Wangaratta Salvation Army officer lieutenant Darren Lamotte said he had no doubt the government’s education maintenance allowance wasn’t always used to buy school books and uniforms.

Instead, the allowance was being used for luxury items and, in the worst cases, “extreme addictions”.

Several North East schools have raised concerns that payments for low-income families were being abused.

“There are families battling with extreme addiction and there is no way the money is being spent on education,” Mr Lamotte said.

“People come to places like us and say they’ve got a school camp they can’t pay for, ‘can you help us’?

“In some way we are obliged to help but one thing I do is say: ‘What did you do with the EMA?’.

“They go around in circles for five minutes and the reality is we still help them.”

Several other welfare organisations have also backed the concerns of principals and school counsellors about how changes to education payments have increased misuses.

Half the allowance was paid to parents and half to schools, but the Baillieu government last year cut the school payment and lifted the parent payment.

The Australian Education Union said the changes saved the government about $20 million.

 A Border Mail investigation in June found North East schools would lose about $2 million.

The changes also meant parents received the total allowance this year.

Victorian Principals Association president Gabrielle Leigh confirmed schools were concerned parents were now in control of all of the payment.

“It could go to gambling, it could go to anything now  there’s no controls on it,” she said.

After the payment changes, the principals pushed the government to revert to the old system and pay half to both schools and parents.

“It has alarmed principals and doesn’t seem to have any rationale,” Ms Leigh said. “Nobody is actually checking the money is going to education.”

A North East principal, who did not wish to be identified, said schools couldn’t prove the payment was being misused, but knew it because “kids talk”.

“It’s not just drugs and alcohol, it’s mobile phones and TVs,” the principal said.”

Another principal said more parents receiving the payment were still seeking help.

“Money just appears in the families’ bank account and there is no explanation that it is for their child’s education,” the principal said.

A school welfare officer agreed the payment was fuelling drug and alcohol addictions.

The officer told of a visibly drug-affected parent receiving the payment asking the school to pay for their child.

“This money feeds their habit. It doesn’t take Einstein to work that out,” the officer said.

“That money is for education. Well, make sure that’s where it goes.”

A spokeswoman for Education Minister Martin Dixon said the department did not have feedback on how individual parents used the allowance.

“Anyone who has concerns should contact the department,” she said.

“There are no plans to change how the allowance is distributed.”

She said department figures showed more than 70 per cent of parents signed their payment over to schools.

Parents Victoria chief Gail McHardy said while she was aware leaders and councils were frustrated, schools should not judge how parents manage the family budget.

Next week The Border Mail will publish a report detailing how the changes to the education maintenance allowance affect schools.