Lyneham High was promised a new gym, but that has been reduced to just an upgrade. Photo: Thomas Lucraft.
A Legislative Assembly Committee will probe the contentious dropping of a 2020 Labor election promise to build a new gym for Lyneham High School, in response to a community petition calling for the government to stick to its original commitment.
The e-petition says the ACT Government’s decision to only upgrade the existing facilities is unacceptable and degrades trust in government.
The Standing Committee on Social Policy Committee Chair Thomas Emerson said there was a high level of engagement with this petition from the Lyneham High School community.
“The Committee is seeking to better understand both the views of the school community and the decision-making and consultation processes that have been undertaken by the government,” he said.
The inquiry will put the spotlight on the worth of election promises, with the petition calling on the government to “ensure honesty and integrity in all future election campaigns”.
The switch to upgrading the gym occurred in the 2024 Budget, and that was the commitment Labor took to last year’s election.
Education Minister Yvette Berry said in her response to the petition that the Government was delivering on that commitment by investing $5.746 million.
She said enrolment projections for Lyneham High School did not support the need to invest in infrastructure to support additional capacity.
But the petition says the school is increasingly overcrowded and is at 98 per cent capacity.
It says the current gym cannot cope with the 1061 students at Lyneham and points to projections that the population of the inner north will double in the next 35 years.
“The existing gym, hall, and Lyneham Performing Arts Centre (LPAC) all lack the capacity to hold full school assemblies,” the petition says.
About 300 students participate in Physical Education (PE) simultaneously, but they have only one indoor sports facility. This means they have to deal with all weather conditions.
The petition also says the gym does not meet National Construction Code safety standards, with parts sectioned off.
“The current plan to upgrade the gym floor to ‘competition standard’ is wasteful as neither the roof nor the runoff space of the court is large enough to meet such standards,” it says.
The petition calls on the government to follow through on the original plans and provide the funding needed, as well as repurposing the current gym for new classrooms.
Submissions close on 12 September 2025.
