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

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. 

Sport is such a big part of the Laverton families. That’s why we’re delivering up to $85,000 towards a scoreboard at Sunshine Heights Cricket Club, helping even more local fans cheer on their favourite teams. 

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 ThreeYearOld 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. 

In this Budget, we’re also making sure students get the opportunity to pursue their passions and graduate with workforce-ready skills. That includes $23 million to improve access and support for students to complete Vocational Education and Training (VET) – including a new 'taster' pilot program to give students in Years 9 and 10 the opportunity to do short vocational courses and experience studying at TAFE. 

Ours is a proudly diverse community – and we know there is no place for discrimination, antisemitism or Islamophobia in Victoria. This Budget provides $6 million for faith-based non-government schools for additional security upgrades to make sure communities feel safe. 

Community legal services do an incredible job, making sure Victorians can access the legal support they need. We’re supporting this important work with $28.8 million for community legal centres and specialist legal services – including the Brimbank Melton Community Legal Centre, enabling the Centre to continue its support for victim survivors of family violence. 

The Metro Tunnel will transform the way we move around our city and state. Opening next year, it will be the biggest public transport project since the City Loop, more than 40 years ago. This year’s Budget invests more than $233 million, getting passengers ready for Day One – including continuing to recruit and train drivers, timetabling and signaling work, and completing final testing.  

For too long, women's health issues have been overlooked and underdiagnosed. This Budget invests $18.3 million to improve women's health and wellbeing, with support for 12 women's health organisations to provide community outreach and prevention programs. 

We know how important our frontline healthcare services are for patients and their families. 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 Laverton. 

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

Quotes attributable to Member for Laverton Sarah Connolly  

“The School Saving Bonus is great for families and for kids. It gives families one less thing to worry about – while making sure students can enjoy all that school has to offer.” 

“For too long, women’s health has been overlooked. I’m proud to be part of a Government that’s focused on ensuring women’s health has the focus it deserves.”