The Early Years Compact

About the Early Years Compact

The Early Years Compact is a ten year agreement between our department, the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (DFFH) and local government (LG) – represented by the Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV).

The compact:

establishes, for the first time, a commitment between state and local governments to work together to improve outcomes for young children and their families
clarifies the roles and responsibilities for each of the three parties - recognising the key role local government plays in supporting and responding to the needs of children and families at the local level
provides a common set of principles to support how the parties will work together
improves coordination, collaboration, information sharing and accountability across the early years system
sets strategic priorities for joint effort.

This is a significant commitment because it is the first time parties will work together at the local level to integrate planning, coordination and information sharing across the early years sector in Victoria.

Read the Early Years Compact

Read the associated communiques

Objectives and outcomes

There are five outcomes, which are all measurable and link to the government’s broader reform agenda for young children and their families:

all young children are engaged, confident and creative learners
all children are safe, cared for and experience optimal health and development
families feel well supported by high quality, inclusive services for children and families in the early years
vulnerability, location and disadvantage do not determine outcomes for young children
families are connected to culture, actively participate in community life and can access help when and where they need it.

Strategic priorities

The three parties have committed to six strategic priorities:

driving better outcomes
a more coherent and empowering early childhood system
stronger place-based governance and planning
promoting early childhood
supporting service quality
more inclusive services.

State-wide priorities

2017-2019

The compact board has agreed on three state-wide priorities, focused on supporting vulnerable children and families, for the first year:

increase the participation of children in out of home care and children known to child protection in early years services – improve sharing of data and information about children
increase participation of Aboriginal families in early years services, with a focus on maternal and child health and kindergarten services
improve the identification and referral of children and families at risk of family violence, including implementing the maternal and child health family violence consultation visit.

Implementation arrangements

The compact will be implemented through place-based local governance arrangements across the 17 department areas. These arrangements will vary from place to place and will build on existing area- based partnerships/networks that are operating successfully.

Phase 1: Initial compact area-based meetings – by end December 2017

The initial meetings bring our department, DFFH and LG senior leaders together to discuss the compact, agree on 2017–18 priorities and identify the most suitable local governance arrangements.

Phase 2: Compact area-based governance – initial four sites – by end April 2018

The initial sites will test materials and approaches that best support local areas to have informed discussions and make evidence based decisions. These sites are:

Brimbank-Melton
Southern Melbourne
Ovens Murray
Loddon-Campaspe.

Phase 3: Compact area-based governance - full roll out by end December 2018

Learnings from phases one and two will inform the full roll-out in 2018.

Contact us

If you have questions about the Early Years Compact, please contact:

Updated 20 December 2023