Camp Australia

I had a very disappointing experience with this after-school care service. The problems started last year when my wife was dropping off and picking up our daughter. She noticed that one of the educators working there would not even say hello to her. At first we thought maybe it was just a misunderstanding. However, the next day my nephew went to… Read more

pick up my daughter and the same thing happened — she completely ignored him as well.

So I decided to check myself. When I went to pick up my daughter, the educator was sitting at the desk next to the iPad where parents sign in. I signed in and stood there, and she still didn’t say a single word. I found this very rude.

The next day I stood at the front and asked other parents if they had experienced the same behaviour. Most said she had been working there a long time and seemed nice, but one parent did say she was a bit strange and didn’t talk much.

I decided to file a complaint. After that, something like a miracle happened — suddenly she started saying hello and talking happily to parents. But unfortunately you can’t change someone’s mentality so easily. After some time things went back to the same behaviour.

Then my daughter started complaining that she had headaches and asked the staff if she could go inside, but they told her no. One day she told me she felt scared of the teachers there.

The worst moment happened when I went to pick her up earlier than usual at 3:30pm instead of 5:30pm. I couldn’t find my daughter at first. Then I saw her lying on the ground crying, face down on the floor, and no staff member was there to help or check on her. I have never seen my daughter so helpless and upset. That was the moment I decided she would never go back to that after-school care again.

I filed another complaint and suggested they install proper audio and video cameras so children are treated properly and parents can have confidence in the service. Someone from the staff later called me and said they were sending the educators for a 12-hour online training course. But honestly, I don’t believe a short online training can change someone’s mentality.

Normally I don’t complain. It has been about 7 months since my last complaint, but I feel it is my responsibility to let society know what is going on and what sort of people may be looking after our kids. These kinds of experiences can impact a child’s confidence and wellbeing. Because of a few people behaving like this, others may end up judging an entire community unfairly.

Whatever changes they make in the future, my daughter will not be returning to this centre.

The staff at my child’s school are great. Perfect care for my daughter. The administrators and enrolment process itself. One star. DO NOT ATTACH COURT ORDERS. They state nothing aggressive. But simply for this fact I have been red flagged. For the safety of my child I can’t sign her in or out each day. They “assume” she is in danger. Just because… Read more

I did the right thing and processed proper court orders. You speak to nothing but a overseas call center that does not understand the system.

My kids have never attended camp Australia care however I recieve a bill for almost $200 every week. Its been over a year and I am still receiving the same bill. On the 22nd of November 2024 I downloaded the camp Australia ap. I was trying to find out how much it would cost for afterschool care once a week for my 2 children. I accidently made… Read more

a booking. Within minutes I realised I had made an actual booking, so I cancelled it. It was a mistake, I cancelled within 5-10 minutes of making the booking.

Camp Australia is now claiming that I cancelled 4 days after I made the accidental booking. They will not allow me to book my child in for after school care unless I pay $45 a week to cover the overdue amount ontop of whatever the fee will be for after school care.

This is unfair and they are unwilling to compromise at all.

Camp Australia have taken over care at several schools in our area. I would not recommend them so far. The staff seem permanently unhappy, they keep as many children inside as possible even though the weather is nice and play area is covered from sun to reduce UV exposure. The on-site staff cannot do anything, you have to call their head… Read more

office/helpline and waste a lot of time waiting to have the call answered and even then they will resist assisting you. They also have a ridiculous 7 day in advance cancellation policy when most centres/programmes allow 48hours as many parents work shifts. If I had another care option I would use it but I'm stuck with this rubbish

My kids' school OSHC got changed to Camp Australia through a tender process. Worst thing they ever did. Camp Australia are an incompetent service run by under-resourced and under-trained "educators". They play the diversity and inclusion card but don't live up to it. The service does not cater to children with diverse needs. If the staff don't… Read more

like you (parent/family) or they have an issue with your child they won't do anything to actually try and remedy the issue and will force you out. They should not be allowed to offer OSHC services if their staff aren't competent to deal with issues that arise in the business of caring for children on a daily basis.

If I can give zero I would, horrible communication with office who never returned my email. Charge from my back 2 times and add extra $20 says failed payment. Ridiculously unprofessional service I have even experienced, don’t recommend any parents to go there. Book somewhere else!

