Outside School Hours Care (OSHC)
Before-school, after-school and vacation care; no national qualification requirement, but full WWCC and child-safety obligations apply.
Outside School Hours Care, or OSHC, covers before-school care, after-school care and vacation care for school-age children. It operates under the National Quality Framework like other approved education and care services, with its own qualification settings.
Unlike long day care, OSHC does not have a national requirement for educators to hold or be working towards a formal early childhood qualification. That lower qualification bar can make OSHC an accessible entry point into the sector. It does not, however, lower the safety expectations. Every educator still needs a current Working With Children Check for their state or territory, plus first aid, anaphylaxis and asthma training, and the service must meet child-safe and supervision standards.
For workers, this means screening and child-safety obligations apply in full from day one, even where a qualification is not mandatory. For providers, OSHC compliance hinges on keeping every educator's WWCC and training current and supervision ratios met. Tracking those clearances and expiry dates on each worker's Career Passport makes it easier to show that staff are cleared and qualified to work with children.
This is general information, not compliance advice. Always confirm requirements with the relevant regulator, and remember that providers keep the legal responsibility to sight credentials and decide who can work.
We work hard to keep it accurate, but the rules change and we will not always get every detail right. If you think something here needs updating, email us at resources@koora.care. We would genuinely rather know, because we all do better when we help each other get it right.
Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) compliance: what's actually required
OSHC has no national qualification rule like centre-based ECEC, but full Working With Children Check, child-protection and first aid obligations still apply. Here's the patchwork explained.
Read guideChildcareWorking With Children Check by state: requirements and renewals (2026)
Every Australian state and territory runs its own Working With Children Check, with different names and validity periods. Here is the full breakdown.
Read guide