The term 'tuck shop' is not used
Australia-wide. Attending primary school in
Orange,
New South Wales in the early
1980s, the place where one purchased one's lunch at school was the '
canteen', and the attendant mother was referred to as the '
canteen lady'.
It was only upon moving to Townsville, Queensland in 1985 that I encountered the word 'tuck shop', although it was a single word - 'tuckshop'. Indeed, the staff of mothers were referred to as 'tuckshop ladies'.
In my limited experience, high school tuckshops in north Queensland offer a completely different menu to that offered by primary schools. Gone were the 'healthy' options - carrot sticks, moon craters, frozen orange wedges. Instead, one could buy (gasp) Coca Cola and a hot dog for lunch, to be followed by a packet of Samboy salt and vinegar chips and a Funny Face.