NSW families will receive $250 vouchers as a “thank you” for homeschooling students during the Delta outbreak, the government has announced.
Key points:
- The vouchers are on top of the hospitality, entertainment and accommodation vouchers already announced
- They will be split into five separate vouchers worth $50 each
- The NSW opposition says the money should be sent out before Christmas, not in March
The vouchers will be made available through Service NSW in March next year for any household which had a school-aged child in 2021.
Premier Dominic Perrottet said the vouchers were a “thank you to every single mum and dad” who took up homeschooling during lockdown.
“It has been tough, it has been a challenge with close to three months of homeschooling, but you have been the primary educators to ensure none of our children get left behind,” he said.
The $250 will be split into five $50 vouchers which can be spent on recreation and accommodation, but not dining.
They will be provided on top of the previously announced expansion of the Dine & Discover program to be used for hospitality and entertainment.
They will also supplement the $50 Stay & Rediscover accommodation vouchers announced yesterday.
NSW Opposition Leader Chris Minns welcomed the vouchers but said they should be in the hands of families before Christmas.
“That’s when family budgets are particularly stretched, that’s when businesses want families spending money,” he said.
“March 2022 is too long when it comes to urgent stimulus spending.”
The state government unveiled the family vouchers as part of a $2.8 billion economic recovery package which included several previously announced support packages.
This included $250 million to support up-skilling and job seekers, $212 million for hospitality and the performing arts sector, and $200 million for regional infrastructure and housing developments.
NSW Treasurer Matt Kean said the Delta outbreak had been a “once in a lifetime economic catastrophe” and that more than 235,000 people lost their jobs over the past three and a half months.
He said the government was anticipating a “bad” December unemployment forecast of 6.4 per cent, which will reflect the September quarter.
“The peak weekly cost of the lockdowns to the NSW economy got up to around $1.9 billion per week … the lockdowns have had a huge cost to economic activity,” Mr Kean said.
“We know at the moment that the cost to the economy is down at around $470 million per week and that will continue to reduce as we come out of lockdown and further restrictions are eased.
“We’re not going to apologise for making sure the budget works to support the economy.”
