The Victorian Government has moved a step closer to extending its school mobile phone ban to all schools after the Education and Training Reform Amendment Bill 2026 passed the Legislative Assembly.
If passed by the Legislative Council, the legislation will broaden Victoria’s existing restrictions on student mobile phone use during the school day, which have applied in government schools since 2020, to include non-government schools.
The proposed changes would also expand the ban to cover wearable devices, including smartwatches, and personal audio devices.
In his second reading speech, Victorian Minister for Education Ben Carroll said the broader restrictions were intended to reduce distractions while improving student learning and wellbeing.
“This policy has improved student focus on learning and increased student socialisation and physical activity during breaks,” Mr Carroll told Parliament.
He said schools had also reported fewer incidents of cyberbullying and critical incidents involving mobile phones during school hours since the policy was introduced.
Mr Carroll said advances in technology had created new challenges for schools, with devices beyond mobile phones increasingly disrupting learning and raising privacy concerns.
“Not only can these devices be a distraction in the classroom, but many can covertly capture images and footage, carrying significant privacy and safety risks,” he said.
He said extending the minimum registration standard to include additional personal electronic devices would allow all Victorian schools to benefit from the policy while addressing the harmful impacts associated with emerging technologies.
The Opposition supported the legislation, with Shadow Minister for Education Brad Rowswell saying stakeholders had welcomed efforts to balance student access to technology with the need to maintain positive learning environments.
Mr Rowswell noted that many Catholic and independent schools had already introduced their own restrictions on mobile phones, AirPods and smartwatches before the legislation was introduced.
“Credit to them, I think that they recognised quite early in the piece the distraction that these provide to students in a learning environment,” he told the Legislative Assembly.
“They themselves, without the need of the government introducing this bill, implemented these changes of their own volition.”
Member for Euroa Annabelle Cleeland also backed the proposal, describing the extension of mobile phone restrictions to non-government schools as “sensible policy”.
Member for Eureka Michaela Settle said her experience as a parent reinforced the value of extending the restrictions across all Victorian schools.
“It has obviously worked in state schools, and that is why we would like to see that benefit extended out to kids all across Victoria,” she said.
Beyond the expanded device restrictions, the bill also proposes reforms to strengthen Aboriginal recognition and self-determination across the education system, update teacher registration and regulatory processes through the Victorian Institute of Teaching, expand the Victorian student register to support national data reforms, and introduce new information-sharing and governance arrangements.
The bill will now proceed to the Victorian Legislative Council for consideration.