If I could give zero stars I would. Firstly, because they claimed I had a $365 bill, in which I claimed the only amount owed was $150. I showed bank statements etc showing I paid when they claim I didn't. I emailed again, asking for their transcripts of what I owe, when I paid etc. I wanted The actual data, that I'm legally allowed to ask for and… Read more

they need to provide. Instead I got an email back by whomever, that simply just wrote dates and what's owed. Not the actual documentation. I again sent through screenshots of my bank statements showing I paid on those dates. They refused to listen to me, ignored any further emails and just email me and call constantly about paying the $365. Guess what camp Australia. YOU'RE NOT GETTING IT AND I'VE TAKEN THE MATTER FURTHER. I have proof of what was paid and when. I pay full price for my child to use before and after school care. I don't get benefits like many others. Horrid company. Stop using them.

Incredibly poor service. I was considering registering my child to attend vacation care and contacted customer service via email with a couple of queries. I received responses to only part of my questions. I emailed back clarifying, but received no response. I followed up again, and still no response. I registered my child with a competitor OSHC instead.

We have just completed a three month road trip, half the lap. We didn’t open the book once. Wikicamps was far superior, accessible with reviews and directions to campsites via Apple or Google maps. A waste of money for us. We’ll be putting it in Gumtree

To be honest with you all I got it bad simply from the poor management/bitchy colleague/uncontrollable children/some of these arrogant parents/inconsistent shifts That pretty much sums it all up

I would not recommend being employed by Camp Australia based on my experience. I began the onboarding process but did not complete the onboarding process therefore never commence employment, was never rostered, and never worked a shift. Despite clearly communicating this, the team falsely recorded a resignation date that they picked, which is both… Read more

misleading and frustrating. I had to follow up several times just to have the facts ignored — it felt like they were more interested in ticking boxes than listening to what I actually said. Poor communication and lack of accountability made this a stressful and disappointing experience.

I went through a long process to get this casual job in April 2025. They said I had to commit to 3 shifts a week as a casual educator, and I had to quit my other job! Sure I said! (Not likely... It's casual and I work where I want to work!) It's now July and only one shift has come up, in the school holidays in 2 weeks time. Waiting to see if… Read more

they cancel my shift at last minute, which looking at the bad reviews, it often happens. Strange because I was told they have to give staff 48hrs notice to cancel a shift, and vice versa. Talking to other employees and seeing reviews, it looks like parents can book children in right up until the last minute, and if the service doesn't have enough kids and too many staff, they'll cancel a staff members shift or ask them to go home, leaving them with no wages. What a poor company... Shame on you Camp Australia! Good job I don't need to rely on getting a wage from you!

This review is targeted to the camp Australia in Leumeah Public School. The educators there are good, but one of them REALLY stood out. Sumit Charan was easily the most outstanding educator there. He was proactive and able to multitask, helping many students at once. He was able to effectively deescalate the bad behaviour of children WITHOUT EVEN… Read more

TRYING! He is the reason why this is a five star review instead of a four star review. YOU NEED TO GIVE HIM A PAY RAISE!!!

ZERO STAR A quite serious incident my child involved occurred, which if it happened in adult setting, it would have been a police matter. 5 sentences to describe the incident in their report. No follow up. Lies after lies, not trusting what my kids complained and racist comment on myself when I passed my kids opinions towards food they get at OSHC and more. Yes, we stopped using them.

It was my son's first time to do vacation care as he's in kindy and Camp Australia was mentioned to me by my friend so I checked it online and thought the programs were very good and thought my son would love it and will keep me busy so decided to enrol him. The day of his vacation care, got to the school location that was stated on the email,… Read more

no sign whatsoever, an educator got there same time as us, also waiting for someone to open the gates. Waited for half an hour. Educator called someone and was told that they were at the other entrance, which is all the way back of the school also different street from what is on the email. How the hell would we know that if we don't go to that school??? Finally got there, was asked if my son goes to that school, told them no and it's his first time there and also first time participating in a vacation care "program" that I have paid for. Educators were not welcoming, no intro or anything, they ask you to sign in and that's it. They don't care if your child is scared to get in which he obviously was cos he doesn't know anyone.

