By Noel Towell
New school zones have been added or boundaries changed at 20 government schools as families prepare for enrolments for the 2026 school year.
Seventeen new school zones have been added across Victoria and three public schools have had their enrolment boundaries re-drawn as part of an updated map released by the state government on Tuesday.
With the admission process for 2026 due to open this month, the school boundaries mandate the areas where children will be guaranteed places next year at local schools.
Most of the new zones are in regional Victoria or in Melbourne’s rapidly developing growth corridors.
Three existing schools – Ashley Park Primary and Hazel Glen College, both in Doreen, and Kororoit Creek Primary in Burnside Heights – have had their existing boundaries changed to ensure students can go to either their closest or most accessible schools.
In central Melbourne, the new Fisherman’s Bend Primary School enrolment area will cut the zone for Port Melbourne Primary School – extensively upgraded in the past decade – to address overcrowding problems, in half.
Fisherman’s Bend will have capacity for 650 students and parents at Port Melbourne, with its 730 children, have expressed concerns that the two nearby schools will be competing for enrolments.
School zone adjustments have been closely watched by families since the state government cracked down on “out-of-area” enrolments in 2023, ordering schools to take children from outside their zone only in special circumstances.
The government also imposed enrolment restrictions on more than 100 of Melbourne’s most sought-after state schools and placed smaller “non-standard zones” on 17 schools in an effort to discourage “school shopping”.
The school zone for Port Melbourne Primary has been cut in half.Credit: Photograph by Chris Hopkins
Another two government special schools to open in 2026, in Point Cook and Kalkallo, will not have catchment areas.
Four school zones have been abolished with the closure of four country schools; Laharum Primary, Noojee Primary and Peranbin Primary’s Swanpool campus all to close and Bandiana Primary in the state’s north to relocate.
Education Minister Ben Carroll said on Tuesday that the school zone map would allow families to start making enrolment decisions for the next school year.
“Every Victorian kid deserves access to a great local school and a quality education no matter where they live – that’s why we’re building the Education State with the biggest school building program in the country,” he said.
“We’re opening another 19 schools next year, and we’re making sure families can start planning which great school they’re going to enrol in now with updated school zones for 2026 on the Find My School website.”