- Secondary Assistance Scheme boosted to $535 a year for eligible students
- Extra support for families on low incomes increases School Clothing Allowance from $115 to $300, on top of the existing $235 Education Program Allowance
- Extra support to assist more than 25,000 eligible families with the cost of school uniforms in 2024 and 2025
- Cook Labor Government delivering continued cost of living support for WA families
The Cook Labor Government will provide an additional $185 for eligible secondary school students to assist with school uniform costs, increasing cost of living support for school students from low-income families to $535 a year.
Eligible families will receive a $300 clothing allowance in both 2024 and 2025 – on top of the $235 Education Program Allowance which provides additional funding to the child’s school to support their education.
This boost to the School Clothing Allowance provides an additional $185 top-up payment in 2024 to Western Australian families who hold an eligible concession card and already received the $115 payment earlier in the year. A further $300 will be provided at the start of 2025 to Western Australian families who apply, to assist them with school uniform costs.
This follows the WAStudent Assistance Payment, which has made available $250 for all Western Australian secondary students, and $150 for all primary and kindergarten students.
The $9.4 million boost is designed to help take pressure off Western Australian families with lower incomes, and make sure remaining funds from the WA Student Assistance Payment are used to deliver continued cost of living relief.
The enhanced Secondary Assistance Scheme provides extra funds to low-income families with secondary students at Western Australian public and non-government schools to support their education and help them cover uniform costs.
The increase in the Secondary School Clothing Allowance is on top of more than $762million in cost of living measures to support Western Australian households and small businesses, including record support for families and more than $3.5 billion in cost of living assistance delivered since 2017.
The additional Clothing Allowance for 2024 will be paid to families of eligible secondary school students in Term 3. For more information on the Secondary School Allowance visit: https://www.education.wa.edu.au/secondary-assistance-scheme
Comments attributed to Premier Roger Cook:
“Easing cost of living pressures is an important part of my Government’s plan to support WA families.
“Our WA Student Assistance Payment has now helped hundreds of thousands of families with the costs associated with sending their children to school.
“We want to make sure that any remaining funds from the WA Student Assistance Payment end up in the pockets of WA families, and I’m sure this significant increase in the Secondary Assistance Scheme will be a big help for those struggling to pay for their child’s school uniforms.
“Eligible families will now be able to receive $300 in financial support per student to put towards their child’s school uniform.”
Comments attributed to Education Minister Dr Tony Buti:
“We know that families have experienced rising costs, particularly in recent times, for essential personal items for secondary schooling such as school uniforms, shoes and books.
“The increase in the Clothing Allowance will provide targeted financial assistance to low-income families that have had to manage the rising cost of secondary schooling on top of other increasing day-to-day costs.
“It is estimated that over 25,000 parents, guardians and independent students will be eligible to receive the increased clothing allowance in 2024 and 2025.
“For eligible parents and guardians that have already received their $115 clothing allowance in 2024, a further $185 will be allocated as a top up payment in Semester 2.
“Families don’t need to do anything to receive their top up payments.
“The Department of Education will provide further advice to schools and families around the application process for 2025 and the payment of the top up in 2024.”
