Wednesday, 5 March 2025

 Melina BATH (Eastern Victoria) (13:00): (1438) My question is to the Minister for Education. The schools bonus rollout was botched, and quoting a frustrated Gippsland principal who asked to remain anonymous, the reconciliation at the school administration level is a nightmare. Shopping at separate suppliers for uniforms, stationery and textbooks, some families have actually overspent their $400 figure per child. Some suppliers are also invoicing schools in bulk and not itemising those invoices. School admin is struggling to reconcile the funds and, afraid of having insufficient funds, they are holding off on paying suppliers. You can see where the mess comes in. There has been no guidance from the Department of Education, and my Gippsland principal wants to know how you will sort out this mess so that schools in my region are not left in debt and suppliers can actually receive their payments.

Sitting suspended 1:01 pm until 2:02 pm.