The Labor Government’s 10th Budget is dedicated to helping families including those residing in Knox and the Bayswater electorate.
Whether it’s helping with the cost of living, making sure kids can be their best, record funding for the healthcare system or continuing to invest in more of the services families rely on – the Victorian Budget 2024/25 invests in the community.
With the current cost of living, covering supplies and extracurricular activities can be hard on families doing it tough. Uniforms, camps and excursions – it all adds up.
“This Budget will make a real difference to families. Our $400 School Saving Bonus will help cover the costs of kids’ uniforms and activities – giving families one less thing to worry about,” Bayswater MP Jackson Taylor said.
Dedicated to helping cover the cost of learning essentials and the extracurriculars that make school fun – we’ll work with schools to make it available for the start of the 2025 school year.
The government is also tripling the free Glasses for Kids program – making sure even more young Victorians can be their best in the classroom, and beyond. Having already helped 34,000 kids across the state – this investment will help 74,000 more, providing free vision screening and prescription glasses for students who need it.
And because learning isn’t limited to the classroom, $6 million will extend the Get Active Kids vouchers – providing up to $200 to help eligible families with the cost of sporting club registration, uniforms and equipment.
Sport is such a big part of local families lives in the community. That’s why this Budget invests $150,000 to install lighting at Bayswater Bowls Club – ensuring locals have more opportunities to stay active and get involved.
Last year, the Free Kinder program saved around 140,000 families up to $2,500 in fees, helping with the cost of living and ensuring cost was not a barrier to participation. This year’s Budget continues this investment with an additional $129 million to continue delivering Free Kinder and the statewide rollout of Three‑Year‑Old Kinder.
An extra $19 million will deliver new Building Blocks grants – enabling kinders to renovate and upgrade early learning facilities. From expanding classrooms to funding native gardens, upgrading technology or transforming outdoor play spaces, these projects are an investment in our youngest learners.
Community legal services do an incredible job, making sure Victorians can access the legal support they need. We’re supporting this important work with $28.8 million for community legal centres and specialist legal services – including for the Eastern Community Legal Centre. This funding will support the centre’s Mabels program, which provides early intervention for women experiencing family violence through partnerships with local Maternal and Child Health services.
The importance of frontline healthcare services for patients and their families has been stressed. Since the change from Liberal to Labor 10 years ago, Victoria’s public hospitals now employ over 5,000 more doctors, and over 13,000 more nurses.
Since the pandemic, the cost of running the health system has continued to increase – but every cent is worth it to keep Victorians healthy. The government has therefore, put forward the biggest multi-year investment in our health system in Victoria’s history. It’ll mean hospitals have the long-term certainty they need over the coming years.
