General community use of school facilities
Members of the community and education groups may apply to use school facilities when these are not required by the school.
Examples of community use
Applications are accepted from individuals, very small community-based businesses, and not-for-profit organisations for one-off events or regular bookings for up to 12 months for local community activities, such as:
- sporting activities, eg basketball, swimming, football, athletics
- fitness activities, eg aerobics, zumba, martial arts classes
- art classes, eg drama, dance classes
- hobby group meetings, eg cooking, book club
- religious group meetings
- community group meetings, eg Scouts, professional teacher associations, Aboriginal Education Consultative Group
- private coaching, eg band, subject tutoring
- P&C fundraising events, eg car-boot sales, fetes
- function hire for social events.
Establishing a community use agreement
Prospective community users should contact the school to enquire about availability and suitability of school facilities for the proposed use and applicable hire rates.
Mandatory requirements, including the school’s risk assessment and user’s child protection declaration, apply when sharing school facilities with the community.
A Community Use Agreement is required to document the use of the facilities. The principal prepares and signs the Community Use Agreement, preferably through the Sharing of School Facilities online management system (staff only).
See section 5.1 of the Sharing of School Facilities implementation procedures for more information.
Not for profit hire charges
The school principal sets the hire charges for local community use by individuals, very small community-based businesses, and not-for-profit organisations, based on market conditions.
The following hire charges are for guidance purposes only. The charges are calculated on a cost recovery basis and are reviewed annually.
Sample hourly rates for school facilities (reviewed January 2021)
| Venue | Charge per hour* |
|---|---|
| Canteen |
$5.92 |
| Classroom |
$5.29 |
| Demountable |
$8.11 |
| Hall – primary school |
$31.33 |
| Hall – high school |
$73.43 |
| Office / meeting room |
$1.49 |
| Library – primary school |
$23.50 |
| Library – high school |
$50.91 |
| Multi-purpose court |
$105.25 |
| Playing field |
$0.049 per sqm |
| Staff common room |
$10.57 |
| Toilet block |
$3.96 |
*A minimum payment of two hours is suggested. These rates are GST exclusive.
All bookings should include time for setup and packing up. Hire of venues without bathrooms (such as classrooms, demountables and playing fields) will require hire of toilet blocks.
A Community Use Agreement is not suitable for the following proposed community use:
- activities of a commercial nature
- operation of markets, school canteen or uniform shop
- use for electoral events
- construction or upgrade of school facilities that involve an external party
- installation of a mobile telecommunications facility
- use under the Share our Space program.