Schoolkids Bonus has helped families with back to school costs

The second instalment of Federal Labor’s Schoolkids Bonus has been paid to more than 1.2 million families as their kids start returning to school.

Over the past few weeks, $590 million has been paid to eligible families – $205 for each child in primary school and $410 for each child in secondary school – to help parents get all the things their kids need for Term 3.

The payment has helped parents buy uniforms, shoes, school books and stationery, as well as other costs like school excursions, music lessons and sports registration fees.

This was the second instalment this year for families, with the first instalment arriving before school started in January.

Some families who claim their Family Tax Benefit at the end of the financial year will receive both instalments of the Schoolkids Bonus with their lump sum Family Tax Benefit payment.

In total, 1.3 million families will receive the Schoolkids Bonus.

Australian families love Labor’s Schoolkids Bonus. They know how much this payment has helped over the past few weeks as they got their kids ready to go back to school.

And they know that if Tony Abbott is elected Prime Minister at the election, the Schoolkids Bonus payment they have just received will be the last one they ever get.

An Abbott Government will axe the Schoolkids Bonus and rip money out of the pockets of 1.3 million families.

Axing the Schoolkids Bonus will mean a typical family with two kids will be $15,000 worse off over the course of their children’s schooling.

Australian families are already feeling the pinch. They can’t afford an Abbott Government making it harder for families.

Families receiving Family Tax Benefit Part A, as well as young people in school receiving Youth Allowance, and other people receiving certain income support or veterans’ payments are eligible for the Schoolkids Bonus.

For the latest information about the Schoolkids Bonus and other family assistance measures, visit www.australia.gov.au/schoolkidsbonus or ‘like’ our Australian Families Facebook page.

State breakdown of families receiving the Schoolkids Bonus this year: