Few sweeteners but students to reap Vic budget windfall

About 700,000 students at government schools and eligible concession card holders will receive a $400 bonus from 2025.

The one-off payment can be put towards uniforms, excursions, camps and extracurricular activities.

The cashless program will be administered by schools and is expected to cost the government $287 million.

"The school saving bonus sits at the heart of our plan to ease cost-of-living pressures for families right across the state," Premier Jacinta Allan said.

"We won't let any child miss out on the things that make Victorian education great, so we're giving families the flexibility to use the School Saving Bonus on the things they need."

An extra 74,000 students in prep to grade three also stand to benefit from vision testing and can get prescription glasses under a program that will cost $6.8 million.

While there was some relief for families, the news was mixed for Victorians looking to get a foot on the property ladder.

The Victorian Homebuyer Fund has been extended for one more year at a cost of $700 million, before the the federal government sets up a national scheme.

The fund allows more would-be home buyers with a deposit of five per cent to get a foot onto the property ladder in exchange for a portion of its equity.

But there was no change to residential stamp duty despite the treasurer flagging in March that an overhaul could be in the offing.

In 2023, a parliamentary inquiry urged the Victorian government to look into scrapping stamp duty and replacing it with a broad-based land tax.

Treasurer Tim Pallas on Tuesday said it would not be "economically responsible" to make the change as it would essentially wipe off up to $9 billion of revenue each year.

"Nobody is arguing that if you had limitless capacity then you would simply go down this path," Mr Pallas said.

"Our problem is of course we don't have limitless capacity."

Australian Associated Press