Use of consulting and community facilities policy

Early Learning Victoria recognises the significant benefits of co-location and integration of early childhood education and care (ECEC) services, schools and other child and family services. Through provision of accessible and inclusive consulting and community spaces and an operational philosophy to enable this, Early Learning Victoria aims to enhance families’ access to supports, encourage professional collaboration, support continuity of learning for children and foster engagement with Early Learning Victoria centres.

1. Scope

This policy applies to children, families, staff, management, and visitors of Early Learning Victoria centres. This includes volunteers, students on placement, contractors or labour hire employees of Early Learning Victoria and child and family service providers and community groups.

2. Policy statement

The purpose of this policy is to provide information and guidance about expectations regarding third-party use of consulting and community spaces at Early Learning Victoria centres, where infrastructure is available. It also sets expectations for facilitating effective service integration and strong community partnerships.

2.1 Requirements

Early Learning Victoria is committed to the integration of child and family services through collaborative on-site delivery. This is alongside other approaches including the development of professional partnerships, ‘warm’ referral pathways and through supporting service-coordination. By supporting strong leadership and governance that enables decision making, collaboration and problem solving at a local level, service delivery and integration at Early Learning Victoria centres is tailored to the unique needs of each community.

In line with Early Learning Victoria’s philosophy, all staff at Early Learning Victoria centres are expected to develop and support service delivery of and partnerships with other child and family services and local community organisations to support effective service integration at the centres and within the community.

2.2 Background and information

There are significant positive benefits for children, families and communities in the co-location of child and family services at Early Learning Victoria centres and in developing and maintaining partnerships with other child and family organisations, co-located and nearby schools and service providers including:

being able to more effectively identify child and family needs
assisting families to access supports through ‘warm’ referral pathways
improving access to specialist supports and services to families experiencing disadvantage
working to break down silos between service providers
building parental confidence, capacity, social networks and connection
supporting positive transitions for children between early childhood education and school
meeting the specific needs of the local community through place-based initiatives
enabling strong professional collaboration, with a focus on capacity building and knowledge sharing

Early Learning Victoria centres are encouraged to adopt a flexible, place-based model that responds to local community needs and that leverages existing networks, adding to the fabric of service connection within the community by:

partnering with co-located schools, local government and family, child and community organisations
sharing community and consulting spaces to support service integration and collaboration
fostering a sense of community pride, ownership and engagement.

To support effective co-location of services, many Early Learning Victoria centres have additional infrastructure to enable delivery of child and family services on site. These could include, but are not limited to, services such as:

Maternal and Child Health
Supported and community playgroups
Allied Heath
Parenting programs
Child health clinics
Financial counselling

Integration of services can be further supported by activities such as:

participating in local networks and communities of practice
inviting other professionals to participate in Early Learning Victoria orientation and induction processes
exploring collaboration opportunities, for example professional development and sharing of knowledge and expertise across professions
participating in family and community activities such as open days and other events.

Early Learning Victoria centres have a dedicated integrated services lead role at the centre who is responsible for partnership identification and development and for overseeing and/or managing the practical aspects of third-party providers being present in the centre.

Integration Leads should be supported to set up operational processes for effective service integration including leveraging administration support at the centre when required (see responsibilities of staff).

3. Actions and procedures

Determining suitability of service providers

Early Learning Victoria centres are required to develop an annual Service integration plan (see links and attachments) which outlines the needs of the local community, analysis of the existing and potential service provision landscape and outlines an annual centre-level plan for service integration.

The Early Learning Victoria Service integration framework provides an overview of the vision, governance structures, reporting and monitoring processes and guidelines and expectations for service integration at ELV centres. The framework provides guidelines for developing a service integration plan which assists Early Learning Victoria centres to identify, assess and choose third party providers to deliver their services from the centre and outline other considerations for ensuring the development and maintenance of effective partnerships within the local community.

Service providers delivering on site at Early Learning Victoria centres must be meet the approved purpose definition and may be a mix of:

Local government
Not-for profit community groups and organisations
Community and other not-for-profit health providers
Early Childhood Intervention Supports (e.g. NDIS funded)
Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations
For-profit organisations where they provide a clear benefit to the centre and community

Third-party organisations can use the Early Learning Victoria Expression of Interest for use of Consulting and Community Spaces Form(see links and attachments) to express an interest in using the spaces at any Early Learning Victoria centre.

Negotiating and setting up arrangements with third party providers

Formal agreements strengthen partnerships with service providers by clearly outlining each party’s rights and responsibilities, reducing risk and ensuring clarity. They provide a platform for discussing and agreeing on specific terms, such as facility cleaning, cost of utilities and insurance requirements.

