Boost for the Out of School Care and Recreation service - Budget 2021

We’re investing in more places for low-income families in the Out of School Care and Recreation service (OSCAR).

$2.250m a year will fund 3,300 additional OSCAR places.

This Government investment supports around 900 low-income parents to remain or transition into employment, training, and education.

• OSCAR plays a vital role in supporting parents to gain and maintain employment and engage in further training and education through providing access to low cost childcare services outside of school hours.
• This investment will fund additional OSCAR programme volumes, maintain the existing network of delivery, while targeting investment towards high-need communities.
• Targeting helps ensure communities with the highest levels of need are most supported to access to low-cost childcare services, improving parents’ ability to gain and maintain employment or retrain/upskill.

The funding builds on $9.6 million over four years already committed to help keep OSCAR services viable, reducing a provider’s need to raise fees or reduce services, lowering cost and other barriers for parents accessing OSCAR services.

• Targeting will also help address unmet service demand, particularly for Māori, Pacific, and migrant communities, and encourage a diversity of provision that is responsive to culture, language and identity.
• The funding is now a permanent part of the overall OSCAR Grant budget, which will help give providers funding certainty, and improve the financial viability of providers and the wider network, meaning parents can be more confident of service availability.

Costs