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

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 are investing more than $1.8 billion to continue building the Education State- and building a better future for Victoria’s children.

This budget invests in upgrading schools across our state, including Wollert Secondary College. This $40.184 million upgrade will expand the School, including the completion of an arts, technology and science building, and admin building, a learning neighborhood and landscaping works – insuring the world-class spaces, kids and their hardworking teachers in Wollert deserve.

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 the strength of our hospitals – because we know what they mean to Victorian families. In this year’s Budget we’ll continue to support the health services families rely on, delivering funding to upgrade the Northern Hospital.  

This investment will deliver a new emergency department, with a dedicated pediatrics emergency department, as well as a mental health, alcohol and other drugs hub and more inpatient beds.  

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. 

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. This includes continuing to recruit and train drivers, timetabling and signaling work and completing final testing.  

This Budget delivers $9.2 million better walking and bike paths, including a critical shared user path to connect Greenbrook Drive to Epping Station, and another path connecting Plenty Valley Town Centre and South Morang Station.  

We’ll continue to build on the success of our Solar Homes program – which has seen Victoria become the number one state for solar in Australia. This Budget invests $29.7 million to fund an extra 27,000 rebates for energy efficient hot water systems. Switching to a heat pump or solar hot water system saves the average household up to $400 on their power bills each and every year.

Mill Park is proud of its diversity and we know there is no place for discrimination, antisemitism or Islamophobia in Victoria. That’s why this Budget invests $6 million to faith-based non-government schools for additional security upgrades to make sure communities feel safe. 

Each investment is an investment in the people of Mill Park. 

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

Quotes attributable to Member for Mill Park Lily D’Ambrosio  

get will make a real difference to families. Our $400 School Saving Bonus will help cover the costs of kids’ uniforms and activities – giving families one less thing to worry about.” 

“To get the very best healthcare, you need world-class hospitals. That’s why the Allan Labor Government is getting on with delivering the Northern Hospital Redevelopment – giving families better access to emergency care, close to home.” 

“The Darebin Creek Trail and Ferres Boulevard shared user paths will deliver vital connections for families in Mill Park – ensuring locals can stay both active and safe.”