Eligibility
The Victorian government announced in the 2011/12 State Budget that the School Start Bonus would be targeted to provide assistance to those families most in need. From 2012, eligibility for the payment will be based on eligibility for the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA).
From 2012, eligibility for the School Start Bonus is in accordance with the requirements below.
Eligibility criteria
To be eligible for receipt of the School Start Bonus (SSB):
- The student must be enrolled in Prep (Year 0) or Year 7 in a Victorian registered school in 2012, and;
- The student must be enrolled and attending the school by census day (29 February 2012), and;
- The student must not have already been paid the SSB for that year level, and;
- The claimant must on the SSB Eligibility Day (16 January 2012):
- be a parent or legal guardian of the student; and
- be an eligible beneficiary within the meaning of the State Concessions Act 2004, that is, the holder of Veterans Affairs Gold Card or be an eligible Health care card (HCC) or Pensioner Concession Card (PCC) holder or
- be a temporary foster parent.
- Submit their application to the school by the due date.
The Pension Concession Card (PCC) or Health Care Card (HCC) is subject to electronic confirmation with Centrelink to verify the cardholder’s entitlement on eligibility day. The EMA/SSB web system will validate the Customer Reference Number (CRN), and the surname and first name that are provided with the CRN. The validation will usually occur within a few seconds .