> The lack of kids is often because the school is in an older part of town This happens less in Australia, because Australia has rather different population dy

> The lack of kids is often because the school is in an older part of town This happens less in Australia, because Australia has rather different population dynamics from the US. Significant population decline in inland rural areas, especially in smaller towns, which leads to school closures (for public schools too)–something also happening in some parts of the US But, the problem the US has with decaying urban areas (e.g. Detroit) just doesn't happen in contemporary Australia. Most of the population lives in a handful of big metro areas, which just keep on booming, due to runaway property prices, and absorbing a constant stream of immigrants (on a per capita basis, Australia's official immigration rate is almost twice that of the US.) Also, local government is a lot weaker, urban planning is controlled by the state governments, and they just won't let that kind of urban blight happen on their watch