Cost of living pressures are hitting people in our community hard, which is why the 2024-25 Allan Labor Government State Budget is dedicated to helping Victorians.
We’re providing a one-off School Saving Bonus at the start of 2025 to help cover the cost of school-related expenses for all students in state schools and students at non-Government schools from low-income families. This program will ensure that the cost of learning essentials and the extracurricular activities which children enjoy will be covered by our State Government.
This budget is giving children the tools they need to be their best in the classroom and beyond by tripling our free Glasses for Kids program. This program has already helped over 34,000 children across our state and this investment will help 74,000 more by providing free vision screening and prescription glasses for students who need it.
Glasses for Kids compliments our Smile Squad Program – providing free dental care in government schools. Smile Squad has already provided care to more than 82,000 students and handed out more than 350,000 oral health packs.
An investment of $21.1 million will expand the School Breakfast Club Program to provide free nutritious breakfast to every government school. This expansion will see 150 additional schools invited to join the program at the beginning of next year before rolling out to remaining schools from June 2025, making sure no student starts the day hungry.
The popular Get Active Kids vouchers are being funded once again. We’re investing $6 million to provide up to $200 to help eligible families with the cost of sporting club registration, uniforms and equipment.
In addition, we have provided funding to local food charities: the Philanthropic Collective, Foothills Community Care and Knox Infolink, so they can continue to provide food relief and crisis support to those across our community who need their help the most.
I encourage all veterans and seniors to apply for the Veterans Card and/or Seniors Card which provide discounts and benefits across the state. In addition, concession card holders may be eligible for energy, council rates and stamp duty concessions from the Victorian Government. Please don’t hesitate to contact my office on (03) 9754 5401 to learn more about these programs.
We are continuing to fund Free Kinder, Free TAFE, free nursing, midwifery and teaching degrees, free car rego for apprentices, free pads and tampons in up to 700 public places, and capping council rates. All these initiatives provide much needed support for households’ bottom line.
Head to my website www.danielademartino.com.au/cost-of-living/ to see more ways to save. Our Government is here to help.
