January 17, 2026 — 7:30pm
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A council area in Melbourne’s outer south-east has emerged as the worst for school-based violence in Victoria, recording scores of assaults and sexual offences on campuses in a year.
The City of Casey, encompassing suburbs including Cranbourne, Narre Warren and Berwick, recorded nearly 400 crimes at schools or other educational facilities over the year to September, according to Crime Statistics Agency data.
It recorded the most assaults on school grounds and other educational premises of any local government area, with 83 occurring between October 2024 and September 2025. There were 61 sexual offences recorded over the same period.
Other common crimes included 71 thefts and 69 incidents of burglary.
Other districts with high numbers of school-based crimes include the cities of Wyndham, Hume, Monash and Melbourne. Melbourne had 614 reported offences – more than any local government area statewide. Most (380) of the crimes reported across schools in the City of Melbourne were for theft, while there were 97 burglaries.
The figures – which include crimes recorded at schools, university campuses and other educational facilities – are drawn from Victoria Police data 18 days after each reporting period, and remain subject to revision.
Schools in the City of Casey recorded the highest number of violent offences in Victoria between October 2024 and September 2025.Phil Carrick
Swinburne University’s Joel McGregor said it wasn’t surprising that data showed some of the most violent offences occurred in outer suburban areas.
McGregor, a senior lecturer in criminology, pointed to large population growth in those areas, which often meant fewer youth services per person.
“There’s often limited transport, or services for young people to access often in these areas as well, and there’s many times more proactive policing and reporting,” he said.
He also noted the data did not specify what time the crimes occurred, and noted school times could fluctuate.
A Victoria Police spokesperson said the most common offences at schools were theft, burglaries and common assaults, and anecdotally, most took place outside school hours.
“The most common sex offences that are recorded at Victorian schools relate to non-contact offending,” the spokesperson said.
“A common theme is the unauthorised sharing of explicit images or videos.”
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McGregor said sexual offences at schools were often overwhelmingly non-contact and technology focused. While children aged under 16 are barred from social media apps, they still have phones they can use to get in contact with one another.
“It really does challenge these sensational narratives around predatory violence at schools when you’re thinking about these sexual offences that are non-contact offending,” McGregor said.
Police officers proactively visit schools across the state to enhance safety, provide advice on the law and to develop solutions to steer young people away from crime.
“This also includes ensuring students and staff are aware of the consequences of non-consensual sharing or distribution of intimate images and know how and where to seek help if they are a victim,” the police spokesperson said.
McGregor believes zero-tolerance policies are not a helpful way to address youth crime.
Areas in outer suburban areas, such as Berwick in the City of Casey, tend to have fewer public transport and support services.Wayne Taylor
“Things that don’t really work are zero-tolerance policies, more policing, suspensions, a moral panic; framing things like schools are unsafe,” he said.
“Research tells us that these increase disengagement and disproportionately affect disadvantaged young people, which can actually escalate harm rather than reduce it.”
The university lecturer said disciplinary approaches were often popular because they gave the impression schools were “quick and seen to be doing something”. But he added: “If you’re not addressing those underlying causes as to why this problem is happening, then it’s not going to actually fix the problem.”
In schools and educational facilities in Wyndham City, in Melbourne’s west, there were 315 crimes recorded in the year to September. The most common crime was theft (103 offences), followed by 54 assaults, the second-highest figure for that category in the state.
Police officers proactively visit schools to enhance safety and develop solutions to steer young people away from crime.Jason South
Hume was the area with the next highest number of assaults at school grounds. The area, which includes Broadmeadows, Craigieburn and Roxburgh Park, recorded 226 crimes at schools overall. There were 53 assaults and related crimes and 19 sex offences. Other common crimes in the area included 55 counts of theft and 26 of property damage.
The area with the most overall reported crime in schools was in Melbourne, which covers the CBD, Docklands, Carlton, North Melbourne and Southbank.
The Department of Education said many offences happened outside school hours, and that crimes “may be committed by people unrelated to school communities they occur on”. Government schools had clear processes to respond to any incidents on school grounds through a centrally managed security system, including reporting to police where appropriate, the department said.
However, the department declined to answer questions about whether it had data on which schools recorded the most police call-outs, and how it dealt with crime at school grounds.
There were at least two deaths on school grounds during the reporting period.
A driver careered into Auburn South Primary School in Hawthorn East and killed 11-year-old Jack Davey in October 2024. The killer driver was spared jail, and instead fined $2000. Jack’s family has called for legislative change.
Speech pathologist Eleanor Bryant was working at Macedon Ranges Montessori Preschool in Riddells Creek, north-west of Melbourne, when a water tanker crashed into the centre in November 2024. She died saving children from its path.
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