School Saving Bonus: Eligibility, Dates & 2026 Status

The School Saving Bonus delivered a $400 credit to Victorian government school families in late 2024—but it was a one-off payment, not an annual program. Families who received it should know exactly what it covered, when funds expired, and that no 2026 extension has been announced.

Amount per student: $400 · Target families: Victorian government school-aged children · Payment period: Term 4, 2024 for 2025 costs · Contact centre closed: 30 June 2025 · Funds expired: 30 June 2025

The table below summarizes the key details of the 2025 School Saving Bonus program for quick reference.

Is there a School Saving Bonus for 2026 Victoria?

The short answer is that no extension has been confirmed. Multiple government school documents and parent handbooks from 2024 and 2025 refer to the School Saving Bonus as a one-off payment for families with children in school during the 2025 school year. That language appears in official communications from the Department of Education Victoria and in school newsletters that tracked the program.

For the 2025 round, the Department of Education sent emails containing access codes to government school families in November 2024, with funds loaded into a portal for parents to allocate toward school uniforms, textbooks, or activities like camps and excursions. Families had until 30 June 2025 to spend those funds before the portal closed and unspent balances transferred to school activity accounts.

Overview of the program

The School Saving Bonus was a Victorian Government initiative providing $400 per student enrolled in a government school from Prep to Year 12. The payment arrived in Term 4, 2024 — timed to help families cover costs heading into the 2025 school year. It was separate from and in addition to existing programs like the Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) and the Affordable School Uniforms Program.

Changes from 2025

One point of criticism worth noting: the program covered government school students by default, but non-government school families could access it only if they had already received CSEF support in 2024 — and even then, the process required contacting the child’s school directly rather than receiving an automatic email. This created a gap for families at Catholic and independent schools, particularly in regional Victoria, where The Nationals Victoria called the design lazy and inequitable in its public response to the scheme.

How much is the back to school allowance in 2026?

For the 2025 school year, the payment was set at a flat $400 per eligible student regardless of year level or school. There was no income test applied, no cap on the number of children per family, and no application form — government school families received their access codes automatically by email from the Department of Education.

Payment per student

The $400 figure was confirmed across multiple official sources, including the Department of Education’s parent information document and the vic.gov.au transition guide for children moving between school years. Families with multiple children received a separate email and code for each child, which could arrive at different times.

Total for families

A family with three children in government schools would have been credited $1,200 total through the program. Those funds could be split across uniform purchases, textbooks, and activity costs like camps or sports fees — or concentrated on one category depending on what the family needed most.

What is the education saving bonus?

The term education saving bonus generally refers to the School Saving Bonus or similar government-funded credits designed to offset specific school-related costs. In Victoria’s case, the $400 credit could be used at approved uniform and book suppliers, through State Schools’ Relief for unbranded items, or allocated to cover activities like school camps, excursions, and sports fees.

Purpose and coverage

The Department of Education described the program as intended to ease cost-of-living pressures on Victorian families with school-aged children. The payment was not means-tested, did not affect other Centrelink benefits, and was explicitly described as in addition to the CSEF and Affordable School Uniforms Program.

School costs supported

Approved uses included school uniforms, shoes, bags, lunch boxes, textbooks, and safety equipment for trade students. For activities like camps, sports, and excursions, families could direct funds toward those costs through the same portal used for uniform and book purchases.

What date was the back to school allowance in 2026?

For the 2025 round, the timeline ran as follows: families needed to have their child’s enrolment completed and contact details updated with the school by Friday 18 October 2024. The Department of Education then sent bonus emails with access codes throughout November 2024. Families who had not received an email by Friday 29 November 2024 were advised to contact the Department directly at school.saving.bonus@education.vic.gov.au.

Payment schedule

The actual credits loaded into the portal in late November and December 2024, with funds usable immediately through approved suppliers. State Schools’ Relief also accepted the credit for families needing unbranded uniforms.

Claim window

The portal remained open through to 30 June 2025. The contact centre — staffed at 1800 338 663 — also closed on that date. Any unspent balance was automatically transferred to the school’s general activities account in late July 2025, where it could be used to benefit other students at that school.

School Saving Bonus 2026 eligibility

Eligibility for the 2025 round covered Victorian government school students from Prep to Year 12, including children in Four-Year-Old Kindergarten who were enrolled to start Prep in Term 1 2025. The program explicitly excluded full-fee international students, home-schooled students, TAFE students, and kindergarten students who were not beginning Prep in 2025.

Family criteria

No income test applied. The only hard requirements were that the student was enrolled in a Victorian government school and that the family’s contact details were up to date with the school before the October 2024 deadline. Students who transferred between government schools during the year were handled on a case-by-case basis through the Department.

Student requirements

The student needed to be actively enrolled — meaning they had commenced at the school or were registered as continuing. Families who had moved and not updated their enrolment before the deadline risked missing the email window entirely.

Non-government school families

Non-government school students could access the bonus only if they had received CSEF funding during 2024. Unlike government school families, they did not receive an automatic email — instead, they needed to contact their school directly to confirm eligibility and arrange access. This tied the School Saving Bonus’s availability for non-government school students to whether they were already receiving that means-tested support.