Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has apologised for the education department's handling of the discovery of asbestos in a Melbourne primary school playground, saying it was "not good enough".
The education department is investigating how asbestos-contaminated soil came to be in the playground at Kerrimuir Primary School, and how the discovery in September was handled.
A parent has told Fairfax Media he found his son playing in soil that contained chunks of asbestos and reported it.
However, he says, the area was not cordoned off until two weeks later, when tests revealed asbestos was in the soil.
Parents were advised of the issue in late October.
Mr Andrews criticised the department's response, saying it was unacceptable.
"There's no doubt that this has been mishandled. I want to apologise to everybody affected by this. It's not good enough," Mr Andrews said.
"When the parent raised the issue, when a concern was raised, it should have been acted on immediately."
A report on the incident will be on Education Minister James Merlino's desk next week, Mr Andrews said.
Kerrimuir Primary is the second school revealed to have been affected by asbestos in the past week.
The Environment Protection Authority is investigating how fragments of old cement sheeting containing asbestos ended up in soil used in landscaping works at Syndal South Primary School in Mt Waverley.
The EPA inspected the school on October 29 and took samples, which tested positive for asbestos.
Visible fragments of the cement sheeting have been removed from the site and the area remains fenced off to students.
The remaining asbestos poses minimal risk if undisturbed, the EPA says.
The contaminated soil was sourced from a former industrial site and transported to the school by an independent contractor.
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