The department is seeking expressions of interest from all school and school-council run early childhood education and care (ECEC) services that intend to form a new or vary an existing foreign arrangement in 2026.
This is in line with Australia’s foreign policy objectives under the Australia’s Foreign Relations (State and Territory Arrangements) Act 2020.
Under the Act, these services must submit their proposed arrangements or variations to the Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. This is done through the Department of Education.
To do this, please contact the department’s Stakeholder Engagement team before negotiating or entering into arrangements with foreign entities.
This ensures arrangements between state and territory government departments and international counterparts are aligned to Australia’s foreign policy objectives.
Arrangements that need approval
The legislation extends to any written arrangements, agreements or contracts between school and school-council run ECEC services, and foreign entities. This includes overseas governments, universities, and other schools.
Common examples of such foreign arrangements include:
- partnerships with foreign ECEC providers or services
- agreements
- written arrangements
- contracts
- memoranda of understanding (MoU)
- teacher exchange programs.
Arrangements may be in any form, and do not need to be signed or legally binding to fall within the scope of the Act.
How to submit an expression of interest
The department’s expression of interest process for new or existing foreign arrangements happens twice a year ‒ in Term 1, and in June.
If you are considering varying or entering a new foreign arrangement between now and June 2026, please contact the department by Friday 13 March 2026 with a:
Please send these to the department’s Stakeholder Engagement team by email: ied.stakeholder.engagement@education.vic.gov.au
Find out more
For further enquiries, contact the department by email: ied.stakeholder.engagement@education.vic.gov.au
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