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

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 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 two brand-new schools in Kalkallo – Lockerbie Specialist School and Mickleham South Primary 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.

We want young Victorians to have what they need to succeed in the classroom. It’s why this Budget also invests in upgrading local schools, including the planned additional stages at Mickleham Secondary College. This investment will enable the College to increase its capacity, supporting all its new students – from year 7 to 12.

Last year, our Free Kinder program saved around 140 000 families up to $2,500 in fees, helping with the cost of living and ensuring cost was not a barrier to participation. This year’s Budget continues this investment with an additional $129 million to continue delivering Free Kinder and the statewide rollout of Three‑Year‑Old Kinder.

An extra $19 million will deliver new Building Blocks grants – enabling kinders to renovate and upgrade early learning facilities. From expanding classrooms to funding native gardens, upgrading technology or transforming outdoor play spaces, these projects are an investment in our youngest learners.

Only Labor Governments truly invest in our hospitals – because we know what it means to Victorian families. In this year’s Budget we’ll continue to support the health services families rely on, including upgrading the Northern Hospital.

As part of an overall package worth $812.5 million, this Budget will deliver a new emergency department, including a dedicated paediatrics zone, additional inpatient beds, and a mental health, alcohol, and other drugs hub – redeveloping the Northern Hospital.

Since we came to government, Victoria’s public hospitals now employ over 5,000 more doctors, and over 13,000 more nurses. During the pandemic, when our health system was stretched like never before, we acted decisively – providing record funding to bolster our health system.

Since the pandemic, the cost of running our health system has continued to increase – but every cent is worth it to keep Victorians healthy. That’s why we’re making the biggest multi-year investment in our health system in Victoria’s history. It’ll mean our hospitals have the long-term certainty they need over the coming years.

Each investment is an investment in the people of Kalkallo.

Because this is a Budget – and a Government – dedicated to helping families.

Quotes attributable to Member for Kalkallo Ros Spence:

“This Budget delivers for families in our growing community, with a new primary school, a new specialist school and an even bigger Mickleham Secondary College.”

“We’re working to make a real difference to families with our $400 School Saving Bonus which will help cover the costs of kids’ uniforms and activities – giving families one less thing to worry about.”

“The Allan Labor Government is delivering a new Emergency Department for the Northern Hospital, ensuring families in Melbourne’s north have access to the healthcare they need.”