Was finally able to leave after trying so hard to encourage him to settle and play. Come pick up time, educators doesn't even talk to you they just give you the ipad to sign out that's it. Had to ask how my child's day went and was just told "he was good" that's it...again.

Asked my son what he did and if they did any arts activity as the program for that day was called "Big Art Day: Eco Masterpieces" and description of that program was all about arts and cratfts. BUT... none of that happened there, he said it was just like he was in daycare, they let him play with the toys and a bit outside, that's it. He handed me a piece of paper with 3 tiny pompoms glued in it with word that says "mum" . He even said he had to ask the educators if he could make 1 for me, it's not part of the activity. To add to that, they don't even give you feedback about my child on the app, no photos, no nothing. It's like that day did not happen.

Pretty disappointed with this as this is not the experience I want my child to have on his first vacation care. Had to look elsewhere and cancelled my other bookings with them.

Bro if i could add 0 stars i would, my school has a fun climbing experience and the dont let you go to it because they think you might fall off and there is a child who has autism in camp austrailia and they dont respect that.DO NOT SEND YOU'RE POOR CHILDREN HERE

They are the worst people in childcare they are disgusting in the way they speak to the children and they made my children cry Try to complain and get no where with camp australia

My son has new diversity challenges that he faces on a daily basis and in the beginning attending Camp Australia for the first few sessions was going okay and my son was really enjoying it however the incident happened last week with one of the educators who obviously does not know how to deal with children. They had snatched one of the items that… Read more

my son had out of his hand very abruptly which caused a lot of emotional mayhem and anger in my son. The way the educator had conducted himself was not professional, and they do not have the training for children with neurodiversity. Unfortunately my son acted out due to how and the way the educator dealt with the situation and went out of his way to even write the educator an apologies letter despite the poor professionalism. My son was willing to give camp Australia one more go, so we attended again once more where I had a chat with another educator and the regional manager who has also been there in the past when my son attended. Although my son was not directly excluded, the educators body language and few words said, she advise she did not want my son there anymore. Had no apologies for how my son felt and was very rude and unprofessional. The regional manager was lovely and said my son could stay but I told her if the educators are going to act this way and not help my son to transition back into his sessions and have their nose up in the air, then this would reflect on my son and he would none is not wanted there. Educators should be selected carefully and have enough training in all areas to work with kids and help them through where they can. We rely on these services as many of us parents work and study and educators like these make it impossible for any family to trust them.

Used to be good. We have attended Coombabah vacation care, before and afters..every day for more than a year. Has been appalling in the past two months. Have not spoken to a happy parent since last year…or child for that matter. ***Update: After picking up my child crying as he had been bullied by an older child again, I changed my work hours so… Read more

that I was able to stop after school care and keep mornings only, changing our booking for a different location for the coming school holidays, the Coombabah service emailed me the week of the cyclone to advise that my son was suspended, and they cancelled ALL of my bookings (including vacation care at a different location)..apparently my son was acting out - if this is true, it was after two months of bullying and mayhem at this service. All of the regular parents that have never had a problem have been complaining of nothing but drama since January.

We have never had a problem at his service up until January 2025 when all of the previous staff left, and the location changed. I work full time and study full time, if we were not desperate for childcare for employment purposes, I would not have subjected my child to the last few months and relied on complaints and daily conversations with staff to rectify the non-stop issues - which started with bullying and my child being miserable and coming home covered in marks and injured.

This service should be ashamed of itself. I see another comment and It appears they are unable to cater for ANY child. Get some youth workers in there and people with adequate training and it may be a great service again. It is not a school it is a service that is meant to add value to the children and families lives while they provide for their families providing fun, support and safety to the children that attend.

I have worked in intense social services roles and the hardest job I have had is communicating with this service to rectify the situation, the new approach appeared to be a complete over-hall of staff, routines and even students (I understand a few have been suspended and likely the ones that are truly to blame remain); calls go unanswered, then you find an email that has been in your junk folder advising your child is not welcome...right before the holidays which usually fill up months prior!

