Quality in Vacation Care
Regulations
Currently there are no regulations for Outside School Hours Care services. Regulations
will be drafted for Outside School Hours Care services when services for school-age
children are included in legislation under the Children and Young Persons (Care
and Protection ) Act 1998. As yet, the NSW Government has not agreed to license
and regulate Outside School Hours Care services.
National Standards
The National Standards for Outside School Hours Care were agreed to by the
Community Services Minister of all states and territories in 1995. Each state
has the responsibility for implementation in its own state. As yet NSW has
not implemented the Standards, however all Employer Sponsored Vacation Care
Programs provided by NSW Health are required to meet the National Standards.
Quality Assurance
The Commonwealth Government has initiated quality improvement and assurance
systems designed to promote quality care and to acknowledge services for
their quality practices and initiatives. This is the Outside School Hours
Care Quality Assurance system.
The broad objective of this quality system is to ensure that children in outside
school hours services have stimulating, positive experiences and interactions
that foster all aspects of their development. The system does this by defining
what quality care is and by providing a way to measure the quality of care
provided by the service and to identify areas for ongoing quality improvement.
The Quality Practices Guide for Outside School Hours Care
has been placed on the following websites:
Department of Family & Community Services,
Child Care site www.facs.gov.au
National Childcare Accreditation Council (NCAC) www.ncac.gov.au
National Out of School Hours Service Association (NOSHSA) www.noshsa.org.au
This program will be initiated in May 2003, primarily for
services registered for CCB Approved Care payments.
What to look for/Questions to ask
Quality services provide more than just child care - quality
services provide experiences for children that expand their
thinking, language and social skills while helping them to
learn and develop.
Some helpful things to consider are:
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