The government’s move enforced enrolment restrictions for more than 100 of Melbourne’s most popular state schools, with geographically smaller ‘non-standard zones’ applied to 17 schools in an effort to discourage parents from school shopping.
Zoning can build community
The purpose of zoned catchment areas is to ensure families are guaranteed a place for their children at their local school – something that can help strengthen local communities and make transport to and from school for young children easier to manage, especially when working parents are often unable to deal with school runs.
Should school zones be abolished?
But according to opposition education spokesman Matthew Bach, who believes school zoning should be abolished, parents should have the freedom to choose schools that cater to their children’s talents and unique needs.
The positives of getting rid of school zoning rules, Mr Bach believes, include the impact of increased competition among public schools – a shift that he said would motivate under-performing campuses to improve to retain students.
“We’re already seeing many parents apply to have their children educated out of zone,” he said. “So there’s a market there that’s trying to work right now. But the state government’s rules are making it impossible.”
As a former teacher, Mr Bach said catchment restrictions punished high-performing schools and distorted housing markets as desperate parents battled to secure property in sought-after zones.
And the data from Domain’s School Zones Report, released in February this year, shows the effect on the real estate market is real – and not only in Melbourne.
Across Australia, house prices in some sought-after school catchment zones soared by more than 40 per cent in 2022 as both families and investors competed for property close to desirable schools.
In Australia’s capital cities, more than two-thirds of public school catchments recorded house price growth in 2022, outperforming the broader market.
On Sydney’s lower north shore, the school catchment for Artarmon Public School in Sydney’s lower north shore was linked to some of the steepest annual house price growth nationwide, with the median climbing $1,075,000 to $3,545,000 – a rise that pushed prices more than 43 per cent above the median for 2021.
When it comes to Sydney secondary schools, Riverstone High School in the city’s north-west experienced the highest growth, with the median price jumping 18.4 per cent to $1.16 million.
In Melbourne’s inner-city Alphington Primary School catchment zone, house prices jumped 27.9 per cent – up $498,500 – to a $2.26 million median.
More than real estate price hikes
Rather than existing to see real estate agents’ commissions climb, though, school zones assist the government with planning, and help direct allocation of resources, based on population predictions.
The latest figures for out-of-zone enrolments are lower for entry-level grades, with 33 per cent of year seven students and 33 per cent of preps currently enrolled outside their local schools.
School zones are reviewed by the Department of Education annually, with zones sometimes adjusted to reflect new schools opening, changing provision at existing schools, improved accessibility, or the management of enrolment demands.
Victorian Education Minister Natalie Hutchins said, despite the change in zoning rules, students are still able to enrol at schools beyond their zone if the school has sufficient space.
“The Victorian government has invested more than $30 billion in school programs and infrastructure to ensure every school is a great local school,” she said.
