Today in Parliament, Abigail passed a motion calling out unfair OOSH licensing changes that burden parent-run community services and fuel corporatisation.

Abigail said:

I move:

(1) That this House notes that:

• out of school hours care [OOSH] services for New South Wales schools have historically been deeply rooted in school communities, with the involvement and often direct management responsibility of parents and school communities;
• in December 2021 the Government announced it was making the following changes to the establishment and operation of OOSH licence arrangements:
  • category A, which historically exempts non-for-profit, parent-run and community-based services from partaking in a competitive tender process, would be limited to services run by parents and citizens associations [P&Cs] incorporated under the Parents and Citizens Associations Incorporation Act 1976;
  • parent-managed services which were previously categorised under category A but are not incorporated under the Parents and Citizens Associations Incorporation Act 1976 would no longer be included in category A; and
  • parent-managed services affected by the categorisation changes would be required to either participate in a competitive tender process as a category B (not-for-profit organisations) or category C (for-profit organisations) provider at the end of their licence, or, if eligible, transition to P&C ownership to qualify as a category A provider.
• at the time, affected providers were assured that costs to transition would be minimal, and that the department would work with affected providers to support this change if they were unable to meet associated costs; however, it has since been reported that the actual costs required are significantly higher than previously indicated, in addition to being a lengthy and complicated legal process;
• services that do not transition have no choice but to be put out to competitive tender, which is a resource‑intensive process where not-for-profit community providers will undoubtedly be disadvantaged compared to larger for‑profit providers, effectively resulting in the increasing corporatisation of OOSH services;
• affected providers were initially advised they would have until December 2022 to finalise their transition process; however, the department has since extended this deadline on numerous occasions, with many services still in the process of fighting to continue operating their school's OOSH service;
• the Network of Community Activities and the Federation of P&C Associations have consistently advocated for parent-managed services to remain exempt from partaking in a competitive tender, arguing that any concerns can be easily addressed through a template constitution without transitioning to P&C ownership;
• since December 2021, only one parent-managed OOSH provider has been successful in transitioning to P&C ownership;
• ahead of the 2019 State election, the New South Wales Labor Party promised to review the OOSH tender processes in line with its commitment to protect community-based OOSH facilities on public schools; and
• documents provided through an order for papers passed by this House on 25 June 2025 revealed that since 2024 the department has been considering entitling parent-managed OOSH providers to a renewal of their licences, rather than being put to public tender, provided they satisfy the relevant risk mitigation requirements.

(2) That this House recognises the importance of securing and protecting the future of community-based parent-run OOSH services, which have been providing high-quality services to New South Wales public schools for decades.

(3) That this House calls on the Government to:

• acknowledge the growing body of evidence that increasing corporatisation of early childhood services is harming the quality and safety of the sector;
• facilitate a genuine level playing field for all types of organisations in any competitive tender process for OOSH licences;
• provide clear and direct communication with all affected services and school communities regarding the future of parent-managed OOSH services; and
• introduce protections in the Department of Education's licensing approach to protect against the corporatisation and effective privatisation of OOSH care in New South Wales.

Motion agreed to.

Read the transcript in Hansard here.

7 August 2025