Financial support available for parents of children due to start school in 2025

$400 in funding support is available for Victorian parents with children due to start school in Term 1 2025 as part of the School Saving Bonus. 

The School Saving Bonus offers $400 in support for Victorian school-aged students in Term 4, 2024 for use on 2025 school costs, including parents and carers of children in Four-Year-Old Kindergarten who are enrolled to start school in Term 1, 2025.

Parents and carers will receive an email from the Department of Education with their $400 School Saving Bonus in November 2024. 

Families will be able to choose how they spend the $400 bonus – on school activities, or school uniforms and textbooks, or a mixture of all three.

Actions for parents and carers

To receive the School Saving Bonus, parents and carers of children who are attending a Victorian government school in 2025 are required to do the following by Friday 18 October 2024:

• complete enrolment: families will need to enroll children to start Prep in 2025. For more information, please direct families to Enrolling in School

• check contact information: families must ensure their phone number and email address are up to date with the school. To do this, they should contact the school directly.

Who receives the School Saving Bonus

The School Saving Bonus is available for parents and carers of each Victorian government school student from Prep to Year 12 in 2025, except for full-fee international students, home-schooled students, and TAFE students.

Non-government school students receiving the means-tested Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund in 2024 are eligible for additional support through the School Saving Bonus.

Resources and actions to share with parents

To support families with a child transitioning to Prep in 2025, please download and distribute the parent and carer newsletter information sheet so parents can enrol and be eligible for this financial support.

This information sheet contains key actions to help ensure parents and carers receive the School Saving Bonus. Translated parent and carer resources will also be available.

Services can also download and share with parents and carers the School Saving Bonus video and letter from the Premier and Minister for Education, available here. 

For more information, refer to the School Saving Bonus website.

For further enquiries, please contact the department by email: [email protected]