The Hon Kate Ellis MP, Minister for Early Childhood Education, Child Care and Youth, officially announced the preferred providers for the Schools Business Community Partnership Brokers (Partnership Brokers) and Youth Connections programs on 8 December 2009. The Smith Family has been appointed the partnership broker for Brisbane North & West region, Brisbane South and Redland City Region, Gold Coast Region and Darling Downs region. These regions are where most of the CVIAQ member companies are concentrated.

The new partnership brokers program is designed to foster a strategic, whole of community approach to improving education and school to employment transition outcomes for all young people.
 
The federal government has introduced the partnership brokers program to replace the Local Community Partnership (LCP) program which had been in existence for over a decade. The new program focuses on developing sustainable partnerships to create long term community and business engagement with schools. The program is designed to assist schools in extending learning beyond the classroom thus increasing student engagement and improving educational outcomes.
 
The Smith Family, in the short term, will work with CVIAQ in the organisation of the highly successful and long running CVIAQ School to Industry Tours with the objective of making the partnerships between schools and CVIAQ and its members a sustainable ongoing relationship.