Diocese of Sale Catholic Education Limited (DOSCEL) has hit out at the State Government’s 2024-25 budget and the $400 School Savings Bonus for excluding the majority of students across its 45 Catholic schools.
As part of the budget announcement on Tuesday 7 May, the School Savings Bonus program would provide $400 in support for every child at government schools, and eligible concession card holders at non-government schools.
DOSCEL director Paul Velten said it was disappointing 82 per cent of 16,663 students across the diocese would miss out on the much-needed support, while all government school families would benefit from the program.
“Our Catholic school families are feeling cost-of-living pressures too, yet only those who are healthcare card holders (around 18 per cent) are eligible for the program,” he said.
“Like government schools, the vast majority of our Catholic school families are in the low and middle-income brackets.
“They are taxpayers too, yet have been excluded from this program.”
Mr Velten said the payment should not be based on which school a student attends.
“We want to work with government to ensure students across all sectors receive the support they need to get the best education possible, but this policy is blatantly unfair,” he said.
“We believe the payment should apply to all students or should be means-tested for all students.
“Our sector will be seeking to meet with the government as a matter of urgency, to better understand why they are treating families in Catholic schools like second-class citizens.”
The Diocese of Sale covered 38 Catholic primary schools and seven Catholic secondary colleges and covers a wide geographic are extending from Melbourne’s outer South East suburbs of Narre Warren and Cranbourne, to Cowes at Phillip Island, and right throughout Gippsland to Orbost in the east.
