The Victorian School Building Authority (VSBA) is a group in the Victorian Department of Education which is responsible for the construction of new government schools and infrastructure improvements at existing schools. It was established by the Andrews Government as part of the 2016 Victorian Budget.

Between 2017 and 2026, the authority opened 121 new schools in the state and completed over 2000 upgrade or expansion projects at existing schools.

A number of the VSBA's new schools are so-called "vertical schools" on inner-city sites, a new concept in Victoria.

History During the 2014 Victorian state election, the Opposition Leader Daniel Andrews promised $1.3 billion for new schools and school upgrades. The School Building Authority was established as part of the 2016 state budget with $1.1 billion allocated for school infrastructure. This included $42 million to build and reopen Richmond High School, a school that was controversially closed 22 years earlier by the government of Jeff Kennett. The huge projects for school construction came as a result and recommendation of an analysis published by the Grattan Institute. They found that due to the state's rapid population growth, Victorian schools would need to absorb an extra 190,000 students between 2016 and 2026, requiring 7,200 new teachers and 140 to 220 new schools to be built. In 2017, Education Minister James Merlino said the state needed to absorb an additional 90,000 students over the next five years.

The removal of trees for the construction of Beaumaris Secondary College caused controversy in 2016.

In the lead-up to the 2018 state election, Andrews announced the Authority would build 100 new schools over the next eight years in order to meet Melbourne's population growth, with 45 schools to be built over the next term of government. The schools would mainly be built in the city's growing outer suburbs at an additional cost of $850 million.

In July 2022, the state government released tenders for eleven new schools. In October 2022 during the 2022 state election, Andrews announced funding for a further 25 new state schools that would be built in Victoria by 2026, with 90 schools upgraded or expanded, at a cost of $1.6 billion. This was to meet the government's commitment to build 100 new schools by 2026.

Architecture

The scale of the school infrastructure program led the VSBA in 2017 to seek architects for its new schools, and for new permanent, modular classrooms for existing schools. A number of these classrooms were to replace existing buildings that contained asbestos. The Authority was tasked with replacing 100 of these buildings with prefabricated classrooms.

At certain inner-city locations, space was constrained, and the authority embarked on building "vertical school" campuses, a first for Melbourne. Richmond High School became the state's first vertical high school while South Melbourne Primary School was heralded as the state's first vertical primary school. Designed by Hayball, the 525 student South Melbourne Primary opened in 2018, serving the nearby rapidly growing inner-city areas of Southbank and Fisherman's Bend. The six-story campus sits on a half-acre site on Ferrars Street, adjacent to a new park built on land purchased by the state government and the City of Port Phillip in 2017. The primary school would have no formal classrooms and instead would feature a combination of indoor and outdoor spaces and a central staircase for circulation, with the architect saying it represented a new approach to density for Melbourne. The project was named Future Project of the Year at the 2016 World Architecture Festival in Berlin.

Other inner-city schools like Prahran High School, which opened in 2019, were built as vertical schools. The 650-student school is four storeys tall and is designed by Gray Puksand. COX Architecture and McGregor Coxall designed the three-story campus for Docklands Primary School in the CBD-adjacent Docklands precinct.

Early Learning Victoria centres In 2022, the Andrews Government announced that the VSBA would build 50 childcare centres across Victoria. Part of a major $9 billion expansion of state provision of childcare, the first four centres opened in 2025 and are co-located with existing primary or secondary schools. 14 centres are planned to open in 2026 with 12 more planned for 2027 and 2028 and the remaining 20 pledged to be built by 2032. These new centres will also be co-located with existing or new primary or secondary schools. Some of the new centres will also include facilities for Maternal and Child Health consultation. These new centres are being operated by a new Victorian government organisation called Early Learning Victoria (ELV).

