School Saving Bonus
The Victorian Government is delivering the School Saving Bonus – a one-off $400 support for government school students from Prep to Year 12 in 2025.
From Tuesday 26 November 2024, you will receive an email from the Department of Education with your unique $400 School Saving Bonus code.
The School Saving Bonus will help families cover the cost of uniforms, textbooks, excursions, activities and more.
If you have multiple children enrolled in Victorian government schools for 2025, you will receive one School Saving Bonus code email per child. These emails might arrive on different days. Please make sure to check your spam/junk email folder.
Parents and carers can use the School Saving Bonus code in store at school-nominated suppliers.
Parents and carers can also choose to access the School Saving Bonus online system, where they can allocate part or all the $400 bonus to use at school nominated-online suppliers or for school activities.
To learn more about the School Saving Bonus, visit School Saving Bonus | vic.gov.au (www.vic.gov.au). A step-by-step user guide will be available on the webpage on 26 November.
If you have not received your School Saving Bonus code via email by Friday 29 November, please contact the Department of Education by emailing school.saving.bonus@education.vic.gov.au
Information for government school parents and carers
About the School Saving Bonus
The Victorian Government is making life that little bit easier for families by providing a one-off $400 School Saving Bonus.
This support will help cover the cost of school uniforms, textbooks, and school activities like camps, excursions and sports.
The School Saving Bonus is in addition to existing and continuing means-tested support for Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) and the Affordable School Uniforms Program.
The School Saving Bonus will be provided to schools and families in Term 4, 2024.
Who receives the School Saving Bonus
The School Saving Bonus is available for parents and carers of all Victorian government school students from Prep to Year 12 in 2025, except for full-fee international students, home schooled students, TAFE students and students attending kindergarten in 2025.
Actions for parents and carers
Parents and carers of children who meet the School Saving Bonus eligibility above are required to
do the following by Friday 18 October 2024:
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- 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.
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- Check your contact information
Ensure your contact information is up to date with your school. You can check this information by contacting your school directly.
Accessing the $400 School Saving Bonus
You do not need to apply for the School Saving Bonus.
The Department of Education will email you in November 2024 with your $400 School Saving Bonus. You will be able to access it via an online system.
You can decide how to best use the School Saving Bonus for your family’s needs. You can choose how to allocate the $400 in the online system.
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- The bonus 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 bonus can be used at your school’s approved textbook or uniform suppliers either in-store or
online, or through State Schools’ Relief. The list of suppliers may include a school uniform or
bookshop. Any amount that you choose to allocate to textbooks and uniforms will be valid until 30
June 2025. It will then transfer to your child’s school account for future activities.
Funds will roll over for use in future years if it is not all spent in 2025.
Families with more than one eligible child
Families who have more than one child at the same school can combine their School Saving Bonus payments to use on one child, or for a specific activity. So, for example, a family with 3 children who are all government school students would receive support to the value of $1,200 and choose how they spend those funds. The School Saving Bonus cannot be combined across different schools.
More information
To learn more about the School Saving Bonus visit vic.gov.au/school-saving-bonus. Translated information will also be available on the School Saving Bonus website in the next few weeks.