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School Saving Bonus

The School Saving Bonus provides a one-off $400 to help Victorian families cover the costs of their kids’ school uniforms, textbooks, excursions and activities.

On this page

The School Saving Bonus will provide $400 in support for Victorian school-aged students in Term 4, 2024 for use on 2025 school costs.

Receiving the School Saving Bonus

The way you receive the School Saving Bonus depends on if your child, or children, attends a government school, or non-government school.

Video message from the Minister for Education

To learn more about the School Saving Bonus for government schools, watch the video below.

Minister Carroll: School Saving Bonus
View transcript

This video message from Minister for Education Ben Carroll includes captions in 13 languages.

To turn on the captions, click the ‘CC/Subtitles’ icon at the bottom right corner of the video and select the language you need.

Government school information

The School Saving Bonus for Government school students can be accessed via the School Saving Bonus online system in November 2024.

Families can choose how they spend the School Saving Bonus. It can be used towards 2025 school costs, which may include:

  • camps, trips, excursions and incursions
  • swimming and sporting programs
  • outdoor education programs
  • graduations
  • school uniforms
  • textbooks.

The School Saving Bonus will be emailed directly to parents and carers in November 2024. Please check your junk folder if you cannot locate the email. If you do not receive information by 25 November 2024, please contact your school for support.

Families can allocate all or part of the bonus to help with the cost of school activities. This allocation will be made within the online system.

The bonus can also be used at your school’s designated textbook or uniform suppliers in-store or online, or through State Schools’ Relief until 30 June 2025.

If your school does not have a uniform, or if you would like to use your bonus for unbranded school uniform items, you can use the bonus through the State Schools' Relief.

If any amount allocated to textbooks or uniforms is unspent as at 1 July 2025, it will become a school activities credit for you to use through your school.

Student eligibility

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.

There is no application required for eligible government school parents to receive the School Saving Bonus, however there are a few required actions for parents and carers.

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: If your child, or children are changing government school for Term 1 2025, or starting Prep or Year 7 in 2025, please complete enrolment. For more information, read about Enrolling in School.
  • Check your contact information: Ensure your phone number and email address is up to date with your school. You can check this information by contacting your school directly.

Resources

To learn more about the School Saving Bonus for government schools, download the:

In-language information

Parent resources will be available to download in 14 languages in the next few weeks.

Non-government school information

The $400 School Saving Bonus will be paid to non-government schools for eligible students. Talk to your school about how this cost of living support will apply to you.

Student eligibility

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

There is no application required for non-government school students to receive the School Saving Bonus.

Resources

To learn more about the School Saving Bonus for non-government schools, download a letter to parents and carers from the Premier and Deputy Premier (PDF, 308KB). This letter will be available to download in 14 languages in the next few weeks.

A poster for parents and carers (PDF, 446KB) is also available.

Using the School Saving Bonus

Eligible families who have more than one child at the same school can combine their School Saving Bonus to use on one child, or for a specific school activity.

For example, a family with 3 eligible children will receive support to the value of $1,200 and the family can choose how they spend their School Saving Bonus for approved school expenses.

Unused money from the School Saving Bonus can be transferred to a sibling at the same school if one child finishes school, or can be transferred between government schools where a child moves to a new school.

The School Saving Bonus cannot be combined across different schools, and cannot be transferred between government and non-government schools.

Resources for school leaders and early childhood providers

School leaders

More information on the School Saving Bonus for school leaders and teachers is available via the Policy and Advisory Library (PAL).

Early childhood providers

For early childhood providers, feel free to download and share the following resources with your communities:

Other supports

The one-off School Saving Bonus will be in addition to existing and continuing means-tested supports for Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF). This helps to ensure that families most in need continue to get additional support.

The application-based Affordable School Uniform program, available through State Schools’ Relief to families experiencing financial hardship or other forms of vulnerability and short-term crisis, will continue to be available for families to access if they need additional support beyond the School Saving Bonus. This program allows schools to make multiple applications for support on parents’ behalf throughout the year if needed.

Education

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