List of new VSBA schools and ELV centres

New schools School Suburb or town Years Status Opened Aintree Primary School Aintree P–6 Finished 2021 Aitken Hill Primary School Craigieburn P–6 Finished 2019 Armstrong Creek School Armstrong Creek P–12 Finished 2018 Ashley Park Primary School Doreen P–6 Finished 2019 Balambalam Primary School Clyde North P–6 Finished 2026 Bannockburn P–12 College Bannockburn P–12 Finished 2018 Banum Warrik Primary School Kalkallo P–6 Finished 2024 Barayip Primary School Tarneit P–6 Finished 2025 Barramayil Primary School Aintree P–6 Under construction 2027 (planned) Barrawang Primary School Wollert West P–6 Finished 2023 Barton Primary School Cranbourne West P–6 Finished 2017 Bass Coast College – San Remo Campus San Remo 7–9 Finished 2022 Beaumaris Secondary College Beaumaris 7–12 Finished 2018 Bemin Secondary College Truganina 7–12 Finished 2024 Beveridge Primary School – New Campus Beveridge P–6 Finished 2020 Binap Primary School Brookfield P–6 Finished 2024 Birranga College Clyde North 7–12 Finished 2026 Biyala Primary School Armstrong Creek P–6 Finished 2026 Botanic Ridge Primary School Botanic Ridge P–6 Finished 2020 Bridgewood Primary School Officer P–6 Finished 2018 Brinbeal Secondary College Tarneit 7–12 Finished 2024 Burnside Primary School Burnside P–6 Finished 2019 Casey Fields Primary School Cranbourne East P–6 Finished 2020 Clyde Creek Primary School Clyde P–6 Finished 2022 Clyde Secondary College Clyde 7–12 Finished 2022 Cranbourne West Secondary College Cranbourne West 7–12 Finished 2021 Davis Creek Primary School Tarneit P–6 Finished 2020 Deanside Primary School Deanside P–6 Finished 2022 Dharra School Aintree Finished 2024 Docklands Primary School Docklands P–6 Finished 2021 Dohertys Creek P–9 College Truganina P–9 Finished 2019 Donnybrook Primary School Donnybrook P–6 Finished 2023 Edenbrook Secondary College Pakenham 7–12 Finished 2021 Edgars Creek Primary School Wollert P–6 Finished 2021 Edgars Creek Secondary College Wollert 7–12 Finished 2018 Elevation Secondary College Craigieburn 7–12 Finished 2020 Endeavour Hills Specialist School Endeavour Hills Finished 2022 Eynesbury Primary School Eynesbury P–6 Finished 2021 Featherbrook P–9 College Point Cook P–9 Finished 2017 Footscray High School – New Junior Campus Footscray 7–9 Finished 2021 Gaayip–Yagila Primary School Mickleham P–6 Finished 2021 Gamadji Primary School Craigieburn P–6 Finished 2026 Garrang Wilam Primary School Truganina P–6 Finished 2021 Gilgai Plains Primary School Kalkallo P–6 Finished 2022 Grayling Primary School Clyde North P–6 Finished 2020 Greater Shepperton Secondary College Shepperton 7–12 Finished 2022 Greenvale Secondary College Greenvale 7–12 Finished 2022 Hamlyn Views School Hamlyn Heights Finished 2018 Harvest Home Primary School Epping P–6 Finished 2017 Homestead Senior Secondary College Point Cook 10–12 Finished 2020 John Henry Primary School Pakenham P–6 Finished 2017 Kala Primary School Cranbourne North P–6 Finished 2026 Karwan Primary School Tarneit P–6 Finished 2023 Keelonith Primary School Greenvale P–6 Finished 2021 Kerribana Primary School Leneva P–6 Finished 2026 Keysborough Gardens Primary School Keysborough P–6 Finished 2020 Kolere College Cobblebank 7–12 Finished 2026 Kulap Primary School Clyde P–6 Finished 2026 Kurmile Primary School Officer P–6 Finished 2024 Kurrun Primary School Officer P–6 Finished 2023 Kuyim Primary School Pakenham P–6 Finished 2025 Laa Yulta Primary School Mambourin P–6 Finished 2024 Lollypop Creek Primary School Werribee P–6 Finished 2023 Lucas Primary School Lucas P–6 