One in five in disrepair with leaking roofs and cracked walls

Reports released by the department reveal that in 2023 there were 21 schools in such bad condition that they received scores below three, including 16 in regional Victoria.

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Of those, the state’s most dilapidated school, Ultima Primary School, has since been closed because it had no enrolments. Brighton Beach Primary School, which was rated as having the state’s second-worst condition, has received more than $1 million in funding through various building grant programs since the report was compiled in 2023.

A Victorian government spokesperson said the state had delivered a record investment in school infrastructure for communities and maintained that Victoria continued to be recognised as “the nation’s education state”.

“Our department and schools work incredibly hard to manage their budgets and maintain schools across Victoria, and these five-yearly rolling facilities scores are only a point-in-time reflection of the status of the school,” the government spokesperson said.

A Department of Education spokesperson said the 2023 snapshot was based on a rolling five-year inspection process, and did not reflect the current condition of many schools.

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They said the department’s annual maintenance and compliance budget has grown six-fold in the past decade to more than $600 million for 2026, including more than half provided directly to government schools through Student Resource Package allocations, alongside programs targeted to specific upgrade and maintenance needs.

“Upon receiving their condition scores, the Department of Education works directly with the schools to identify defects, prioritise them and then provide funding, guidance and support to resolve them to ensure that schools remain safe and in good condition,” the department spokesperson said.

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