Wednesday, 29 July 2026

 Sonja TERPSTRA (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (18:11): It gives me great pleasure to rise this evening to speak on the Victorian Auditor-General’s Office report, which is an independent assurance report to the Parliament focusing on delivering school upgrades. This report was published in June of this year and tabled in this house. The report seeks to provide insight into how the Victorian School Building Authority (VSBA) is delivering school upgrade projects and whether projects are meeting the school community needs. In Victoria there are over 1580 public schools, including over 36,000 school building classrooms and other facilities. It is understandable that as time goes by facilities are subject to wear and tear or otherwise become outdated. This is why the Carroll Labor government remains committed to supporting the Victorian School Building Authority to continuously deliver upgrades to our public schools and therefore ensure that Victorian students have access to modern facilities to assist and support their education.

In the report the Victorian Auditor-General’s Office proposed six recommendations to the VSBA, all of which have been accepted. In the report VAGO further identified key areas in which the VSBA has been successful. Among these was the ability for the VSBA to properly understand school conditions. Over a five-year cycle the VSBA engages an external assessor to visit schools in Victoria and to rate the condition of every asset at every school. Using the information gathered, schools are then given an overall condition score, which is then used to prioritise the funding of repairs or maintenance for particular schools and then to make recommendations to the department and then government. Furthermore, the VSBA was found to consult well with schools regarding project designs and also with their school communities, resulting in those school communities and principals really loving the new designs for their new schools. They did find also that the VSBA was conducting extensive and thorough consultation with schools and communities, as well as regularly reviewing guidance for architects on quality standards for school facilities. Reports such as these are designed to highlight where improvements can be made, and the VSBA has shown its commitment to continuous improvement by accepting all six recommendations in the report.

What is clear is that the Victorian School Building Authority is working hard to ensure Victorian children get the best schools that support their learning. Schools are essential to the development of our children, and that means they must be able to flourish in modern, safe, comfortable environments. Of course it is not just the classrooms, the pens or the paper that shape education but the full range of facilities that make up a school that supports a child’s learning – they are just as important. It is clear, however, that without continued government funding for our state schools they would quickly fall into disrepair. In Victoria we pride ourselves on state-funded schooling which ensures that every Victorian student, no matter how young or old, gains access to a world-class education, regardless of their postcode or financial situation. Gone are the days in which the best levels of education could only be accessed by those with financial means to pay private school fees. After all, education should not be a privilege for a select few but a fundamental right for all. As the report mentioned:

… one of the government’s key priorities is to provide ‘welcoming, world-class and modern schools, which meet the needs of local communities – because every child should have access to a great local school’.

This can only be achieved by a Labor government, and we have a strong track record in ensuring proper funding for our schools but also proper funding of facilities. Whilst others would seek to undo the progress that consecutive Labor governments have made over many years and many terms of being in government, what we know is that the opposition’s proposed budget cuts must come from somewhere. We all know for sure it is with cuts that Victorians will have to go without, and that includes our littlest learners as well. Victorians deserve the very best they can get in terms of education, including the highest quality education and modern facilities required to achieve it. I commend the report to the house.