Crime Statistics Agency data reveals thousands of offences committed in Victorian schools

The council regions with the most crime in schoolyards can be revealed. Search our interactive table to find your area.

The council areas with the most crime in Victorian schoolyards can be revealed.

The Victorian council areas with the most crime in schoolyards can be revealed, with offences jumping by more than 20 per cent in one locality where a principal has warned about youth gangs.

In all there were 1531 offences committed on school grounds across the state for the year to June, the most recent Crime Statistics Agency data shows.

City of Melbourne topped the list with 81 offences – a 65 per cent jump compared to the previous year when Covid lockdowns emptied the city centre.

Crime on school grounds in Wyndham rose 22 per cent with 66 offences in 2021-22, compared to 54 in 2020-21.

Alamanda K-9 College principal Lyn Jobson last month warned there had been a series of incidents in the Saltwater precinct at Point Cook Town Centre and Werribee Plaza, where local gangs were cornering students and stealing their shoes and phones in order to sell them.

Greater Geelong had 63 offences, Casey 62, Whittlesea 53, Melton 48, Whitehorse 47, Ballarat 45, Mornington Peninsula 43, Hume and Monash 42 and Brimbank and Yarra Ranges 41.

The data covers both primary and secondary facilities and includes crimes committed by students during school hours and those carried out by third-parties outside school hours such as burglaries.

Separate crime agency data shows Wyndham had the most crime committed near schools, with 150 offences, while Casey recorded 139, Hume 117, Greater Geelong 105 and Melbourne 98.

The Herald Sun revealed earlier this year that children as young as eight had brazenly wielded knives and other weapons at Victorian schools.

Data exclusively obtained by the Herald Sun under Freedom of Information laws showed there were on average 22 reports a week of violent and aggressive behaviour against students and staff.

Police were called to more than 200 of the 2016 serious incidents reported at schools in 2019 and 2020, the data showed.

There were 426 reports of ­assault or aggressive behaviour towards teachers in that two-year period.

Some of the shocking incidents included an eight-year-old girl who took a knife to school and threatened a nine-year-old boy and a 12-year-old boy, who walked through school grounds with a knife in a threatening manner.

A Victoria Police spokesman said: “Victoria Police responds to all reports of crime, regardless of where offending occurs.”

A Department of Education spokesman said: “All Victorian government schools are supported through a centrally-managed security system, including 24/7 alarm monitoring and CCTV coverage.”

“Victorian government schools report any offences or potential threats to authorities,” he said.