To formalise agreements, Early Learning Victoria centres can enter into:

Hire agreements: suitable for occasional or one-off community use of Early Learning Victoria centre spaces. Hire agreement should be used when the provider:

Needs once-off or ad/hoc/sporadic use of the space on specified dates
Is a funded or non-funded non-profit or community organisation (n.b. if non-funded, hire fee will be marked as ‘nil’)
Examples include an MCH service setting up an immunisation clinic once a month in a community room, or a not-for-profit organisation running a parenting program across two consecutive days.

Early Learning Victoria centres can use the Hire Agreement template available on Legal Division’s Property Precedent Webpage (see links and attachments) to establish a hire agreement with providers.

Licence agreements: Licence agreements should be used for non-exclusive regular and ongoing (up to, but not more than 5 years) use of Early Learning Victoria centres spaces by third parties. A license should be used when the provider:

Needs exclusive or non-exclusive, regular and scheduled use of a space for a period of up to 5 years
Is a funded or non-funded non-profit or community organisation (n.b. if non-funded, a peppercorn license fee of $1 per year will apply, but ‘contribution to outgoings’ will be marked as ‘nil’)
Examples include a supported playgroup running every week, on the same day, for 48 weeks of the year from the community space, or an MCH nurse using the consulting room to run the service from, 2 days per week throughout school terms for a 3-year period.

Early Learning Victoria centres can use the Early Learning Victoria License Agreement template (available on Legal Division’s Property Precedent Webpage(approved access only; see links and attachments) to establish a license agreement with providers.

The agreement and usage arrangement for each service provider or community group/organisation will vary depending on their situation, organisation type, length of agreement, funding arrangements and service type. Integration Leads are encouraged to discuss the arrangement with the Service Integration Manager if they are unsure which agreement is most appropriate.

Hire and Licence agreements at Early Learning Victoria centres must:

comply with the department’s legal requirements and clearly outline each party’s responsibilities to protect Early Learning Victoria centres against liability.
cover key aspects of the agreement including agreement length, maintenance and utility responsibilities, fees and charges as applicable, and insurance requirements.
be discussed and approved by the relevant Area Manager or Service Integration Manager, noting under Ministerial Delegations agreements are only legally executed once approved by persons in these, or Early Learning Victoria Executive roles.

Where any changes or deviations from the standard Hire and Licence agreements are proposed, the Early Learning Victoria Service Integration Manager must be consulted. They will work with the department’s Legal Division and the Victorian School Building Authority to ensure changes are acceptable from a legal/risk perspective.

Hire and licence agreements would typically accommodate use of spaces throughout the week within the hours of the centre's normal operations. Access to facilities can be made available outside of centre hours through negotiation if this is deemed to be beneficial to the local community. This negotiation should include seeking endorsement from the relevant Early Learning Victoria Area Manager to ensure:

any risks associated with the arrangement are minimised
child safety and protection are non-negotiable requirements
Early Learning Victoria's legal obligations will be met
there is sufficient consideration for access arrangements and emergency management planning and procedures.

Fees

Service providers are asked to contribute nominally to costs such as maintenance, utilities and upkeep in line with their facility usage and according to the current Early Learning Victoria Consulting and Community Facilities Licensing and Hiring Fee Schedule (see links and attachments).

Early Learning Victoria centres do not profit from additional services being provided on site, and any fees paid to centres by licensed service providers must be outlined in the relevant agreement.

Insurance

Early Learning Victoria requires most third parties using Early Learning Victoria spaces to provide proof that they are adequately covered by insurance upon signing a hire or licence agreement. This is provided by way of a Certificate of Currency (also known as a Confirmation of Cover) which is a summary of the cover provided by an insurance agency.

Most third parties need to provide a Certificate of Currency that demonstrates that they have public liability insurance for a minimum of $10 million in place throughout the period of the hire agreement or licence.

Not-for-profit community groups and private individuals seeking to hire or licence Early Learning Victoria spaces for low-risk activities are not required to provide a Certificate of Currency. However, these entities must be informed that Early Learning Victoria’s own public liability insurance does not extend to cover them when they hire or licence out Early Learning Victoria spaces and they are still encouraged by Early Learning Victoria to obtain their own public liability insurance where deemed appropriate.

Monitoring agreements

Early Learning Victoria centres are required retain a register of all hire and licence agreements, and undertake a review annually to ensure all agreements meet the following criteria:

that Early Learning Victoria policies and processes have been followed including ensuring that the third-party seeking to hire or licence the facility will be using the facility for an approved purpose (see definitions)
that the correct template is used when entering into an agreement
that the party seeking agreement ensures they hold the required level of public liability insurance.

