Common questions

Easy! Just head over here, type your preferred suburb or postcode into the search field, and away you go!

Once you find and click on your perfect space to view it in more detail, contact information will be listed on the right-hand side of the page. You will usually be presented with a phone number, the option to submit a written enquiry, or both.

Unfortunately, no. We can’t find, book or contact spaces on your behalf. Luckily, there are so many excellent spaces available for you to choose from, so it shouldn’t be a problem finding the right one for you!

The Creative Spaces website is a free directory of available space for creative use. Unfortunately, some areas will naturally have fewer spaces listed than others. Perhaps try a different, broader search to see if that yields better results.

Listing a space is free! We don’t charge any fees, at any point, and we take no commission once your space is filled.

You can list any space for creative use. Types of creative space include artist studios, rehearsal and workshop spaces, office and co-work initiatives (for artists and creative businesses), spaces for larger sculpture work as well as rehearsal, performance and exhibition spaces.

Examples of creative uses include design, broadcasting, electronic or digital media, game development, filmmaking, music, performing arts including theatre and dance, visual arts and crafts, museums, architecture, comedy, craft and fashion.

Creative Spaces only supports space listings for creative purposes. For example, we will not list a space for yoga classes or birthday parties.

Some examples of creative practice include animation, animatronics, architecture, ceramics, circus, dance, exhibitions, fashion, film, glass making, jewellery, music, painting, photography, podcast making, screen printing, sculpture, textiles, woodwork, and writing.

Please note we do not recognise fitness, wellness, health, or corporate practice as creative practice. Any space designed solely for these uses may not be accepted as a listing.

You’ll need a few bits and pieces to create an effective and successful listing for your space. Some things are mandatory, like photos of your space, information on the rate you’ll charge for creatives to use your space, a name for your space, some brief descriptions of its interior and location, and a contact email address and phone number. Other things are helpful to include, like ceiling height, floor space dimensions, potential audience capacity, and more.

It’s easy! Head over here and our simple form will guide you through the details.

We’re unable to accept spaces that have references to yoga, Pilates, fitness, wellness, healing, health, or health therapies in the name, listing description, or images, because these activities are not considered creative practice. If you would like to list your space, please remove all references to the above terms and instead specify how your space could be used creatively or how it has been used creatively in the past. Examples might include rehearsals, as a photography location, or as a dance studio. If you can explain how your space could be used by creatives, it will be accepted.

We're unable to accept spaces that make reference to hair, beauty, makeup or nail services in their name, images or listing description as these are not considered creative practice. If you would like to list your space, please remove all references to the above terms and instead specify how your space could be used creatively or how it has been used creatively in the past. Examples might include a photography location or visual art studio. If you can explain how your space could be used by creatives, it will be accepted.

We can only accept coworking and office spaces if their primary purpose is to provide creative practitioners or artists with a place to work. Coworking and office spaces must be targeted towards or primarily occupied by creatives and artists. Please provide specific examples of how your coworking or office space meets this criteria. For example, 'this coworking space houses graphic designers, copywriters, writers, illustrators, interior designers, animators, editors and more' or 'this office space will be shared with an architect and fashion designer'.

Once you hit ‘submit’ after completing the listing process, your proposed space is reviewed by our team. You can preview the listing and see how it will look while you’re logged in, and you’ll get an email notification once it’s live on the site. Please note that listings are only published during business hours on standard business days. There may be delays during public holiday periods. Listings and listing updates can take up to five business days to be published.

Unfortunately, no, we cannot provide you with any kind of lease or hire agreement template. We recommend consulting with a lawyer to ensure any agreements meet your unique requirements.

No, unfortunately this is not a service that we offer.

Once your space is occupied by a creative, we encourage you to update the availability of your space to ‘unavailable’ rather than removing your listing from the site. That way, creatives can still search for and view your space, and even enquire about the possibility of using your space in the future. Alternatively, if you’re 100% certain you want to remove your space from the site, you’ll find that functionality in your login area.

If you still have an active account/login associated with your space, you can simply log in and hit ‘re-publish space’.

If your space is square or rectangular, measure the length and width of your space.

For example, 4 metres long and 6 metres wide.

Then, multiply the length by the width to find the area in square metres.

Eg: 4 x 6 = 24m2

If your space is an odd shape, break it down into smaller rectangles. Calculate the square meters of each rectangle using the equation above, then add them all together for the total square metre area of your space.

If you are still having difficulty calculating the area of your space, you may want to consider downloading an area calculation app from the App Store or Google Play.

While we're not able to advise you on how to price your space, we can give you some tips to help you decide on a price.

• Look at prices of similar spaces in your area and how they’ve structured their pricing. This may give you an insight into what potential hirers expect.
• Consider the size of your space. If your space is significantly larger or smaller than other similar spaces in your area, you may want to adjust your pricing to reflect your space’s size and offering.

Attract more enquiries and bookings by tailoring your space to what's most in demand in your area. Upgrade to an Insights Account to gain an insight into which space types are attracting the most interest

Instagram and Facebook are great platforms for creating an online presence for your space. Create dedicated social media handles for your space and share high quality content, creatives who may practice from your space, and what makes your space unique to give audiences a sense of what your space offers.

Creative Spaces regularly posts about spaces listed across our Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts. We select spaces that have high quality imagery and listing descriptions, are clearly suited to creative use, and have been recently updated. If you would like to submit your space for consideration on our social media platforms, please email us a link to your space at creativespaces@melbourne.vic.gov.au.

Mark your listing as unavailable when it is temporarily occupied or not available for hire.

This lets space seekers know that your space isn’t currently available for booking enquiries. When you mark your space as unavailable it still comes up in the search results, and space seekers can ‘favourite’ your space to come back to once you mark it as available again.

Creative Spaces is a program of the City of Melbourne. Focused on identifying and activating space for the creative sector. Find out more about us.