All designated neighbourhood government schools have a school zone. This does not include schools with specific enrolment criteria including English Language Schools, Select Entry Schools, or Community Schools. Specialist schools do not have school zones and have special enrolment criteria.
For children residing in metropolitan Melbourne, Ballarat, Bendigo or Geelong, the designated neighbourhood government school is usually the nearest government school in a straight line from the child’s permanent residential address. In any other area of Victoria, it is usually the nearest school by the shortest practical route, recognising the additional travel distances often experienced in regional settings.
It is recognised that some school zones need to be aligned with geographical and structural barriers that significantly impede direct school access such as rivers and freeways. A main road with pedestrian crossings, however, is not usually considered to be a barrier to accessing a school.
School zones are reviewed annually and may be adjusted to reflect new schools opening, changing provision at existing schools (e.g., relocating a campus or changing year levels offered), improving school accessibility, or managing enrolment demand.
School zones spatial datasets were produced in GDA94 VicGrid projection (EPSG: 3111) using locations that represent the front of the school or driveway access. The location point for all government schools is taken from the department’s register of school locations. Voronoi polygons define the measure of straight-line distances and calculations using road classes 0 to 7 in the VicMap Roads dataset were used to define the measure of shortest practical route.
The school zones ZIP file consists of distinct spatial datasets for primary school zones and school zones for each year of secondary school, acknowledging the different year levels offered by schools. The spatial datasets can be used in conjunction with the school locations CSV file also available on data.vic.gov.au. School zones have been published on the findmyschool.vic.gov.au website. More information on Victorian school zones can found at https://www.vic.gov.au/school-zones.
The Victorian government school zones are intended to be relied on by parents and families for the purposes of making enrolment decisions for their children. They should not be relied on for making property purchase decisions, or by any party other than parents and families seeking to enrol their child in a government school.