The Early Years Compact
Victorian and local government working together in new ways with families, services and communities to give all children the best start in life.
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About the Early Years Compact
The Early Years Compact is a ten-year agreement between the Department of Education (DE), the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (DFFH) and local government – represented by the Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV).
The objective of the Compact is to provide a consistent Area-level platform to strengthen early years system coordination and collaboration between DE, DFFH, local government and other key stakeholders. This will help better connect services for children and families.
The Compact supports vulnerable children’s access to, and participation in critical early years support, in particular kindergarten and Maternal and Child Health.
The Compact provides a platform to share information and data regarding children’s needs and opportunities to improve outcomes, identify service and system gaps, promote collaborative cultures in sharing information and coordinating service responses, monitor outcomes for vulnerable children and families through information and data collation and analysis, and adapt service offerings (universal and targeted) to maximise access and impact of service provision.
The Compact has been implemented through place-based local governance arrangements across the 17 department areas. These arrangements will vary to leverage existing area-based partnerships/networks that are operating successfully.
Read the Early Years Compact
- The Early Years Compact (PDF, 343KB)(opens in a new window)
- The Early Years Compact (DOCX, 176KB)(opens in a new window)
Contact us
If you have questions or wish to access guidance to support the operation of the Early Years Compact in your area, please contact:
Department of Education
Department of Families, Fairness and Housing
Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV)
Updated 26 March 2026
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