Rebuild of Willyama High School in Far West NSW Begins After 850+ Days

Work to rebuild Willyama High School in Far West New South Wales has begun more than 850 days after the discovery of a mould outbreak. Students, staff, members of the education department and politicians were at Willyama High School as the sod was turned on a rebuild reportedly set to cost $90-100 million. Demolition of the high school began in 2025 but was delayed in September due to the discovery of friable asbestos. Following its demolition in December, all that remains of the school is dirt, fenced-off mounds of rubble and a basketball court beneath a shelter. NSW Department of Education director of public schools Peter Macbeth that will soon change. "We'll see those graders and excavators roll in and getting things happen in the next few weeks," he said. It is understood that "modular components" of the school are being prepared in Melbourne. No official timeline has been given as to when concrete will poured, but Broken Hill Mayor Tom Kennedy said the turning of the sod last week was a step forward. "I know all these projects have delays and they're unavoidable. We'd hope that they don't and you'd hope that they could give a date, but there's nothing worse, from a community perspective, of a date's given and then it's not delivered on that date," he said. Cr Kennedy said the sod turning "really formalises the fact that we will get a new school" and that once the concrete was poured the build would "happen fairly quickly". "A lot of the modular components would be already well on their way," he said. "First the foundations will go down, which takes time, but once that's done you will see it progress really quickly." 'Challenging times' Since 2024 more than 600 students and staff have been crammed together at the city's other high school. Acting Willyama High School principal Rebecca Milsteed said it would be good for the students to have their own space again. "It's been challenging times," she said. "We're two different schools, two different cultures. "But coming together, we've done a lot of work … we're all Department of Education employees and students and we work together to make sure that our children get the best opportunities." Ms Milsteed said school staff and the community worked closely with the team designing the build, providing plenty of feedback along the way. "I'm hopeful that it's going to be a beautiful school that has a lot of new facilities that we might not have had before," she said. Mr Macbeth said the school would be "absolute world-class". "It will be an absolute game-changer for public education and the environment that it will create for our students out in Broken Hill," he said.