Camp Australia launches first brand refresh in 30+ years to reflect ‘double-down’ on quality

Camp Australia, the nation’s largest provider of outside school hours care (OSHC) has continued the momentum that began 18 months ago with the appointment of new CEO, Warren Jacobson, announcing a brand refresh, anchored in a new promise – Guiding Children’s Growth. 

Since establishing itself in 1987, Camp Australia has grown to become a familiar name within the Australian early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector. Today, Camp Australia provides millions of care sessions every year for more than 50,000 children across over 570 schools nationally.

The decision to “double-down” on quality follows what the provider termed “a challenging period”, where the significant increase in demand for OSHC services saw it grow and grow quickly. Growing pains meant that Camp Australia, in their own words – “did not always meet the exacting standards and expectations communities rightfully expected of them.”

Those days are now  behind them. Led by Mr Jacobson, who is working alongside a refreshed and dedicated management team, Camp Australia is emerging from the challenges of the past. Camp Australia is entering 2021 a stronger and better organisation, ready to reclaim its position as a leader in the OSHC sector across Australia.

Mr Jacobson has been integral in setting a new direction for Camp Australia, one which does not shy away from past issues, but which uses the lessons learned as impetus for growth and change. It’s this commitment to learning from the past and looking toward the future, which supports its broader aim, to be recognised as a provider that embraces quality improvement as an ongoing journey, not a destination. 

“All our people, from the executive team through to our amazing educators, pushed through the disruption caused by the onset by COVID-19 to build momentum on our improvement journey through 2020,” he added.

“That said, there is always more to be done,” he continued. “ The steps we’ve taken so far, through our refreshed strategic plan, demonstrate our commitment to having the best people, operating excellent services everywhere that support and grow quality partnerships. We thank all our stakeholders for their trust and support in this journey to date.”

Mr Jacobson said that a core driver for the brand refresh was that the previous Camp Australia branding no longer reflected who Camp Australia was, how they operate or feel as a quality provider. 

From this premise, Camp Australia begins the 2021 academic year with a renewed promise of Guiding Children’s Growth by delivering enriching experiences that help children learn and grow.

Quality rebounds as rating and assessment results show improvements 

The measures implemented by Camp Australia to date have resulted in significant improvements across the organisation.

Recent Australian Children’s Education & Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) data shows that over the last 12 months, Camp Australia has not only had more services assessed than any other provider, but has also achieved a 92 per cent “meeting plus” rating for those services that were assessed. 

As a result of continued efforts to drive quality, over 80 per cent of Camp Australia services now meet or exceed the National Quality Standards at a national level. This is well above the OSHC sector average, and reflects significant shifts at a state-based level, particularly in New South Wales, which has seen a 23 percentage point improvement, along with the Northern Territory up 18 percentage points, and Western Australia up 12 percentage points. 

The efforts made by Camp Australia to address previous challenges and to drive quality improvement have attracted attention from outside the ECEC sector, with the provider recently winning the Business Innovation Award at the 2020 Australian Business Awards for its child inclusion program called CARE. This program was developed to help children with additional needs, and to date, over 400 children requiring support have received focused plans to ensure their inclusion in OSHC settings.

To support the launch of this brand refresh, Camp Australia has also released a sector-first mobile application for parents and guardians, which has had more than 14,000 downloads in the first month. This app provides support to families to maximise the benefit of care offered with their children’s OSHC provider. 

As an organisation who is resilient in the face of challenge, Camp Australia is entering 2021 with a commitment to continuous improvement, delivering quality care across the country. 

“Camp Australia is truly a different organisation than it was 18 months ago. Our quality improvement journey continues, and we’re looking forward to doing more for children, families and our partners in the year ahead,” Mr Jacobson said. 

Whilst the impact of historical challenges run their natural course, Camp Australia is seeing first-hand the positive impact of the changes being made, reflected in satisfaction scores and feedback from employees, parents, principals and regulators. The improvement in quality ratings, and the positive feedback are testament to this. 

To learn more about Camp Australia, see here.