NSW Parents voucher ($250) & Back to School voucher ($150)
One-off COVID-era programs.
The NSW Back to School and Parents vouchers have ended. Here's what NSW families can still claim.
The $150 Back to School voucher and the $250 Parents voucher were one-off COVID-era programs that finished in 2022 and 2023. They are still all over search results. What is still running for NSW families is a different, and in most cases larger, set of programs.
Every entry below links to the government page it came from and shows the date we last checked it. We don't decide who qualifies — the agency does.
See what your household can claim — 2 minutes
What happened to it
We keep closed programs on the record instead of deleting them, because "this ended in 2022 / 2023" is a genuinely useful answer — and because a benefits site that quietly removes dead schemes is indistinguishable from one that never had them right.
What's actually running now
These are current as at the last-checked dates shown, and each one links to the government page it came from.
Assisted School Travel Program (ASTP)
Free door-to-door transport to school for students with disability
Apply through your child's school, which lodges the Assisted School Travel Program application for you.
Timing: No fixed deadline — apply through the school as soon as the need arises, ideally before the school year.
Official page · last checked 2026-07-21
Start Strong fee relief (preschool)
Community preschool: up to $4,456/yr from age 3. Long day care: smaller relief from age 3 (larger from age 4) — and it stacks on top of CCS
Ask your service two questions: are you a Start Strong participating service, and is our annual fee relief declaration on file? one service at a time — you can switch services by filing new declaration forms.
Timing: No declaration, no discount — services don't always chase you for it.
Where the official source is unclear: The concession-card route to the maximum rate exists only in community preschool. In long day care the maximum rate turns on the service's location/operator or the child being Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander — a concession card alone gets the standard long-day-care rate.
Official page · last checked 2026-07-22
Public dental services (NSW)
Free for children 0-17 with Medicare, no concession card needed; adults need a concession card
Call 1800 679 336 to be triaged onto your local public dental list. You can't request an OHFFSS voucher yourself — public dental staff decide whether to offer one.
Timing: If you're offered a voucher: urgent care vouchers are valid 1 month, general and denture vouchers 3 months.
Handled by: NSW Health — your Local Health District oral health service — Phone triage on 1800 679 336; care is delivered at a public dental clinic, or via an OHFFSS voucher at a participating private practice if they offer you one
Official page · last checked 2026-08-03
School Student Transport Scheme (School Travel Pass / School Opal card)
Free public transport between home and school for eligible students
Apply through Transport for NSW for a School Opal card or travel pass if your child is starting school, or re-apply whenever they change school, name or address.
Timing: Passes renew automatically each year, but you MUST re-apply on any change of school or address, or you lose free travel. Apply early each year to have the pass ready for term one.
Where the official source is unclear: The Service NSW page confirms who applies and when you must re-apply, but the exact distance thresholds that decide eligibility (they differ for infants, primary and secondary students) are on the Transport for NSW site, which renders via JavaScript and could not be read by our tools. Check the current distance rules on transportnsw.info before relying on eligibility.
Official page · last checked 2026-07-22
Family Energy Rebate
Up to $180 each financial year ($198 if you are on an embedded network)
Apply via Service NSW when the window opens each August. Open to households that received FTB in the last financial year. Apply through Service NSW: https://www.service.nsw.gov.au/transaction/apply-family-energy-rebate-retail-customers
Timing: Opens some time in August — the official page doesn't publish a day — and closes 15 June. Re-apply EVERY year; no one reminds you.
Handled by: Service NSW — online form when the window opens — have your electricity bill and FTB details to hand
Where the official source is unclear: This round is open. The official page now says "Applications are open now and will close 15 June 2027" — read 2026-08-17. It still publishes no OPENING day (before the round opened it said only "in August 2026"), so our window keeps opening on 1 August, the earliest the official wording allows, and we never tell you it is shut on a day it might be open. The closing date is published, and until 2026-08-17 we had it 15 days late: we said 30 June, which would have shown you a live countdown for a fortnight after applications had actually closed.
Official page · last checked 2026-08-06
Active & Creative Kids vouchers
Two $50 vouchers per child each year — official wording: "If you have 2 vouchers that have not expired, you can use them together for a combined value of $100"
Apply for each voucher separately via Service NSW (released 15 Jan and 15 Jul). Check your Family Tax Benefit status in myGov first — that is the gate.
Timing: Each voucher has its own expiry date.
Official page · last checked 2026-09-11
See your own list
This page is a general list. The 2-minute check narrows it to your household — and tells you which deadlines are close.