3.1 Responsibilities of families

Strong and effective partnerships with families are a core pillar of Early Learning Victoria’s philosophy. Co-location and integration of child and family services provides a unique opportunity for professionals to take a holistic approach in supporting children and families, enabling access, supporting effective information sharing and facilitating strong professional networks to enhance outcomes.

At Early Learning Victoria centres, families can support this approach by:

discussing the needs of their child and family with Early Learning Victoria staff where comfortable, and working collaboratively to identify appropriate supports and/or referral pathways
providing consent for referrals and referral information where required (if appropriate)
discussing concerns, issues or challenges with Early Learning Victoria staff or other service providers to support them to be addressed.

3.2 Responsibilities of staff

All staff at Early Learning Victoria centres play a role in supporting effective and meaningful service integration at their centres.

All centre staff are responsible for:
- working collaboratively with other service providers on site and supporting professional networking and collective ways of working
- identifying and discussing collaboration opportunities with the nominated supervisor in line with the Early Learning Victoria philosophy
- ensuring Early Learning Victoria privacy and information sharing guidelines and expectations are followed (see Staff code of conduct policy, Privacy policy, Child and family violence information sharing policy, Child safety and wellbeing policy)
- ensuring expectations around security management including access arrangements are upheld.
The Integrated Services Lead is responsible for:
- identifying collaboration opportunities in line with the Early Learning Victoria philosophy.
- developing and maintaining effective partnerships with a range of Child and Family service providers within the local community.
- collaborating with the relevant Early Learning Victoria Area Manager and/or Early Learning Victoria Service Integration Manager to set up and implement a Service Integration Plan (see links and attachments).
- ensuring meaningful consultation is conducted with the centre community to inform the development of the Service integration plan (see links and attachments).
- ensuring providers identified and their services meet the approved purpose definition.
- ensuring the Service integration planis reviewed on a regular basis, and at least annually, and adapted when the needs of the community change.
- negotiating with individual service providers and assessing their suitability in consultation with the relevant Early Learning Victoria Area Manager or Early Learning Victoria Service Integration Manager.
- determining the appropriate type of agreement to put in place (see actions and procedures) with third-party providers, seeking support from the relevant Early Learning Victoria Area Manager or Early Learning Victoria Service Integration Manager as required
- setting up licensing or hiring arrangements with external providers where applicable (see actions and procedures).
- ensuring that third-party providers meet the requirements with regards to insurance provision according to the terms of their agreement (see links and attachments).
- Ensuing the details of each arrangement are included at section 5.2 of the Emergency Management Plan for the centre.
- Instructing third-party providers to ensure that clients attending for their services at the Early Learning Victoria centre are signed into the KidSoft system as visitors to the centre, including requesting to site a Working with Children Check as required and making and keeping a copy if applicable (see Visitors, volunteers and students on placement policy).
- actively participating in Early Learning Victoria centre working groups when established and as required at the centre and working according to the terms of reference for the groups.
- reporting to Early Learning Victoria central office on service integration at their centre and providing data as requested.
- responding to requests from individual service providers about use of any community spaces at the centre for service delivery.
- keeping records of all licence and hire agreements.
- ensuring third-party providers comply with child safe standards, including working with children and police check requirements.
- ensuring third-party providers understand and have access to the centre’s Emergency Management Plan and their roles and responsibilities in the event of an emergency.
- consulting with the relevant Early Learning Victoria Area Manager or Early Learning Victoria Service Integration Manager if unsure about any request from service providers or other parties.
- escalating any issues that can’t be resolved directly with external service providers at the centre with the relevant Early Learning Victoria Area Manager or Early Learning Victoria Service Integration Manager.
- setting up operational processes that support service integration (drawing on administrative support where required) including:
  - maintaining a booking and scheduling system that allows for coordination of services across the week, and ensuring that the booking system is up-to-date to enable oversight from the Early Learning Victoria Service Integration Manager
  - managing fees, charges and finance processes where applicable
  - ensuring providers have appropriate access to the licensed spaces
  - working with the service providers to ensuring there is communication with families about available services.
- Encouraging Early Learning Victoria centre staff to support external service providers in delivering their supports at the centre through active relationship building and professional collaboration.
Third-party external providers are responsible for:
- agreeing and adhering to the hiring or licensing terms established with Early Learning Victoria centres, where applicable.
- actively participating in the relevant Early Learning Victoria centres Partnership Group and service integration working groups (when established) and working according to the terms of reference for the groups.
- ensuring any person providing services on an Early Learning Victoria centres site understands and complies with child safe standards, including working with children and police check requirements and has read and understand any obligations under the Child and family violence information sharing policy, and other relevant Early Learning Victoria centres policies (see related policies).
- ensuring they understand the Early Learning Victoria centres centre Emergency Management Plan and are aware of their roles and responsibilities in the event of an emergency.
- ensuring clients attending their services at an Early Learning Victoria centres centre are signed into the KidSoft system as visitors to the centre, including requesting to site a Working with Children Check as required and making and keeping a copy if applicable (see Visitors, volunteers and students on placement policy).
- reporting as required to the Early Learning Victoria centres centre, Area Manager and/or Early Learning Victoria centres central office.
- discussing any issues with the hire or license arrangement, service provision or professional relationships with the nominated supervisor at the Early Learning Victoria centres centre in the first instance.
- escalating any unresolved issues with the licensing arrangement, service provision or professional relationships to Early Learning Victoria centres central office as required.
The approved provider is responsible for:
- providing guidance and support to ensure effective governance and oversight for integration of services at Early Learning Victoria centres and for use of Early Learning Victoria centres by other community organisations or groups
- ensuring monitoring and reporting processes are in place to track and monitor service integration activities, issues, risks and trends
- ensuring roles and responsibilities for implementing service integration activities are clearly defined and communicated to all staff.

