Mapping where care shortages made the school holidays hard
Australian primary school students outnumber subsidised holiday care places five to one, with places for less than five percent of students in some parts of the country, according to a new policy brief (pdf, 6MB) from Beyond the Bell, a project of the Sydney Policy Lab and Brain and Mind Centre.
Australian primary school children spend their school holidays in a variety of formal and informal care arrangements. Holiday care programs run by approved early childhood education and care providers are subsidised through the Child Care Subsidy (CCS).
But analysis of school enrolments and CCS data found subsidised services are concentrated in inner city areas, while outer city, regional and rural families have significantly worse access.
As Australians prepare for the 3 May federal election, the analysis found most marginal seats have below average access to subsidised holiday care. Twenty-four of the 39 electorates on a margin of less than 4% have a below average number of holiday care places.
“It’s not the election but managing the school holidays that’s been top of mind for most parents the last fortnight,” says Lab Director Dr Kate Harrison Brennan.
With too few places available at subsidised services, parents are juggling work and care arrangements while their children miss out on the benefits of dedicated, play-based holiday care.
“Wherever they live, parents need access to quality, affordable services with enough places. That’s why it’s time we rethink the outside school hours care landscape.”
Holiday care services subsidised through the CCS are the cheapest formal care option for many families during school holidays. Limited access makes holidays harder to manage for parents while depriving the children who need them most of the social and developmental benefits of play-based care delivered by outside school hours care educators.
Key points
- Holiday care services eligible for the CCS only have room for 17.9% of Australian primary school students. There are 413,033 subsidised vacation care places for 2,306,267 students.
- Education Minister Jason Clare’s seat of Blaxland has the fourth worst ratio of primary students to places in the country.
- Access is concentrated in cities, to the disadvantage of regional areas. Nearly 75% of subsidised places are in capital cities and the ACT where there are 0.195 places available per-student. Outside cities, there only 0.146 places available per-student.
- Sydney’s inner west and inner city have the best access in the country with 0.43 places per student. Conversely, there are places for fewer than 10% of students in 60 of the ABS’s 340 SA3 regions.
Analysis found a significant disparity between access in capital cities and the rest of the country.
Beyond the Bell
Beyond the Bell is a project of the Sydney Policy Lab and the Brain and Mind Centre gathering experts from across the University of Sydney to explore how outside school hours care can bridge the gulf between school and work hours while addressing disadvantage and improving children’s mental and physical wellbeing, educational outcomes, social development and safety.
An initial discussion paper set out the challenges facing the overlooked outside school hours care sector, highlighting the opportunities awaiting families and governments if support were available for trialling new models of before and after school care and extracurricular activities.
Ahead of the May federal election, Beyond the Bell has called for:
- commitment from federal politicians to convene a post-election summit of parents, the sector and experts on the future of OSHC
- funding and a roadmap, agreed at the summit, for place-based, community-led pilots of expanded extra-curriculars delivered through OSHC
- a dedicated agenda item on the work-school gulf at the next education ministers meeting.