Out of School Hours Care services at Spring Mountain State School face closure in September 2026 after provider Jabiru Spring Mountain advised that a shortage of dedicated space on school grounds — a legal requirement for OSHC operations — has left the not-for-profit organisation unable to continue unless a workable solution is found before then.
The closure date, confirmed by affected families as September 2026 rather than end of year, has intensified concern across the Spring Mountain and Springfield Lakes community, where working families including single parents and dual-income households rely on before and after school care to bridge the gap between school hours and standard working hours. Spring Mountain State School gates open at 8:15am and school finishes at 2:30pm — a window of roughly six hours that is incompatible with full-time employment.
Why the Services Are at Risk
Jabiru Spring Mountain CEO Peter Loughnane and board member Sara Harrup confirmed the organisation wants to keep providing OSHC services at the school but is currently hamstrung by the limited space available. Under the National Quality Framework, providers must meet strict minimum space standards for every child in their care.
While schools are not legally required to provide a dedicated space for outside school hours care, any service that does operate must comply with these non-negotiable space requirements. This creates the current legal impasse: there is no mandate for a school to allocate additional rooms, yet a provider cannot legally open its doors if the available footprint falls short of the headcount.
The organisation has looked into local community facilities but found them either unavailable or financially out of reach for a not-for-profit. Using the school hall as a temporary fix is an option on the table, though families worry that regular external rentals and school events make it a shaky long-term solution. Ultimately, because there is no law forcing the host site to provide specific areas for care, the final call on space allocation sits with school leadership.
A Wider Problem Across the Springfield Corridor
The Spring Mountain closure is not an isolated case. Springfield Central State School has gone years without offering an OSHC service, leaving families to rely on nearby St Peter’s Lutheran College’s OSHC program. The demand has grown so high that St Peter’s can no longer accommodate Springfield Central students. Springfield State School also does not provide OSHC, an issue community members say they raised more than six years ago but remains unresolved.
The pattern across the Springfield corridor points to a systemic gap between the demand for OSHC services in one of south-east Queensland’s fastest-growing family suburbs and the supply of school-based care. Community members have noted that cleared land near some schools, including land unlikely to be developed following cancelled projects, may offer infrastructure opportunities that have not yet been fully explored. The Springfield Learning Coalition, which connects schools in the area, has been identified by community members as a potential vehicle for a coordinated solution across multiple schools.
What Jabiru Spring Mountain Currently Provides
Jabiru Spring Mountain delivers before school care, after school care and vacation care for students at Spring Mountain State School. The service provides a fully catered menu including breakfast, afternoon tea and a late snack on school days, and morning tea and lunch during vacation care. Families eligible for the Child Care Subsidy pay reduced fees based on combined household income. The programme has operated on the Spring Mountain State School campus since the school opened in 2019.
The service has already experienced one significant disruption, when it was forced to close temporarily due to staff departures following uncertainty over contract renewal. Families who lived through that closure say finding suitable alternatives in the area was extremely difficult, with limited options and high demand at existing services.
Why This Matters for Springfield Lakes and Spring Mountain Families
For single parents and dual-income households in Spring Mountain and Springfield Lakes, OSHC is not a discretionary service — it is the practical infrastructure that makes full-time work economically viable. With housing costs and basic living expenses requiring sustained full-time income, working only within the six-hour school day window is not a financially sustainable option for most families in the area.
The closure also falls hardest on those with the fewest alternatives: single parents without multigenerational household support, shift workers whose hours fall outside standard care windows, and families who cannot afford private nanny or babysitting arrangements. Community members have noted that in a cost-of-living environment where both parents are not just encouraged but financially required to work, the absence of mandatory OSHC provision at schools creates a structural disadvantage for families in growth corridors like Springfield and Spring Mountain where services lag behind population.
What Families Can Do
Affected families are encouraged to make their situations known directly, as individual representations carry weight in demonstrating the extent of community need and supporting efforts to find a workable solution before September 2026. Families can also contact Jabiru Spring Mountain directly at springmountain@jabiru.org.au or reach Jabiru’s central office on 07 3269 0044. Further information about Jabiru Community Services and its OSHC programmes is available at jabiru.org.au.
Published 11-March-2026.
