One adult. Fifteen children. One playground, multiple classrooms, arrivals, departures, and constant movement.
That’s the reality allowed under current regulations in Outside School Hours Care across NSW. In environments that are busy, unpredictable, and spread across school grounds, one educator can legally be responsible for supervising up to 15 children alone.
For us at the Y NSW, that raises a simple question: is that really the safest standard we can set for children? Is that the best we can do?
We believe every child in NSW deserves safer supervision standards in Outside School Hours Care (OSHC). That’s why we at the Y NSW, one of the state’s largest not-for-profit OSHC providers, are calling for a two-educator model to be introduced as the minimum standard – no matter where a child lives or which provider they attend.
For many families, OSHC is essential and it’s a vital service that supports the whole community. Yet we see supervision and staffing standards vary significantly across the sector, creating greater risk for children in settings that can be complex. On any given day, educators manage arrivals and departures, indoor and outdoor transitions, behavioural support, first aid and unexpected incidents, all while ensuring children are safely supervised. Still, current laws and regulations allow for one educator to be alone with up to 15 children. It’s just not good enough.
In a busy, fast-paced environment like OSHC, we believe strong supervision should be a basic safety standard. But the current regulatory settings don’t always reflect that, particularly when an educator could be the only adult on-site at the school.
Through our Prioritising Child Safety campaign, we’re calling for policy reform to strengthen safeguards in OSHC and put children’s safety and wellbeing first with a two-educator model rostered during service operating hours. It’s a simple, practical approach that improves supervision, visibility and accountability, giving parents and carers confidence that their child’s safety is always being prioritised.
At the Y NSW, we already use this approach as standard practice across all our OSHC services. We know safe environments rely on strong systems, clear boundaries and consistent decision-making every day. With at least two educators always supervising children, we help children thrive in a safe environment, and we make sure educators are supported on the job.
We know child safety is everyone’s responsibility. Children and parents deserve every assurance that their provider is putting children’s safety and wellbeing first.
OSHC operates differently from long day care and school classrooms, with higher ratios and more varied environments. That’s why strong, reliable supervision matters. For us, the two-educator model is a practical safeguard for children and an essential support mechanism for educators, who are on the frontline in a very busy environment. In the event of an unexpected incident, our educators can respond quickly while still maintaining safe supervision.
We see greater visibility of the children in our care because of the two-educator model, and children have the support of more than one educator at a time. It means children can receive help more quickly when they need it, our educators can support each other, and families can have confidence in the supervision their child receives.
We’ve also seen findings from the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority’s recent rapid assessment of the sector that make it clear: action is needed to strengthen safeguarding and supervision practices in the OSHC space.
Gaps in policy and regulation have allowed inconsistent supervision practices to exist within the same system.
That’s why we believe it’s crucial to set clear expectations for safe supervision in the OSHC sector.
As part of our Prioritising Child Safety campaign, we’re calling on the NSW Government to mandate the two-educator model. We’re also encouraging parents, families, educators and community members to show their support for stronger safeguards in OSHC by signing a pledge.
We want to work together with government, communities and the sector to prioritise child safety and create lasting policy change. This is a responsibility that belongs to all of us, and together we can drive real change to ensure children’s safety always comes first.
This is not the only area for reform, but it’s an important first step and can be introduced now. To support implementation of the two-educator model, we also recommend that every OSHC service has a unique service-specific Nominated Supervisor; introduce more purpose-built OSHC hubs; strengthen shared spaces planning to maximise visibility and support continuous supervision and set clear regulatory guidance.
As a not-for-profit part of the oldest youth organisation in the world, the YMCA, we’re committed to the care and empowerment of children and young people, and we have been for nearly 175 years in NSW. Safeguarding is embedded in everything we do, and that commitment extends to our advocacy for safer supervision.
Now is the time to act. Safer supervision can’t wait. We’re asking the NSW Government to mandate the two-educator model, and we’re asking our communities to stand with us. If you believe children’s safety must come first in OSHC, add your name, share the pledge, and help make safer supervision the standard across NSW.
You can learn more about our Prioritising Child Safety campaign and sign the pledge calling for the two-educator model to be mandated across the OSHC sector here.
The Y NSW acknowledges that our past safeguarding practices were insufficient and resulted in harm, and we deeply regret the pain experienced by victim-survivors. We honour the courage of those who came forward, including through criminal justice processes and the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, whose findings drove critical reform. We take responsibility for these shortcomings and are committed to strengthening our safeguarding practices to help prevent harm from occurring again. Our full acknowledgement to victim-survivors can be found here.
