State Basketball Centre

The Victorian State Government’s $132 million upgrade of the State Basketball Centre in Wantirna South is now complete.

The project has created one of Australia’s leading basketball facilities that will support the continued growth of basketball and gymnastics at local and elite levels. 

The expansion project was originally announced in 2018 with an $83 million contribution from the Victorian Government and $25 million from City of Knox. An additional $22 million was provided in the 2020 – 21 Victorian State Budget bringing the total budget to $130 million. Knox City Council committed a further $2 million.

Stage one of the redevelopment has delivered:

• 12 new indoor community courts for local basketball competitions for a total of 18 courts
• Comprehensive training facilities for high-performance basketball including WNBL and NBL teams
• New gymnastics facilities
• New administration facilities to support sports organisations and clubs
• An outdoor town square space and new cafe.

The centre also has new administration areas for Basketball Victoria, Knox Basketball Inc., Deakin Melbourne Boomers (WNBL), South East Melbourne Phoenix (NBL) and Basketball Australia.

These administration facilities will also be used by local sports organisations and clubs to ensure more grassroots clubs have the best facilities and infrastructure to support basketball’s growth in Victoria for generations to come.

The gymnastics centre at the State Basketball Centre will replace the existing facility in Ferntree Gully and address the large waiting lists for training and competition in the region.

The project was a response to increasing demand for quality sporting facilities in the Knox area and will service everyone from local players to Australian representative athletes while transforming the broader precinct into the premier sports park for Melbourne’s South East.

Prior to the completion of the redevelopment, the State Basketball Centre welcomed almost 800,000 visitors annually. With the redevelopment now complete, it is expected that visitation will increase to more than 2 million people a year.

Development Victoria worked with builder ADCO Constructions to use locally manufactured steel on the build with more than 90 per cent of total construction material coming from Victoria. 

More than 500 jobs were created during construction, with more than 100 ongoing jobs supporting the centre’s operations. 

Works are underway to upgrade the existing original six basketball courts and surrounding admin and function spaces to further service the community and sport, due for completion by mid-2024.