Community hiring of school facilities

This page promotes the hiring of school facilities outside of school hours to community groups. Learn more about the facilities available for hire.

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Why hire a school facility

Hiring a school facility can help to foster stronger connections between schools and communities, create a shared sense of pride in local schools, and provide increased physical activity opportunities for communities outside of school hours.

About hiring school facilities

Victorian Government schools are strongly encouraged to share their facilities with local communities. This may include use by sporting clubs, community groups and not for profit groups. School councils choose what facilities are available, when they're available, and set hiring fees.

How to hire school facilities

  • If you are unsure which schools are within your preferred neighbourhood, you can use the Find My School tool to identify nearby school/s.
  • Contact the identified school to find out if they have facilities available for hire when not being used by the school.
  • If the school agrees to hire out its facilities, a hire or licence agreement must be signed before the use begins.
  • Schools set their own fees for using their facilities and fees may vary between schools. Fees are designed to cover the cost of cleaning, security, maintenance and administration.
  • Most groups need public liability insurance of $10 million. They must also provide a Certificate of Currency.
  • For more details read the Community Use of Schools – Hiring and Licensing policy.

Types of facilities available for hire

Each school has different types of facilities that they make available for hiring. Below is a list of some facility types that may be available for hire. Note that all schools will be different, based on their size, location, when they were built and the number of students enrolled. To understand which specific facilities are available at your preferred schools, you will need to contact the individual school.

  • Classroom: Used for STEM classes and language lessons.
  • Dance studio: Open space for dance and other activities, often with a small stage.
  • Food tech: Commercial kitchen for cooking classes or school-holiday events.
  • Gymnasium: Indoor sports space for basketball, netball, tennis, and more. Also hosts Outside of School Hours Care (OSHC).
  • Outdoor courts: Multi-use space for various sports.
  • Oval: Grass area for Australian rules football, cricket, soccer, and rugby.
  • Performing arts space: Great for drama classes and events with a small stage and seating.
  • STEM space: For robotics, coding, and alternative language classes.
  • Classroom with 5 square desks, with 4 chairs around each desk.
  • Open style classroom in a large room with two standard height square desks surrounded by chairs and one high desk with orange chairs. The space is bright and open.
  • Single sized competition grade gymnasium with wooden floor. Primary school aged children are playing with basketballs. Students are blurred in movement, wearing light blue uniforms.
  • Single sized competition grade gymnasium with wooden floor. One side of the gym is flanked with glass windows making it a bright space. School aged children are blurred with movement.
  • Outdoor space showing one quarter of a basketball court and a ring. In the background is a large gymnasium building.
  • Birdseye view of a school, its athletics precinct and surrounding homes. There is a large oval with a soccer pitch which is surrounded by a red athletics track. There are basketball and tennis facilities to the left and the school building at the top of the image.
  • Image shows tiered purple seating in a theatre with a stage down at the front. The stage has a red curtain with two spotlights.
  • Orange classroom with sliding glass doors. The room has stainless steel benches at the back of the room for dedicated STEM activities and has circular desks throughout the room.

  • Classroom for hire

    Example of a classroom for hire.

  • Classroom for hire

    Example of an open space classroom for hire.

  • Single gymnasium for hire

    Example of a single competition grade gym for hire.

  • Single gymnasium for hire

    Example of a single competition grade gym for hire.

  • Outdoor court space for hire

    Example of outdoor court space for hire.

  • Oval space for hire

    Example of an oval precinct for hire.

  • Performing Arts space for hire

    Example of a performing arts and theatre space for hire.

  • Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathmatics (STEM) space for hire

    Example of a STEM space for hire.

Information for schools

The policy for community use can be found on Community Use of Schools – Hiring and Licensing. This shows how schools can complete hire and licence agreements for community use. It also includes templates.

Community Use Pilot

The Increasing Community Use of School Facilities pilot is a new initiative. It aims to support schools and boost facility use in the south-west region of Victoria.

Contact us

For assistance, you can contact the Increasing Community Use of School Facilities Pilot team at: SWV.SC.facility.use@education.vic.gov.au. The team can assist by:

  • Advising on suitable spaces for activities.
  • Sharing knowledge about local schools and their available facilities.
  • Suggesting the right agreement type for community needs.
  • Connecting schools and community groups.
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