So bad, don't send ur children here!! – Camp Australia sucks. A person named Saskia ate food from my friends plate and acted like it never even happened, it was her last piece of food too. They don't care about every child, they only care about goody two shoes and trouble makers, if your not one of them you are practically invisible. Saskia (a head worker) stated flirting with single… Read more

dads, I believe that is not ok since it was very very obvious. They were on their phones, and talking bad about students. My same friend new my pet dog (German Shepard, very gentle) very well yet she wasn't allowed to pet it through a gate.

Might be best to find a different option for your children – Had a shocking first experience today that is making us seriously reconsidering our decision to enrol our son in after school care... The way the coordinator was speaking to the children was appalling, especially the way she was yelling instructions at them and telling them she doesn't want "to be hearing any whinging" and making it sound like… Read more

they were a huge burden.... This was definitely not what I had in mind when I read through all the marketing materials and brochures...

I'm trying to stay hopeful that perhaps the coordinator was just having a bad day (though I definitely don't think that's how they should have reacted, bad day or not). I'll ask my son how it was after I pick him up this afternoon.

CAMP INDIA – The center is incredibly small, with very limited activities for the children. I find this disgraceful given the amount of money we are paying. The staff lack proper education and understanding. My child has autism and ADHD, and they continuously complain about his inconsistent behavior. When I raised concerns about their ongoing complaints,… Read more

specifically asking if they were aware of ADHD symptoms, I was told to "stay humble." Currently, my child has COVID and is booked into a holiday program. I called the call center for assistance, but the service was unhelpful, with the representative barely speaking English. I was informed that I needed to cancel the week at least seven days in advance or provide a doctor's certificate. Do they not understand that taking my child to a doctor while he’s positive for COVID is not feasible?

Refusal to cancel enrolment – We have two enrollments with Camp Australia because holiday care is provided at a different location. We asked to have the enrolment cancelled, as we're changing schools and need to enrol elsewhere (can't claim CCS for a third enrolment). Camp Australia told us they can't cancel the enrolment and that we have to wait 14 weeks. This would result in… Read more

no CCS for 14 weeks.

Now we have to dispute the enrolment through Centrelink, which now involves notifying Camp Australia so they can cancel the enrolment.

Worst customer service ever.

0 STARS – PLEASE BE AWARE of all areas of service. Unfortunately for me this is my only option and have learned the hard way. I have been using this service for 7 years started off great but as the years have progressed it’s got worse & now I’ve reached breaking point!!!!

My child hates OSHC now! – We had a lovely team of educators and an excellent coordinator who obviously cared about the children and put them first. Those educators and coordinator made OSHC like a big family and my child loved attending, even requested to attend when I was available to pick them up! The old coordinator left to have a baby and one of the excellent regular… Read more

staff members got a second job. Ever since then my child hates the service. The new coordinator is more concerned with ‘head counts’ than children’s actual safety and wellbeing. Children run out of the room unattended and no staff seem to care. There is virtually no regular staff anymore and the coordinator (main regular staff member now) doesn’t even interact with the children or know my child’s name. Children are regularly yelled at now and made to feel unappreciated. My child now cries and begs to not be put in OSHC. Such a toxic environment.

Daily Acknowledgement to Country – My children attend a local OSHC in Brisbane and are required to conduct an Acknowledgement to Country every morning and children who disrupt the speech are subjected to stay behind and write an I'm Sorry statement. Is this common at all centers or are educators allowed freedom to do what they want without parental approval?

Worst experience – Avoid this terrible organisation if possible. Staff are always yelling, and belittling children. Extremely unprofessional. My child was miserable at camp Australia. I had to find other arrangements because I didn’t feel comfortable leaving my child in their care.

CAMP AUSTRALIA IS A JOKE!! – Camp Australia is a disgrace. 1st: it is Camp AUSTRALIA yet not one person on the phone is Australian….so hard to understand. 2nd: nearly every month they stuff up our ACCS and accounts! 3rd: there is not enough staff for the holidays as it’s always booked out and not everyone can use this facility. 4th: I had to give 5 answers to prove who I was… Read more

yet when I asked where he was situated I was told that’s private. CAMP AUSTRALIA HEAD OFFICE, YOUR A JOKE!!!! I wish my kids didn’t have to use this facility.