Communicating with Parents

EMA 2012 - Schools are responsible for communicating the availability of the EMA to eligible families and for providing relevant information for parents eligible for the EMA. To assist schools with this process, a letter to  parents from the Minister for Education, the Hon. Martin Dixon MP,  and a sample newsletter article about EMA eligibility is available below.

School Start Bonus 2012 - A 'parent information letter' is available for download from the School Start Bonus website to inform parents about the SSB for 2012. Schools are requested to provide a copy of the letter to parents with children commencing Prep or Year 7 in 2012.

Government schools letter for parents

A letter from the Minister for Education, the Hon. Martin Dixon MP, which provides information for parents or guardians about the EMA for 2012 is available for download here (PDF - 73Kb). 

Non-government schools letter for parents

A letter from the Minister for Education, the Hon. Martin Dixon MP, which provides information for parents or guardians about the EMA for 2012 is available for download here (PDF - 72Kb). 

Translated information - for parents

Multilingual school notices support communication between the school and families from language backgrounds other than English. 23 school notices commonly requested for translation are available in 40 languages, including English. 

Notice 12 provides information for parents about EMA eligibility.

Sample newsletter article

A sample newsletter article for 2012 which schools may use to advertise the EMA eligibility to parents is available here (Word - 1.3Mb). 

Centrelink Validation Failure - Pro Forma Letter

• This one page letter is provided for schools to use to advise parents that their application has failed validation with Centrelink. Parents will need to take this letter to Centrelink and if Centrelink determines that the parent held a valid concession card on the EMA eligibility date, Centrelink will provide the parent with a Q053 confirmation letter which the parent must bring back to the school. The school needs to fax this confirmation letter to Financial Services on fax number: (03) 9637 2224. Translated versions of the 2012 Centrelink Validation Failure form will also be made available to provide to parents (as a reference).