School Age Care Services in Australia

Abstract

School Age Care services in Australia are regarded as the fastest growing children care sec- tor. The changes in family circumstances such as longer working hours, families with both parents in full-time employment, single-parent families, changing community and inter- familial care-giving dynamics mean that SAC services are increasingly becoming a vital conduit between home-life and school-life (Cartmel & Hayes, 2016; The Centre for Ado- lescent Health, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, 2018). In June 2017, 363,700 Aus- tralian children were reported as attending SAC (ABS, 2018). Children who attend are aged between five to twelve years. The services operate before school and after school and dur- ing vacation periods. Daily hours of attendance can total 5 hours a day (nearly the same hours as school). Even though services have been operating for more than forty years there has been limited research about the way programs are developed.