Victoria Budget: 700,000 families to receive $400 handout to ease cost of living
Families with kids at Victorian public schools will pocket some much-needed cost-of-living relief but there are few sweeteners in the Victorian state budget.
About 700,000 students at government schools and eligible concession card holders will receive a $400 bonus at the start of 2025.
The one-off payment can be put towards uniforms, excursions, camps and extracurricular activities.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.The cashless program will be administered by schools and is expected to cost the government $287 million.
An additional 74,000 students in prep to grade three also stand to benefit from vision testing and can get prescription glasses under a program that will cost $6.8 million.
Premier Jacinta Allan talked up savings for families in her first budget since taking over from Daniel Andrews, but there’s mixed news for Victorians looking to get a foot into the property ladder.
The Victorian Homebuyer Fund will be expanded to the tune of $700 million, allowing more would-be home buyers with a deposit of five per cent to get a foot into the property ladder in exchange for a portion of its equity.
But there will be no change to residential stamp duty, contrary to changes flagged earlier this year by the treasurer.
In 2023, a parliamentary inquiry urged the Victorian government to look into scrapping stamp duty and replacing it with a broad-based land tax.
Treasurer Tim Pallas on Tuesday said it would not be “economically responsible” to make the change as it would essentially wipe off up to $9 billion dollars of revenue each year.
“Nobody is arguing that if you had limitless capacity then you would simply go down this path. Our problem is of course we don’t have limitless capacity,” Mr Pallas said.
