Australia has around one on-site after-school care place for every five primary-school-aged children, new research released today by the Sydney Policy Lab at the University of Sydney reveals. In remote schools that falls to just one place for every 10 students.

For parents unable to secure care, the gap between the school day and the working day can mean a 3pm pay cut: reduced hours, shifts turned down and jobs or promotions passed up.

The research comes as the Sydney Policy Lab and the University’s Brain and Mind Centre convene today’s Beyond the Bell Summit, hosted by Jamila Rizvi.

The working summit will bring together academics, politicians, community members and people with lived experience to discuss practical solutions to the gap between school hours and working life.

Director of the Sydney Policy Lab, Dr Kate Harrison Brennan, called for a bipartisan commitment across all levels of government to expand access to after-school care.

“The school bell should not mean a pay cut for parents, yet when after-school care is unavailable parents can be forced to cut back their working lives to fit the school timetable, with women usually bearing the brunt.

“We cannot talk seriously about lifting productivity while parents are turning down work because they cannot find care and we cannot call for children to spend less time on screens without giving them more opportunities to connect and play.

“Subsidies matter, but a subsidy is no help to a family that cannot find a place – governments at every level need to work together, across party lines, to deliver more after-school care places where families need them.”

Associate Professor Alyssa Milton, Academic Lead, Beyond the Bell said:

“Where you live matters after the school bell rings. Our mapping identified communities with no after-school care services and substantial differences in access and quality across the country. Behind those gaps we are speaking directly to families and services, parents are described being turned away because of waitlists, costs and services did not have sufficient staffing to accommodate their child’s additional needs.”

Professor Ian Hickie AO, Co-Director of Health and Policy at the University of Sydney’s Brain and Mind Centre, said:

“It's time to think really differently about the cognitive and emotional development of our kids. Providing sustained and local opportunities for community engagement and social development, outside your own family, is what our kids desperately need. There is a time and safe place available every school day for most kids. It's time we all came together to work out how to mobilise this fabulous resource.”

New South Wales:

• 25.3 percent of students have access to outside school hours care – 485,428 students to just 144,936 places.
• In Greater Sydney 28.9 percent of students have access to outside school hours care, compared to 18.5 percent in the rest of South Australia.
• In Broken Hill LGA, 1105 students at eight primary schools have access to only two after-school care services with 125 places between them.
• In the Western Sydney LGA of Fairfield, there is an on-site OSHC place for only one in 10 primary students, compared to the City of Sydney LGA where places are available for nearly six in ten students.

Victoria:

• 20.4 percent of students have access to outside school hours care – 404,825 students to just 82,684 places.
• In Greater Melbourne 21.5 percent of students have access to outside school hours care, compared to 17.1 percent in the rest of Victoria.

Queensland:

• 23.3 percent of students have access to outside school hours care – 333,435 students to just 108,205 places.
• In Greater Brisbane 28.3 percent of students have access to outside school hours care, compared to 18.2% in the rest of Queensland.

South Australia:

• 24.9 percent of students have access to outside school hours care – 106,943 students to just 30,296 places.
• In Greater Adelaide 27.7 percent of students have access to outside school hours care, compared to 13.8 percent in the rest of South Australia.

Western Australia:

• 16.6 percent of students have access to outside school hours care – 182,649 students to just 47,489 places.
• In Greater Perth 18.6 percent of students have access to outside school hours care, compared to 8.6 percent in the rest of Western Australia.

Northern Territory:

• 27.3 percent of students have access to outside school hours care – 16,479 students to just 5,041 places.
• In Greater Darwin 41.4 percent of students have access to outside school hours care, compared to 7 percent in the rest of the Northern Territory.

Tasmania

24 percent of students have access to outside school hours care – 30,282 students to just 9,108 places.

In Greater Hobart 30 percent of students have access to outside school hours care, compared to 18.8 percent in the rest of Tasmania.

Australia Capital Territory:

37.4 percent of students have access to outside school hours care – 29,162 students to just 11,907 places.

Hero image: Adobe Image under license to University of Sydney.