July 23rd, 2025More space for sport

Communities across Melbourne’s west will have more open space for sport and after-school events with more schools to open up their fields and facilities once class is out for the day.

Deputy Premier and Minister for Education Ben Carroll has announced the state government is supporting a pilot scheme aimed at boosting the use of public spaces like ovals and gyms in recently opened western suburbs schools.

Kicking off from today, the pilot will mean more valuable space for after school activities like local sports, language and music classes and other community-run extracurricular activities.

The $1.4 million investment will fund a dedicated support team to help the schools in facilitating community use of their spaces, coordinating community outreach and managing associated administration.

Support would include promoting and identifying opportunities for community groups, negotiating and managing agreements and helping arrange additional cleaning of school facilities.

The boosted amount open space will give more Victorians a space to be active and help more people benefit from the Labor Government’s massive investment in new schools and infrastructure.

Out of Victoria’s 1,580 government schools, two-thirds currently share their grounds for informal use by the community.