Get ready for a new year of savings
The arrival of the New Year means new rebates and initiatives will soon be available to help ease cost of living pressures for people across the State, thanks to years of strong financial management.
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January 1, 2019 will see the arrival of the NSW Government’s Baby Bundle and the roll-out of the $100 Creative Kids voucher to name just a few. On the top of everyone’s New Year’s resolution list is the goal to save more money. As ever our top goal is to reduce the financial burden even further for the people of NSW and these measures are doing just that:
- Extending universal education access to preschool for three-year-olds, making NSW the first state in Australia to do so, providing an average saving for families of $825 a year from January1, 2019.
- From January 31, 2019 motorists will be given a ten-minute grace period when they pay for a minimum of one hour of parking, applies to ticketed and coupon parking. To avoid impacts on safety and congestion, the grace period will not apply to areas such as bus lanes, clearways, transit lanes, etc.
- From 1 March 2019 Councils and Universities across the NSW will have the flexibility to lower their most common parking fines from $112 to $80.
- The NSW Government’s introduction of 10 days of paid domestic and family violence leave per year for NSW public sector employees, including teachers, nurses and police from 1 January 2019.
- From January 1, 2019 parents and caregivers in NSW will receive a bag of essentials containing important health information, valued at $300, to help take care of their precious babies.
- As of January 1, 2019, parents of school-aged children will be able to access the $100 Creative Kids Rebate in addition to the hugely popular $100 Active Kids Rebate.
- Expansion of the Toll Relief package with more than 300,000 drivers eligible for either half-priced or free rego from July 1, 2019, if they spend $15 or more a week on tolls.
This is about putting money back into the pockets of hard-working people right across NSW.
Vaccines at Chemists
Trained pharmacist vaccinators can now give diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough combination vaccine and the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine, in addition to the flu vaccine.
Vaccinations are administered in a private room on the pharmacy premises, with trained pharmacists conducting pre-jab assessments to check current health status.
People eligible for free government-funded vaccines, including children under five, Aboriginal people, those with chronic illnesses, pregnant women and people over 65 will still need to access these vaccines via their GP, so that they can get a health assessment at the same time.
Now, with this additional range of vaccinations available from pharmacists, we want to encourage new grandparents, carers of infants, and partners of pregnant women to get vaccinated to ensure they don’t catch whooping cough and pass it on to their babies. In regional and remote parts of NSW, it can be hard to access a GP. That’s why having the option of a trained pharmacist makes things so much easier.
Portland pool upgrages
The heat is on with sizzling summer temperatures across the region and the Portland Pool is to receive a facelift. A grant of $58,399 will resurface the kiddies “little” pool, replacing the diving blocks on the Olympic Pool, and upgrading the perimeter fence.
This is a social spot for friends and families to gather and is used by local schools to teach children to swim and host swimming carnivals. The kiddies pool was built in 1958 and is starting to deteriorate, has cracked tiles and concrete which poses safety issues for users. Thanks to Shane Taylor and all the team Portland Pool.
