The 5-year review of the Child Information Sharing Scheme (CISS) and the Victorian Government’s response have been tabled in Parliament. Thank you to all early childhood professionals who contributed to the review by completing the workforce survey.
About CISS
CISS aims to help all Victorian children live safe and healthy lives by improving the way information is shared by certain professionals who work with children and families.
It was introduced after a series of reviews found a lack of information sharing was a significant barrier to effective and timely support for families and children.
Review findings
The review found a number of positive key findings. Importantly, it recognised early childhood professionals for their ongoing commitment to support the wellbeing and safety of Victorian children.
Early childhood peak bodies have also highlighted that the findings are indicative of the beginning of a cultural shift across services to share information and to better identify risk for children.
The review also noted that the combined effort across prescribed workforces continues to ensure professionals who work with children have the confidence, knowledge and tools to best support child wellbeing and safety and help improve outcomes for children and young people in Victoria.
You can read the full report at Child Information Sharing Scheme.
Using CISS to support child wellbeing and safety
CISS can be used by early childhood services to share and request vital information with other authorised organisations, such as other early childhood services, schools, maternal and child health services, Victoria Police and child protection, to:
- get the full picture of a child’s circumstances
- support children at key transition points
- identify issues or risks for children and families sooner
- ensure children receive the best support possible across services.
Sign up for training
Professionals working directly with early childhood services should continue to promote the reforms and encourage staff in those services to undergo training.
Additionally, people leaders are encouraged to consider roles that should be trained in the information sharing reforms and continue to support people in those roles to access training.
Training should also be provided to new staff as part of their induction programs.
Casual relief teacher funding may be available to support early years educators who wish to attend training.
To learn more about the reforms and enrol in a course, go to Training for the information sharing and MARAM reforms.
And to learn more about the organisations or services authorised to use CISS, refer to the Information Sharing Entity (ISE) list.
The ISE list is a searchable database that can be used to identify organisations and services authorised as ISEs to exchange information confidentially.
Find out more
For more information, refer to:
For further enquiries, contact the Whole of Victorian Government Information Sharing and MARAM Enquiry Line:
- phone: 1800 549 646
- email: CISandFVIS@education.vic.gov.au
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