Vacation care forms: excursion permission and regular outings
Vacation care is mostly off-site. That makes the paperwork narrower than people expect: it is mostly excursion authorisations, and the excursion authorisation covers getting there too.
Everything else — incidents, medication, illness — is the same as any other day and is listed at the bottom rather than mixed in here.
All 8 forms below are free. Create an account to add any of them to your service.
1.An authorisation for each excursion
Regulation 102 requires written authorisation before a child is taken on an excursion. Among other things, it must state the date, the proposed destination, the means of transport if children are transported, the anticipated ratio of educators to children, and that a risk assessment has been prepared and is available at the service. A blanket "I consent to excursions" collected at enrolment cannot state those details for each trip.
Parent permission for a child to attend an excursion — for long day care, OSHC and vacation care. Share one link and get every family's consent back signed.
2.Regular outings
A regular outing is a walk, drive or trip to a destination the service visits regularly as part of its educational program, where the circumstances relevant to the risk assessment are substantially the same each time. Under Regulation 102(5), the authorisation for a regular outing is only required once in a 12 month period.
Parent authorisation for a child to attend recurring outings organised by the childcare service.
3.Getting on and off the bus
For an excursion that involves transporting children, the risk assessment must consider the procedures for embarking and disembarking, including how each child is to be accounted for (Regulation 101(2)(d)(iv)). A checklist done at the door of the bus is a simple way to follow that procedure and keep a record of it.
Staff checklist to ensure all children are safely accounted for when boarding a vehicle.
Staff checklist to ensure all children are safely accounted for when disembarking a vehicle.
Also worth having
Not part of this job, but they come up. Add them separately if you need them.
Record and track incidents, injuries, trauma and illness involving children as required by Australian childcare regulations.
Record medication administered to a child including dosage, witness details, and required signatures.
Record and document illness incidents involving children including symptoms, first aid, and medication details.
Record anaphylaxis emergencies including symptoms, adrenaline autoinjector administration, and emergency response.
Also called
- Vacation care forms
- School holiday program forms
- Vac care excursion forms
- Holiday program permission forms
- OSHC excursion paperwork
Common questions
Do I need a separate authorisation for every vacation care excursion?
Yes, unless it is a regular outing. Regulation 102(4) requires the authorisation to state the date and the proposed destination of the excursion, so one authorisation cannot cover a program of different trips. A regular outing only needs authorisation once in a 12 month period under Regulation 102(5).
Is transport covered by the excursion authorisation?
Yes. If the excursion involves transporting children, the excursion authorisation must state the means of transport and any seatbelt or safety restraint requirements (Regulation 102(4)(e)). The separate transport authorisation in Regulation 102D, and the embarking and disembarking records in Regulations 102E and 102F, apply to transport that is not part of an excursion (Regulation 102A).
What about enrolment for children who only attend vacation care?
A child attending only vacation care still needs an enrolment record under Regulation 160. If they already attend your service, you do not re-enrol them, but Regulation 177(2) requires you to take reasonable steps to keep the record accurate — see the enrolment guide.
Written as general guidance for Australian education and care services. It is not legal advice, and it may not reflect the latest amendments — check the Education and Care Services National Regulations and your regulatory authority for the current position.
Other guides
OSHC forms: before school, after school and vacation care
The forms an outside school hours care service runs on — enrolment, getting to and from school, vacation care excursions, and medication.
Enrolling a child: the forms you need
The enrolment record itself, plus the booking, emergency contacts, medical conditions and standing authorisations that go with it.
Daily records: what educators fill in as things happen
The records your staff complete during the day — incidents, illness, medication given, and observations of children’s learning.
Forms parents and guardians fill in
Every form you send out to families — enrolment, permissions, collection arrangements, medication authority and feedback.
Forms your educators fill in
The records staff complete — incidents and illness, medication given, observations, safety checks and transport.