Police at Black Hill Primary School. Credit:Luka Kauzlaric, Ballarat Courier At least a dozen schools in Victoria were evacuated, including at least 10 primary schools. Some schools received threatening calls directly, while others took precautionary measures due to their close proximity to schools that had received calls. Police would not confirm how many schools were affected, or the specific nature of the threats, but said the schools involved were not limited to one area. Police in various states said the incident appeared to be similar to a spate of hoax calls that sparked evacuations and lockdowns at dozens of schools across Australia earlier this year.

Police at Black Hill Primary School. Credit:Luka Kauzlaric, Ballarat Courier Do you know more? Contact scoop@theage.com.au Paul Mulqueen, principal of Warragul's St Joseph Primary School, told Fairfax Media his call warned of an explosive device that could harm students. Police at Black Hill Primary School. Credit:Luka Kauzlaric, Ballarat Courier

"It was a male voice," Mr Mulqueen said. "I couldn't pick the accent, although it didn't seem to be particularly foreign." Mr Mulqueen said that after receiving the call about 10.30am, the school followed its emergency management plan, evacuating students and notifying emergency services and the police. "Once police had given us the all-clear that the school site was safe, we debriefed students and provided any counselling to those who required it, and students returned to class," he said. A staff member who took the call at Sophia Mundi Steiner School also described the voice as automated, but said it started off sounding male and became higher pitched, like a woman's voice, later in the conversation, Principal Fiona Cock said.

Emergency Minister James Merlino promised in February to fund an instant SMS service after parents complained they weren't informed of a hoax bomb threat. Black Hill Primary parent Corinna Borg said on Thursday she was not contacted by the school and she read about the hoax in the news. "I was cautious but I didn't jump into panic," she said. Ms Borg said she went straight up to the school to collect her children, who are in grade 1 and 3. "The school kept them really calm," she said.

Black Hill Primary principal Donna Bishop said as soon as the evacuated students returned, the school "immediately sent out a notification to parents and we've had many parents who have thanked us for the response". Steve, who has two children at Cambridge Primary School, said he was also alerted once the evacuation was over. "We would have expected to be notified earlier. I understand there is a fine balancing act, but it would have been nice, when your children are there [at the school], to be told if they are being taken off school grounds," he said. Another Cambridge Primary School parent said she was contacted before 1pm about the hoax which caused her to feel "panicky". "The kids are only young and it puts a bit of fear and panic into the children," she said.

Gail McHardy, executive director of Parents Victoria, which represents state school parents, said it was a "natural human reaction" for parents to be worried. She said it was always the school's priority to ensure student safety and parents should encourage principals to offer a debrief session after the dramatic event. "Fear drives anxiety in these situations and people can be sensitive and react … but I think it's important that parents take stock … for the schools, the biggest priority is to get the school safe." When asked about the lag in contacting parents, Education Department spokesman Craig Simon said: "In situations like this, schools' immediate focus is on enacting their emergency management plan and working closely with police, so that children and staff are safe". "Schools contacted parents as soon as they deemed appropriate, after enacting their emergency management plan."

Schools said to have received the threatening calls include: St Mary's Primary School in Myrtleford; Black Hill Primary School in Ballarat; Cambridge Primary School, Hoppers Crossing; Wangaratta West Primary School; Pakenham Consolidated School; McKinnon Primary School, Ormond; Bourchier Street Primary School, Shepparton; Marist-Sion College Secondary School, Warragul; George Street Primary School, Hamilton; and Camp Hill Primary School, Bendigo. Across Australia Police in Queensland, Tasmania, NSW, the ACT and South Australia responded to incidents at schools across those states. Police in both Queensland and Tasmania said they suspected the threatening calls were similar in nature to those that had occurred in February, when automated calls were made to schools Australia-wide and were later revealed to be hoaxes. "We are liaising with the Education Department and remind people that making threatening phone calls is a serious criminal offence," a Queensland Police spokesman said. "These incidents will be investigated fully."

In Tasmania, calls of bomb threats were made to three schools about 10am, within the space of five minutes, police said. After attending the schools and conducting inquiries, Tasmania Police said in a statement that "no concerns were identified and classes resumed". In New South Wales, police said operations were under way at schools across the state, but did not specify whether they were in response to threatening calls. However, it is understood the incidents were of a similar nature to those in other states. Two schools in the ACT received threatening calls, but after being cleared by ACT Policing, students were sent back to class. Three public schools in South Australia also received bomb threats over the phone. Students were evacuated as police searched the properties, but the children returned after the area was cleared.

West Australian police had not, as of late morning local time, recorded any incidents of threatening calls to schools in the state. The Victorian Department of Education and Training said in a statement that it was working with Victoria Police following the threats. New Zealand The threats made across Australia coincided with threats to schools throughout New Zealand. New Zealand Police said in a statement on Thursday morning that they were "responding to calls of a concerning nature directed to a number of schools throughout the country".

"We understand the fear and concern that these calls cause, however we reiterate that so far we have not established any actual threat to any school." New Zealand Police added that Thursday's calls "may be similar to those received earlier this year, which inquiries indicated originated overseas". In late January and early February, a spate of hoax calls sparked evacuations and lockdowns at dozens of schools across Australia, including almost 20 in Victoria. At the time, police were investigating whether a hoaxer had hacked into the telecommunication service at select-entry state school Nossal High School, at Monash University's Berwick campus. An International hacking gang called Evacuation Squad claimed to be responsible for the dozens of threats in Australia, as well as similar ones made in Britain, Hawaii, Paris, Japan, the US and Guam over the course of a few weeks.

It is understood some of the phone calls featured an electronic voice message, but it was not clear whether all schools received an electronic message. At the time, a spokesman for the Russian group, calling himself Viktor Olyavich, told Fairfax Media via email that the hackers would carry out more bomb threats in the future. "We do the hoaxes for a few reasons," he wrote. "Those being: one, they are entertaining for us; two, we make money off them sometimes; and three, just for the mayhem of it." The gang has offered to shut down schools in exchange for bitcoin payments.