September 18th, 2024School saving bonus to help local families with more
Local families will be able to spend the School Saving Bonus on more items when the state government’s once-off $400 bonus becomes available later this year to all students at government schools and eligible non-government school students.
State MP for Macedon, Mary-Anne Thomas last week announced that the School Saving Bonus – that can cover the costs of uniforms, camps, excursions, and other extracurricular activities through the year – can also be spent on textbooks.
Member for Macedon, Mary-Anne Thomas: “Our $400 School Saving Bonus will help ease the pressure on household budgets – and help local students get the most from their education.”
From last week, schools and families will also get more information about how the $400 School Saving Bonus can be accessed later this year, so families have time to plan and budget for the 2025 school year.
The once-off bonus will be available in November 2024. It will be applied for each child, so a family with three school children will receive $1,200 in support to spend on school costs.
The state government has worked to make the process of getting and spending the $400 School Saving Bonus as easy and as flexible as possible for busy families and schools.
No family of a child in a government school will need to apply for their bonus: it is free,automatic and universal.
In Term 4, families will receive a code granting them access to the bonus. They will get to choose how much of the funds they want allocated to a uniform and textbook voucher, and how much they want to use on school activities – like camps, sports, excursions, graduations, and other eligible programs.
The School Saving Bonus was announced as part of a $287 million package in the Victorian Budget 2024/25, and it will help up to 700,000 students – including around 44,000 non-government students.
Premier Jacinta Allan: “We know how tough it is for a lot of families right now. We’re giving busy families one less thing to worry about with $400 for school costs like
uniforms, excursions and textbooks.”
