The Allan Labor Government’s first Budget is dedicated to helping families in Melton.

Whether it’s helping with the cost of living, making sure our kids can be their best, record funding for our healthcare system or continuing to invest in more of the services families rely on – the Victorian Budget 2024/25 invests in our 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.

That’s why we are providing a one-off School Saving Bonus to help cover the costs. This $400 bonus will help make sure our kids have everything they need for the school day, supporting families with children at government schools and families at our non-government schools who need it most.

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.

We’re also tripling our 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 our state – this investment will help 74,000 more, providing free vision screening and prescription glasses for students who need it.

And because we know that learning isn’t limited to the classroom, we’re investing $6 million to extend our Get Active Kids vouchers – providing up to $200 to help eligible families with the cost of sporting club registration, uniforms and equipment.

With this Budget, we’re investing more than $1.8 billion to continue building the Education State – and building a better future for Victoria’s children.

Families should be able to count on having a great local school – no matter where they live. We promised to build 100 new schools by 2026. Already, we’ve opened 75 primary, secondary and specialist schools where they’re needed most, with a further nine on the way.

This year’s Budget invests $948 million to deliver the remaining 16 new schools – and deliver on our promise to Victorian families. That includes a brand-new secondary school for Cobblebank and a new Toolern Waters Primary School.

We’ll continue to meet future needs with funding to acquire land for the new Aintree North P-6 school. These new schools will support the needs of our growing community – and give every family confidence they can rely on a great local school.