Wednesday, 4 February 2026

 Melina BATH (Eastern Victoria) (19:02): (2280) My adjournment debate this evening is for the Minister for Education, and the action I seek is for the minister to recognise the findings of the 2025 school condition report, particularly those for Eastern Victoria Region, and prioritise the upgrades to schools identified as in the poorest condition. Indeed one in five public schools across Victoria are on that conditional report in poor condition. That is not an achievement that any school wants to have. Sadly, principals, staff, parents and students are dealing with substandard conditions.

The report rates school buildings from 0 to 5: a score of 3.25 or below indicates poor condition, and 3.26 to 3.36 represents average condition. Indeed two-thirds of all of the schools are average or below two-thirds. That just shows you how neglected this state has been in our education in terms of infrastructure. Nineteen of those schools in the poor condition category fall in my electorate; 26 are assessed as average. Clearly the government is not working hard enough. Schools with the lowest score and therefore the highest priority in my electorate are Lardner and District Primary School, 2.91; Lowanna in Newborough, 2.92; Omeo Primary, 3.06; Orbost Primary, 3.07; Orbost North Primary, 3.07; and Trafalgar High School, 3.07. With a score of 2.91, Lardner and District school represents the region’s most urgent of concerns. If we go just beyond the poorest rating, again this is not an area where you want to be. Let us look at upgrades: Bass Valley Primary School in Corinella – beautiful little place down there – Mallacoota P–12, Traralgon Liddiard Road Primary School, Rosedale Primary School and others are in poor condition.

Minister, every single child deserves to learn in an environment that is safe, that is clean, that has windows and not leaking roofs and that is fit for purpose, yet these schools in my electorate and so many others have been neglected by this government. Every school and every child deserves that, whether they be in the public or the private sector. Minister, you need to do better: focus on those schools and prioritise upgrades.