Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) can be a key support for you and your family.
It can provide care for your child:
- before school
- after school
- on student-free school days
- during holidays.
It enables children to interact with others, experience new things and have fun.
By law, OSHC services must offer services to children with disabilities including:
- providing support and care to meet individual needs
- making sure the environment and supervision is safe
- planning programs and making reasonable adjustments.
The Department has developed IncludED@OSHC to support OSHC services. It aims to help everyone working in OSHC to:
- understand how to meet the individual needs of a child with a complex disability
- work with people around the child (including families, schools, and Inclusion Support Agencies
- make all children feel welcome, supported, and included.
How an OSHC service can meet your child's needs
An OSHC service can:
- adjust its program to accommodate your child's interests and abilities
- seek advice from others supporting your child
- meet your family, your child's school
- identify the correct staffing mix for supervision at OSHC
- create safe physical, emotional and cultural spaces
- look for community partnerships that may help your child.
How you can get financial support for OSHC fees
Enrolling your child in OSHC can be affordable, thanks to government subsidies. Before you enrol it is important you know the potential costs and supports available.
The government funds below may help you with fees. You first need to check if you are eligible. If you are eligible, you also need to claim subsidies through Services Australia. You can ask your OSHC service to help with this process.
- Child Care Subsidy (CSS) is a payment to parents and carers who use and pay for a childcare service, for example, OSHC. It applies to children aged 13 or younger or aged 14 to 18 with disabilities who need supervision.
- Additional Child Care Subsidy (ACCS) is available to parents or carers. This is different to the CCS (mentioned above) as it is for the families who may need extra help. To be eligible, you must be one of the following:
- an eligible grandparent getting an income support payment
- transitioning from certain income support payments to work
- experiencing temporary financial hardship
- caring for a child who is vulnerable or at risk of harm, abuse or neglect.
Other types of support
Inclusion Support Agencies tell OSHC services how to include children with disabilities. You can talk to them about what inclusion support is available.
The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) offers support to people with disabilities. Families in receipt of NDIS can ask their NDIS contact how NDIS can assist with access to OSHC. For example, an NDIS funded speech therapist may be able to train OSHC staff to use a communication aid.