Wednesday, 6 April 2022

School sports facilities

Dr CUMMING (Western Metropolitan) (17:34:074:): (1871) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Education, and the action that I seek is for the minister to explain why children at government schools are not being provided with equal access to sporting facilities to further their sporting careers.

Some interesting figures were released last year. Of the two teams playing in the grand final, a surprising number came from private schools. Traditionally only a handful of players have come from private schools. They mainly came from the local area and from government schools. But last year the Bulldogs had 13 players from private schools, including Xavier College and Geelong Grammar, for example, and the Demons had 12 players from private schools, including Melbourne Grammar again, Carey and Haileybury. The trend is growing at a startling rate. Two years ago a survey of all AFL players showed that less than 30 per cent came from government schools. Over 70 per cent came from a Catholic or independent school. Your chances of playing AFL are almost four times higher if you went to an independent school and three times higher if you come from a Catholic school.

Why is this happening? One reason is the provision of scholarships to talented players by the private schools, and the other is a lack of sporting grounds at government schools—an increasing trend. The new Seddon campus of Footscray High School has very little outdoor space and is reliant on Victoria University facilities, which are all indoors. Students can do basketball, netball, tennis, badminton, cardio, spin classes and more, but where are the outdoor sports like cricket, hockey and football for these schools? Similarly Richmond High School has no designated sporting ground—they have to share the park next door. I understand this because I had the same situation when I went to school in Braybrook. Do our children have to share the dog park? What can we provide for them? Sport is essential for students—for their health, for their wellbeing and for teaching them team building and leadership. In order for our children to play sport they need these facilities attached to their schools.