4. Resources

Legislation and standards

Relevant legislation and standards include:

Education and Care Services National Law Act 2010
Education and Care Services National Regulations 2011
National Quality Standard, quality area 2: Children’s Health and Safety
Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004
Occupational Health and Safety Regulations 2017
Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014
Privacy Act 1988
Public Health and Wellbeing Regulations
Public Health and Wellbeing Act 2008.

Building and ground maintenance policy
Child and family violence information sharing policy
Child safety and wellbeing policy
Emergency management and evacuation policy
Hygiene and cleaning policy
Privacy policy
Protecting children policy
Insurance policy
Staff code of conduct policy.

Links and attachments

Definitions

Approved purpose: In the context of using Early Learning Victoria consulting and community spaces for service delivery, an approved purpose is any service provision that addresses the educational, recreational or cultural needs of the community and/or provides a needed service (as identified in the Early Learning Victoria centre Service integration plan) to children and families.

Child and family service provider: Service providers that support children, young people and their families to improve safety, wellbeing and developmental outcomes, while building capacity and resilience for children, families and communities.

Co-location: In the context of early childhood, child and family services located in the same early childhood facility where families can access a range of services on site in one location.

Hire agreement: A formal and legally binding agreement to allow a third-party provider access to a facility or space on a one-off or ad-hoc basis.

License agreement: A formal and legally binding agreement to allow a third-party provider access to a facility or space on a regular and ongoing basis.

Service integration: In the context of early childhood, the extent to which services work together to offer joined up supports to children and families. Service integration involves increasing levels of cooperation, coordination, information exchange, joint planning responsibility and accountability and the development of formal partnership structures.

Third-party provider: In the context of Early Learning Victoria, any unaffiliated person, organisation or entity that delivers child and family services, other than early Childhood Education and Care Services, in an Early Learning Victoria centre.

‘Warm’ referral: a process whereby a service provider contacts another service provider for or with their existing client to make a referral, rather than just providing the contact information and asking the client to contact the new service provider directly and independently. This approach supports families to transition between service providers and minimise the amount of times that families need to ‘tell their story’.

Third-party external providers are responsible for:

agreeing and adhering to the hiring or licensing terms established with Early Learning Victoria centres, where applicable.
actively participating in the relevant Early Learning Victoria centres Partnership Group and service integration working groups (when established) and working according to the terms of reference for the groups.
ensuring any person providing services on an Early Learning Victoria centres site understands and complies with child safe standards, including working with children and police check requirements and has read and understand any obligations under the Child and family violence information sharing policy, and other relevant Early Learning Victoria centres' policies (see related policies).
ensuring they understand the Early Learning Victoria centres centre Emergency Management Plan and are aware of their roles and responsibilities in the event of an emergency.
ensuring clients attending their services at an Early Learning Victoria centres centre are signed into the KidSoft system as visitors to the centre, including requesting to site a Working with Children Check as required and making and keeping a copy if applicable (see Visitors, volunteers and students on placement policy).
reporting as required to the Early Learning Victoria centres centre, Area Manager and/or Early Learning Victoria centres central office.
discussing any issues with the hire or license arrangement, service provision or professional relationships with the nominated supervisor at the Early Learning Victoria centres centre in the first instance.
escalating any unresolved issues with the licensing arrangement, service provision or professional relationships to Early Learning Victoria centres central office as required.

Education

Updated 24 June 2025