Guide to School Drive Subsidy payments
Available to NSW residents in areas without public transport, the subsidy helps eligible students get to school by car.
Available to NSW residents in areas without public transport, the subsidy helps eligible students get to school by car.
Transport for NSW administers the School Drive Subsidy. It is available to NSW residents in areas without public transport. The subsidy helps eligible students get to school by car. It only covers part of the cost, not all of it.
School Drive Subsidy Payments are calculated based on:
multiplied by
multiplied by
Note: The per kilometre rate is based on a return journey being made each day. If the journey is only made one-way per day, then the per kilometre rate will be halved.
The School Drive Subsidy pays $0.75 per kilometre if you use a car for travel during semester 2, 2025 and semester 1, 2026. If you use a motorcycle or boat, the subsidy is $0.375 per kilometre. This rate changes every year.
The School Drive Subsidy is paid twice a year. The payments are made around February and August. The subsidy is for the preceding semester, which includes January to June and July to December. When you first apply, we ask you for your bank details during the application process.
After you have given us details of your daily school journey and your student/s have been approved, there's nothing else you need to do. At the end of each semester, your school will confirm attendance for the preceding semester. We use that information to calculate your subsidy payment. The amount is automatically paid into your bank account each semester.
You will receive notification by email when we've made the payment. Log into the School Drive Subsidy Parent Portal to check the status of your application or payments.
The School Drive Subsidy for semester 2, 2025 and semester 1, 2026 is $0.75 per kilometre for travel by car, or $0.375 per kilometre for travel by motorcycle or boat.
This rate is adjusted every year.
The subsidy is for driving school students to school or to the nearest transport pick up point, by car, motorcycle or boat.
Eligible students who travel to and from school daily are entitled to claim trips equal to the number of school days attended in a semester.
A weekly boarder who travels from home to their boarding school at the start and end of the week are entitled to a maximum of 22 trips per semester or 44 trips per year.
A term boarder who travels from home to their boarding school at the beginning and end of the term are entitled to a maximum of 9 trips per year.
Trips are determined based on the one-way distance between home and school or the nearest transport pickup point.
Travel to and from school is treated as a single trip. The subsidy is calculated based on the one-way distance.
Trips can also cover different purposes during school time, such as transporting sick children. Parents can request these additional trips by selecting 'Add additional journey' through the Parent Portal.
Payments are approved only for journeys where the student is physically present in the vehicle. For example, parents travelling without their child to attend a school function would not be subsidised.
Transport for NSW considers many factors when mapping the journey from home to school or the closest pickup spot for the bus. We consider the lot size, the garage location, and the nearest road/track to this point.
Parents can request a review of the approved journey by clicking 'Query journey’ on the parent portal. This helps parents share more details about where the garage is and the way taken, so that a further assessment can be completed.
You can claim a subsidy if the student drives to school or TAFE.
If the student driving themselves is the only eligible student for the subsidy, then the subsidy will be calculated on the student's journey alone.
Where multiple students are driven to the same school/TAFE, only one subsidy payment can be made for the journey with all students. If one of the students drives themselves to the same school, a separate journey is not payable.
For example, if a parent drives siblings A and B to school and sibling C drives themselves to the same school using a separate vehicle, the subsidy will be calculated as if student C was being driven by the parent along with students A and B.
Note: In all cases the applicant must be the parent/guardian and cannot be the student.