School’s out forever? Inside Australia’s abandoned schools
Scattered across the country, many once respected schools have been left abandoned, vandalised and in a state of decay or disrepair. So what does the future hold for these former pillars of education?
From a magnificent former girls’ college in Katoomba to a prestigious boarding school with a dark past, here are five abandoned schools; some with promising futures, others with not.
East Murray Area School
East Murray Area School. Picture: realcommercial.com.au
Located a 30-minute drive from Karoonda and around two-hours from Adelaide, East Murray Area School was first established in the 1960s through the amalgamation of several primary schools in the Mallee region.
Following a 68% drop in enrolment over a five-year period, the school rang its final bell in 2018, with just 13 students enrolled at the time of closure.
Last year, the abandoned school at 1182 East Murray Area School Road was offered to market by the NSW State Government and sold for $250,000.
East Murray Area School. Picture: realcommercial.com.au
The successful sale encompassed more than 2000sqm of infrastructure, including multiple classrooms and sporting facilities, playground and swimming pool.
It also included a well maintained three-bedroom residence, which was formerly used as a Principal’s quarters.
Nathan Bolt of The Professionals in Murray Bridge, who managed the sale, said he is unsure of the new owner’s future plans for the site.
“Interestingly, it was bought by the son of the farmers who originally donated the land for the school to the government in the 1960s,” Mr Bolt told realcommercial.com.au.
“The land is currently being used for farming opportunities and I imagine in the short term, the former principal’s home will be rented out, given there are two working mines close by.”
Sydney Church of England Girls’ Grammar School – Moss Vale, New South Wales
SCEGGS Moss Vale. Picture: Reddit (Fulcrum89)
Last year marked the 50th anniversary of SCEGGS Moss Vale’s closure, which first opened as the boarding school arm of SCEGGS Darlinghurst in 1906.
Set amongst hectares of picturesque countryside in the NSW Southern Highlands, the once prestigious school has been left abandoned, vandalised and in a state of decay since its closure in 1974.
The school is perhaps best known for a murder which took place in 1961, when a 15-year-old student was shot dead in the chapel during a hostage situation. The sad event has in recent years seen the abandoned property become a popular destination for ‘urban explorers’ who document their escapades on Youtube and TikTok.
Several unsuccessful proposals for the former SCEGGS Moss Vale site have been submitted to Wingecarribee Shire Council over the years, including a proposed residential aged care home in 2008, which was rejected due to a zoning conflict.
SCEGGS Moss Vale. Picture: Reddit (Fulcrum89)
Landowners challenged the decision in the Land and Environment Court, before taking their appeal to the Supreme Court, eventually losing the case in 2011.
In 2016, a proposal to build residential housing was put to council, which was also knocked back.
Now owned by a private family trust, the school’s main building, ‘Austermere’, is also listed as a heritage item under Wingecarribee Council’s local environmental plan – one of the many challenges developers face in turning the property around.
SCEGGS Moss Vale. Picture: Reddit (Fulcrum89)
“It also faces a lack of decent accessibility,” said Matthew Anstee, Director of Raine & Horne Southern Highlands.
“Developers and commercial businesses are far more likely to favour the Moss Vale Enterprise Corridor because it’s a rezoned area that is ready to go.”
Mount St Mary’s College and Convent – Katoomba, New South Wales
This Katoomba landmark is on the market. Picture: realcommercial.com.au/for-sale
This former girls’ catholic school and one of the largest land holdings in Katoomba – which has been underutilised for more than 30 years – has finally been sold for $6 million.
Peter Poulos, Principal at Theo Poulos Real Estate in Katoomba, told realcommercial.com.au the sale was recently settled over Christmas.
The considerable 17,838sqm parcel of land is home to a magnificent heritage-listed building which served as the Mount St Mary’s College and Convent, run by Australia’s first order of nuns, the Sisters of Charity, after opening in 1910.
When the girls’ college eventually closed in 1974, the school was passed to the Sydney Catholic archdiocese, which ran the property as a conference centre and camp retreat.
In the 1980s, the main building was restored and converted into the Renaissance Centre, operating as a creative arts centre until 1992.
The former Renaissance Centre features elaborate great hall rooms, a chapel, classrooms, residences, bell tower and outdoor courtyards.
Current zoning permits several uses including backpackers’ accommodation, boarding houses, centre-based childcare, dual occupancies, function centres or hotel/motel accommodation.
Mr Poulos said the site would be ideal for a boutique hotel, but the still site still requires DA approval.
“With the new Western Sydney Airport on the way, Katoomba needs more residential and tourist accommodation and this site would be perfect for both.”
The site had previously been approved for the construction of 122 independent living units in 2005, but the proposal never went ahead.
Cockburn Rural School – Cockburn, South Australia
Cockburn Rural School. Picture: Buddy Patrick
It’s tough to keep a school running in a town with no residents, let alone students.
As of 2023, fewer than 10 people were left in the once-vibrant South Australian village of Cockburn, located 40 kilometres west of Broken Hill, just on the other side of the New South Wales border.
In the 1980s, the town had a population of approximately 100.
Today, the only real infrastructure left in Cockburn is the community-run Coburn Hotel – now more than 130 years old – and Cockburn Rural School, upon which the desolate grounds a rusty steel school building still stands.
It is unknown what year the school officially closed.
Dooralong Public School – Dooralong, New South Wales
Dooralong Public School, located on the NSW Central Coast. Picture: Coast Community News
Dooralong Public School, located on the NSW Central Coast, first opened in 1903 with 15 pupils.
Over the decades the school garnered a reputation for high academic and sporting results, with champion jockey Peter Losh one of its former students.
In 2011, the school closed down due to a lack of enrolments and has been abandoned ever since.
The school buildings, now sitting among overgrown vegetation, have fallen into disrepair and their walls heavily graffitied.
In 2022, the NSW State Government had planned to sell the four-hectare site at 1046 Dooralong Road via an online auction, but the sale was called off at the last minute.
“We received lots of interest in the auction, mainly from private schools that were interested in the property as potential retreats. But the sale was pulled due to political matters and outcry from the local community,” Darren Smith of Capital One Real Estate confirmed to realcommercial.com.au.
At the time, former school principal and state member for Wyong, David Harris, said the NSW Government had “ambushed the community.”
“My office contacted the Department of Education for information but they had no knowledge indicating that the sale had been handed over to Land and Property Management which means there is no guarantee that a single cent from a sale would go back to local schools,” he wrote in a Facebook post.
The future of the abandoned school remains uncertain.
