St Nicholas has joined five other leading not-for-profit outside school hours care (OOSH) providers in calling for stronger child safety standards across NSW.
The Y NSW, Wesley Mission, Uniting NSW.ACT, Gowrie NSW, BFS Children’s Services and St Nicholas are calling on the NSW Government to make a two-educator model the minimum standard across all OOSH services.
Together, the six providers support more than 10,000 children across 120 school communities in NSW.
All six already roster at least two educators who are physically present at their OOSH services at all times. At St Nicholas, this safeguard is already part of how we operate, and we believe it should apply consistently across the sector.
St Nicholas Director Mel Hill said the model strengthens responsibility for keeping children safe.
“At St Nicholas, we are committed to a child safe environment and maintaining a minimum of two educators at all times is a key safeguard that promotes safety, accountability, and children’s rights to protection, participation, and agency,” Ms Hill said.
Calling for a consistent minimum standard
The coalition’s shared position is focused on ensuring at least two educators are rostered and physically present whenever children are in care.
The providers are urging the NSW Government to use its response to the Upper House inquiry into the early childhood education and care sector in NSW to introduce a two-educator minimum across OOSH services.
The Committee’s report made nine findings and 35 recommendations, including a recommendation for stronger staffing safeguards.
Introducing a two-educator minimum would provide a consistent standard across NSW, regardless of which provider a family chooses.
Why the two-educator model matters
The coalition believes the model would create:
- Safer environments for children through increased supervision and accountability, reduced opportunities for harm, and stronger safeguards to identify, prevent and respond to risks to children.
- Healthier workplaces for educators through collective responsibility for child safety, enhanced support and accountability across teams, and stronger professional standards.
- Strengthened trust and confidence in the sector through consistent implementation of standards and alignment with community expectations.
Working together to prioritise child safety
The coalition builds on the Prioritising Child Safety campaign launched in March 2026, which called for stronger safeguards in OOSH.
While welcoming recent reforms introduced by the NSW Government, the coalition believes the Government’s response to the Upper House inquiry presents an important opportunity to take the next practical step and introduce a two-educator minimum.
By joining the coalition, St Nicholas is adding its voice to a shared call for stronger supervision standards and consistent safeguards for children across NSW OOSH services.
