Hi-yah! How school buildings became a community lifeline out of hours

Melbourne karate kids are among hundreds of young people and community groups getting their sporting kicks at public school gyms and ovals.

A state government program aims to expand the use of school courts, fields and gyms for the broader community, where they can be in short supply, particularly in the city’s rapidly expanding growth suburbs.

Kobudo Kai karate has been using the gym at Nearnung Primary School at Tarneit for more than two and a half years under an arrangement it made with the school and says it has not looked back, growing its student numbers from just 20 in August 2023 to more than 120 today.

The state government now wants to massively expand the concept, making gyms, courts and other facilities available across 41 schools under the pilot scheme launched in July 2025. Licence agreements have been signed with 21 clubs under the pilot, another 16 are close to signing up, and the government is keen to spread the word further.

Kobudo Kai sensei and head instructor Lillian Zammit said many Kobudo Kai students were from Nearnung Primary itself, but the dojo was also popular with children from the broader local community.

“We’re all about teaching them confidence through martial arts and creating young leaders, but it goes beyond their karate practice,” Zammit said.

Many parents said their children were putting the mindset they learnt in class to other aspects of their lives, including school and families, Zammit said.

Principal Nathan Moore said the scheme had been a boon for the school, with the fees paid by the clubs to access facilities helping Nearnung to save for new playground equipment.

“It’s really great idea for schools, particularly in our growth areas, to be a community hub and to be a resource for locals,” he said of the program.

He said the school makes sure the facilities are available before and after care program ends, but many pupils from the school also take part in the community groups.

The groups use the school’s grounds and gym almost every day for soccer, basketball and other team events. At one point it also ran a chess club, he said.

“It’s a good thing to use your facilities to help out your local community ... and it gives us a good sense of what the locals want and need,” Moore said.

He hoped it would give those outside the school community an insight into what their students were like.

“Hopefully families will get to be exposed to our school and our facilities and what we do here, and see some of the beautiful students in our school.”

The Labor government spent $1.4 million on the pilot and if its successful, it will be widened to other areas.

The program will run until June 2027, and it could be expanded to areas beyond Melton, Wyndham and Greater Geelong.

Education Minister Ben Carroll said the move was a “common-sense solution” for families and communities.

“Instead of letting public schools sit empty out-of-hours, we’re unlocking them for families so they can enjoy the activities they love closer to home.”

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