value of OSHC to both children and the wider community is yet to be fully realised, with families increasingly relying on OSHC services.

Stakeholders discussed the importance of OSHC services being seen as an extension of school life, and the need for Directors and/or third party providers to work collaboratively with school leadership to produce good outcomes for children.

The group explored:

• the challenges in the training, recruitment and retention of staff
• the regulatory framework in which OSHC operates
• the difficulty of maintaining services in rural and regional areas.

Stakeholder spoke of the need for more dedicated spaces within schools for OSHC facilities to not only make the service more operational but to increase accessibility.

There was consensus among the group that expansion of current school OSHC in its current form to 3-year-old preschool children would be difficult to achieve for those children with a high level of safety, health and wellbeing in current OSHC environments.

The Royal Commission will consider of all these issues in further depth.

There will be another meeting of stakeholders in May.