Finished 2020 Marra School Kalkallo Finished 2026 McKinnon Secondary College – East Campus McKinnon 7–12 Finished 2022 Mernda Central P–12 College Mernda P–12 Finished 2017 Mernda Park Primary School Mernda P–6 Finished 2017 Mickleham Secondary College Mickleham 7–12 Finished 2023 Mindalk Primary School Truganina P–6 Finished 2026 Mirniyan Primary School Clyde North P–6 Finished 2025 Mirripoa Primary School Duneed P–6 Finished 2020 Monash Children's Hospital School Clayton Finished 2017 Morwell Central Primary School Morwell P–6 Finished 2018 Murrum Primary School Weir Views P–6 Finished 2026 Muyan Primary School Wallan P–6 Finished 2026 Narrarrang Primary School Port Melbourne P–6 Finished 2026 Nearnung Primary School Tarneit P–6 Finished 2023 Newbury Primary School Craigieburn P–6 Finished 2017 Nganboo Borron School Werribee Finished 2024 Ngarri Primary School Manor Lakes P–6 Finished 2023 Ngayuk College Kalkallo 7–12 Finished 2026 Ngurraga School Point Cook Finished 2026 North Melbourne Primary School – New Campus North Melbourne P–6 Finished 2023 Orchard Park Primary School Officer P–6 Finished 2021 Oberon High School Armstrong Creek 7–12 Finished 2021 Pakenham Primary School Pakenham P–6 Finished 2019 Port Melbourne Secondary College Port Melbourne 7–12 Finished 2022 Prahran High School Windsor 7–12 Finished 2019 Preston High School Preston 7–12 Finished 2019 Quarters Primary School Cranbourne West P–6 Finished 2023 Ramlegh Park Primary School Clyde North P–6 Finished 2021 Richmond High School Richmond 7–12 Finished 2018 Riverbend Primary School Wyndham Vale P–6 Finished 2021 Riverwalk Primary School Werribee P–6 Finished 2020 Rockbank Toolern Road Primary School (interim name) Rockbank P–6 Planning 2028 (planned) Saltwater P–9 College Point Cook P–9 Finished 2019 South Melbourne Park Primary School South Albert Park P–6 Finished 2019 South Melbourne Primary School Southbank P–6 Finished 2018 Springside West Secondary College Fraser Rise 7–12 Finished 2018 Strathtulloh Primary School Strathtulloh P–6 Finished 2022 Tarneit Rise Primary School Tarneit P–6 Finished 2018 Tarneit Senior College Tarneit 10–12 Finished 2018 Thompsons East Primary School (interim name) Clyde North P–6 Planning 2028 (planned) Thornhill Park Primary School Thornhill Park P–6 Finished 2023 Topirum Primary School Clyde North P–6 Finished 2024 Torquay Coast Primary School Torquay P–6 Finished 2018 Tulliallan Primary School Cranbourne North P–6 Finished 2017 Turrun Primary School Clyde North P–6 Finished 2025 Umarkoo Primary School Wollert P–6 Finished 2026 Walcom Ngarrwa Secondary College Werribee 7–12 Finished 2024 Wangaratta District Specialist School – New Benalla Campus Clyde North Finished 2024 Warreen Primary School Truganina P–6 Finished 2024 Wayart School Officer Under construction 2027 (planned) Wayi School Craigieburn Finished 2023 Wilandra Rise Primary School Clyde North P–6 Finished 2017 Willowbank Primary School Gisborne P–6 Finished 2022 Wimba Primary School Tarneit P–6 Finished 2024 Wirrigirri Primary School Wollert P–6 Finished 2025 Wiyal Primary School Fraser Rise P–6 Finished 2026 Wollahra Secondary School (interim name) Wyndham Vale 7–12 Planning 2028 (planned) Wollert Primary School Wollert P–6 Finished 2022 Wollert Secondary College Wollert East 7–12 Finished 2023 Wulerrp Secondary College Clyde North 7–12 Finished 2025 Yarrabing Secondary School Aintree 7–12 Finished 2024 Yirrama Primary School Charlemont P–6 Finished 2026 Yubup Primary School Mickleham P–6 Finished 2024 Yurran P–9 College Point Cook P–9 Finished 2026

ELV centres