School Age Education and Care Qualification Review

Set Up

This project is being delivered in parallel with early childhood education and care (ECEC) and school based education support (SBES) reviews to support potential pathway opportunities between outside school hours care (OSHC) and interrelated sectors.

Background

The School Age Education and Care Qualification Review is an extension of the 2025 Outside School Hours Care project which also focused on transitioning the 10983NAT Certificate III in Outside School Hours Care course to the CHC Community Services Training Package. After extensive consultation, it was identified that a fuller review of the qualification was required, rather than transitioning to the existing course.

This is an 18-month project that is expected to be completed by January 2028.

Project Scope

We will review 2 existing qualifications (one nationally accredited), potentially develop one new qualification, review one skill set and 6 units of competency and potentially develop up to 26 new units with some units of competency having potential cross over with early childhood education and care (ECEC) and school based education support (SBES).

Qualifications and Units of Competency

• ‍10983NAT Certificate III in Outside School Hours Care: supports the training for the following occupations: outside school hours care educator, outside school hours care assistant, play leader, and recreation assistant (children’s services).
• CHC50225 Diploma of School Age Education and Care: reflects a the role of educators who are responsible for the day-to-day running of a regulated school age education and care service in Australia. They plan, implement and manage programs across all areas of service operations. They use specialised knowledge and anlyse and apply theoretical concepts to diverse work situations. Educators with this qualification have responsibility for the supervision of volunteers and/or other staff.

It is also proposed a number of new units will be developed. Areas for consideration include:

• child safety, protection and wellbeing
• legal, ethical and regulatory compliance
• documentation and assessment
• play, leisure and learning
• educational leadership
• leadership and service management
• inclusion and behaviour support
• partnerships with families, schools and communities
• documentation and assessment.

As part of this project, we're looking into the Provide First Aid in an Education and Care Setting unit of competency to consider how it aligns with contemporary first aid practices, including the latest guidance from the Australian Resuscitation Council (ARC) and other relevant national peak bodies.

How to get involved

There are a number of ways that you can get involved in this project:

• Register for project updates‍
• Provide feedback on the existing training products by completeing our registered training organisation survey (below)
• Complete our industry survey (below).

Project governance and consultation strategy

A Technical Committee of industry experts will be established to provide specialised advice for this project. Members are carefully selected based on their relevant expertise and experience in areas critical to the project.

The Technical Committee will work with HumanAbility in this project to:

• identify relevant stakeholders to consult with about the project
• provide insights on proposed communication and consultation strategies
• participate in our functinal analysis interviews to provide technical knowledge on the skills and knowledge required to meet graduate outcomes and workforce needs.

Our draft Project Consultation Strategy and Technical Committee Terms of Reference will be finalised once the Technical Committee has been formed and had an opportunity to review. Once finalised they will be made available to download.

Registered Training Organisation Survey

We’re calling on trainers, educators and assessors of vocational qualifications in childhood education and care to provide feedback on existing qualifications, sakill sets and units of competency. We want to know what’s working, what’s not working and where things could change or improvements could be made.

Please submit your feedback by completing this survey.

Your feedback will influence the design of national qualification training products and contribute to resolving current workforce issues.

Draft materials will be developed and available for feedback during the Consultation Stage.

Information Session

Join our upcoming School Aged Education and Care Information Session to learn about the latest updates to the CHC Community Services Training Package. The session will provide an overview of the review process, the factors influencing the proposed changes, implementation timeframes, available support resources, and opportunities to ask questions. This session is designed for schools, RTOs, teachers, and other stakeholders involved in delivering school-aged education and training.

Workshops

Workshop 1
Date: Monday 7 September 2026
Time: 2 pm - 3 pm (AEST)
Location: Microsoft Teams

Register to attend

Workshop2
Date: Thursday 10 September 2026
Time: 1 pm - 2 pm (AEST)
Location: Microsoft Teams

Register to attend

Functional Analysis

Project development is underway to undertake a comprehensive review and update the training products in school based education and support to ensure they are aligned with current industry practice, regulatory and legislative requirements, contemporary educational approaches and the evolving needs of schools, students and education support professionals.

We will engage in the following information gathering activities as part of the functional analysis:

• desktop research
• review available information on industry standards, working conditions, and employer recruitment selection criteria
• 20 virtual workshops to:
  
  • exploring the skills organisations need
  • discuss foreseeable changes in the sector.

Functional Analysis Interviews

HumanAbility undertakes employer interviews to gain insights into the current and emerging workforce needs across the school-based education and support sector. These interviews explore workforce roles, day to day responsibilities, required knowledge and skills, emerging practices and career pathways. They also identify common functions performed across different school settings, as well as specialist roles and practices unique to individual schools, education systems, or jurisdictions. The findings help ensure that the training products accurately reflect contemporary industry practice and support a skilled, adaptable workforce.

Information from the interviews is used to develop help us understand how to structure qualifications and ensure that training is closely aligned with industry and sector requirements.  

We are seeking your availability to participate in an interview to inform this qualification review.

Benefits of being involved  

Your involvement in this project is important and will help:  

• ensure qualifications, skill sets and units of competency reflect current school-aged education and care roles, practices and workforce needs
• ensure training products align with relevant legislative, regulatory, child safety and work health and safety requirements
• strengthen the knowledge and skills required to support diverse learners and contemporary educational environments
• create clear, flexible and sustainable career pathways that support workforce attraction, retention and professional progression across the school-aged education and care sector.

About the interviews

• One-hour online interviews will be held between Monday 24 August and Wednesday 23 September 2026 (please note timing is AEST).
• The interview will be with the Project Manager and Technical Writer.
• More than one participant can attend although a maximum of 5 participants is ideal.

The ideal participants are people working in the industry or those who have previously worked in the industry and have pivoted to a new role. These interviews are not designed for RTOs, but we are seeking RTO feedback through the RTO survey.

If this sounds like you, please complete this booking form.