Adelaide parents, students demand answers as school infrastructure crisis deepens

Parents at schools across Adelaide are running out of patience. Crumbling classrooms, portable buildings that have become permanent fixtures, and teacher shortages have sparked a wave of complaints to the South Australian Education Department-but families say they're getting nowhere fast.

The frustration comes as the state government ploughs billions into AUKUS submarine contracts and hydrogen jobs initiatives. South Australian Labor has positioned the state as a defence manufacturing hub, with resources flowing toward the naval shipyard in Osborne and advanced manufacturing precincts like Lot Fourteen. Education, meanwhile, has become the squeaky wheel no one's oiling.

At Dernancourt Primary School in the northern suburbs, parents have documented the deterioration firsthand. The school's aging infrastructure includes portable classrooms that were installed in 2009 and are still in use today. One parent, who requested anonymity to protect her children, told the Daily Adelaide she raised concerns about water damage to the buildings with the principal in May this year. The response? A promise to "look into it" that has yielded nothing visible.

Paralleling these complaints is the experience at Burnside High School, located on Greenhill Road in the city's prestigious eastern corridor. Student leaders there have been vocal about overcrowding in science facilities. With enrolment climbing 8.2 percent across South Australian secondary schools between 2021 and 2025, some schools are bursting at the seams while others sit half-empty. Burnside's chemistry labs, built in the early 1990s, now service 150 more students than they were designed for.

The Numbers Tell a Clear Story

State education funding has increased in nominal terms, rising from $3.68 billion in 2021-22 to $4.14 billion in the 2025-26 budget. But that masks a problem: capital works funding for school maintenance and upgrades dropped to $127 million annually-a decline from the $185 million allocated in 2018-19. Inflation has eaten away at the real value of these dollars, meaning schools are doing more with less.

The South Australian Education Department's most recent condition audit, released in March 2026, rated 23 percent of public school buildings as "poor" or "very poor." Only 41 percent were rated "good" or "excellent." In the western suburbs-areas like Elizabeth, Salisbury, and Playford-the figures are worse. Playford Christian College reported peeling asbestos in ceiling tiles last October; remediation wasn't completed until June.

Teacher recruitment has become equally dire. The state is short approximately 340 full-time equivalent teachers, according to figures tabled in parliament in May. Casual relief teachers are filling gaps, but continuity suffers. At one Modbury school, four permanent teaching positions in Mathematics remained unfilled at the start of this academic year.

What Comes Next

The Education Department released a "School Infrastructure Renewal Program" in April targeting $89 million in upgrades over three years. The first tranche includes work at 12 schools, though none in the most disadvantaged areas. Parents at Dernancourt and elsewhere have been told their schools are "under review."

A union representative from the South Australian Education Union confirmed parents' frustrations are widespread. The union has been meeting with government officials since April pushing for faster capital allocations, but budget constraints remain tight. With AUKUS commitments dominating state finances, schools aren't getting the political oxygen they need.

For families navigating Adelaide's school system right now, the message is clear: document everything, keep pressure on your principal and local MP, and don't expect quick fixes. The infrastructure crisis didn't develop overnight, and it won't be resolved on anyone's preferred timeline.