Outside School Hours Care Establishment Grants Initiative

The objectives of the initiative are the following:

• Improving the availability of OSHC services across Victoria
• Supporting parents/carers, particularly women, to participate in the workforce.

Eligible applicants must:

• Be a Victorian government school.
• Be delivering primary aged or special education (including primary schools, P-12 schools, specialist schools).
• Have permanent student enrolments.
• Not have been awarded any grant under a previous round of this initiative, including as a school involved in a cluster arrangement, unless the cluster arrangement is being dissolved.
• the school has an on-site OSHC service, but it does not offer each of before school care, after school care and vacation care (the school will need to demonstrate that existing provision is not sufficient to meet the school community’s needs) and wishes to do so.

Eligible projects:

• Establish a new OSHC service
• Provide transport to an existing OSHC service
• Expand an existing OSHC service

Grants can be used towards establishment and operational costs, including:

• Staffing costs of educators and administration staff
• Program management and administration costs
• Resources and/or equipment upgrades
• Transport
• Food provision
• Programs/activities to attract or retain enrolments, including incursions and excursions.
• Rent or hire fees (if the service is proposed to run off school premises)
• Training and professional development:
  1. supporting educators to obtain required qualifications
  2. professional development for staff involved in the delivery of services
  3. networking or engaging with other services or professional bodies
  4. purchasing training in specific areas relevant to service’s needs (i.e. Indigenous children, cultural awareness training).
• Facility upgrades required to deliver an OSHC program, e.g. built-in storage, minor renovations, purchasing appliances.

Applications will be assessed against detailed assessment criteria. Applications will be prioritised based on the initiative’s objectives, which include:

1. Improving the availability of OSHC services across Victoria

2. Supporting parents/carers, particularly women, to participate in the workforce

3. Round 4A

Schools that don’t have an on-site OSHC service

• Priority 1 – Schools in DET areas, or parts thereof, with limited or no OSHC services
• Priority 2 – Schools with demonstrated readiness to commence services by Term 1, 2024.
• Priority 3 – Schools where services are unlikely to be viable without grant funding

4. Round 4B

• Schools adding after school care or before school care to an existing service
• Schools adding on-site vacation care where there is no vacation care service located close to the school that could reasonably be accessed by families

Applicants should also consider the following before applying:

1. Demand for services

It is recommended that schools undertake a brief survey of parents/carers seeking information regarding their OSHC preferences and likely usage, including:

• interest in before and after school care and/or school holiday programs
• number of days utilising services

2. Model of service delivery

Applicants should consider whether a school council or third-party provided OSHC service will best meet the needs of the school/s and the participating children and their families.

3. Readiness to deliver

It is recommended that as part of conversations with key stakeholders, including school councils and potential OSHC providers, schools discuss possible timeframes for delivery. It is important to consider a range of factors that may delay service delivery including:

• Approval of a new provider (school council) and/or service with Quality Assessment and Regulations Division (QARD), Department of Education.
• Procurement of a third-party provider to deliver OSHC services.
• Recruitment of staff.
• Development of appropriate cluster arrangements (for example, hiring a transport company to provide bus services).

4. Possible cluster arrangements 

Applicants should consider whether a cluster arrangement with neighbouring schools is appropriate and commence discussions with possible cluster schools. Clusters may be appropriate where:

• there are several schools located close together, making it feasible to transport students to access OSHC services.
• there is insufficient demand for services at each school to make individual services viable.
• there are pre-existing relationships between neighbouring schools.

You should read and understand the guidelines.

Successful applicants will demonstrate one or all of the following:

• There is demand for OSHC services amongst their school population and/or from neighbouring cluster schools (including the nature of that demand, e.g., before and after school care, holiday programs or both)
• That an OSHC service at their school would be unlikely to be viable without this grant funding.
• There is limited existing availability of OSHC services in their local area.
• The school is partnering with local government and/or non-government schools to increase the accessibility of their program.

Documents that need to be attached to your application include:

• School details
• Evidence of cluster arrangement
• Transport arrangements
• Proposed budget
• Proposed facility upgrades
• Outline of actions taken, and plan to undertake in order to be ready to commence OSHC provision
• Any other supporting documentation

Applications are submitted online via the SmartyGrants portal.

Book a no obligation discovery session with GrantHelper to explore your alignment with this grant and how we can assist you to increase your chances of success.