An assessment of the condition of each of Victoria’s public schools will stay confidential because, the Education Department argues, releasing reports on each one could harm some schools’ reputation.
The department’s decision has infuriated the state opposition, which has accused the Allan government of avoiding scrutiny and hiding behind Victoria’s long-criticised freedom-of-information laws.
Liberal MP Jess Wilson, who tried to obtain the data, says the secrecy is unacceptable. Credit: Eamon Gallagher
Opposition education spokeswoman Jess Wilson sought access late last year to a master list of condition assessment reports for every school in the state. Her freedom-of-information request was knocked back twice.
In its most recent decision, handed down this month, the department told the Liberal MP for Kew that access to the document had been refused in full because its disclosure would be contrary to the public interest.
“Disclosing condition scores will have a negative impact on some schools’ reputation,” the department said.
“A single condition score does not fully represent the performance of the school or its facilities. It may unfairly damage its reputation within the community. A negative reputation from a condition score can lead to parents deciding to send students to another school.”
The department said a decline in enrolments could then hurt the range of subjects offered by a school, “further damaging their reputation”. Future inspections being compromised under the government’s Rolling Facilities Evaluation program was also a concern.
“If assessors and schools are aware that the score can be made public, with potential impacts for the school, it could lead them to distort the scoring to avoid damage to the school’s reputation.”
The department has also determined that the assessment reports are exempt under cabinet-in-confidence rules, despite their being an extract from a master spreadsheet created for school upgrade deliberations.
The dispute comes after nearly two dozen school upgrades were delayed in last month’s state budget, a move first flagged by The Age in the weeks leading up to budget day.
Wilson said students and families deserved to know that schools had safe and modern classrooms and facilities.
“With basic upgrades taking more than 12 months to be addressed, it’s clear Labor is failing to appropriately maintain and upkeep Victorian schools,” she said.
“Instead of keeping their mismanagement of Victorian school buildings hidden, the Allan Labor government must publicly release this data so communities can be assured maintenance funding is being directed to where it is most needed.”
Wilson’s FOI request is now subject to an appeal via Victoria’s Information Commissioner.
In response to a request for comment, an Education Department spokesperson said: “As this matter is before the Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner, it would be inappropriate to comment at this stage.”
Parliament’s integrity and oversight committee is examining the effectiveness of the state’s FOI laws. Additional hearings will be held later this month.
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