New laws and changes that will affect Australia from July 1, 2018
AUSTRALIANS will see a raft of changes come in from July 1 that will change the way we all work and live. From plastic bags and passports to taxation and air travel, see what’s afoot.
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AUSTRALIANS are about to see a raft of changes come in from July 1 that will change the way we all work and live.
See what’s afoot in some of the new rules coming into force below:
INCOME TAX RELIEF
Taxpayers will be receiving modest relief after the Turnbull Government’s seven-year income tax plan passed Parliament. While the cuts start this year, they will deliver a rebate of up to $530 a year for low and middle income earners from July 1 in 2019. The tax break begins at $200 a year for those in the lowest tax bracket and rises to $530 a year for those earning up to $90,000 under stage one of the plan. Stage two of the plan will lift the ceiling of the 32.5 per cent tax bracket from $87,000 to $90,000, delivering an immediate tax cut of up to $135 for about three million workers from July 1 this year.
The ceiling of that bracket will then rise again to $120,000 from July 1, 2022, delivering tax breaks of up to $1350 for about 1.8 million taxpayers, and the 19 per cent tax bracket ceiling will lift from $37,000 to $41,000.
About 1.8 million higher income earners will get a tax cut under stage three of the plan in 2024, which abolishes the 37 per cent tax bracket entirely and lifts the 32.5 per cent tax bracket to $200,000.
FAMILY PAYMENTS
From July there are changes to family assistance payments that may affect you. If you receive Family Tax Benefit (FTB) Part A and an income support payment, the FTB Part A income test will be used to work out your FTB Part A payment rate if your employment income reduces your income support payment to nil.
You’ll need to give a family income estimate to work out your payment. If you don’t provide it in 21 days, your Family Tax Benefit payment will be cancelled.
Your FTB Part A may be reduced or stopped for the period your income support payment reduces to nil. If your child is a dependent and receives a payment, their rate may change too.
If you withdraw superannuation for your first home they won’t count withdrawals under the First Home Super Saver Scheme as part of your taxable income.
If your child doesn’t meet immunisation or health check requirements your FTB Part A payments may be cut by up to $28.28 per fortnight per child.
MIINIMUM WAGE AND PENALTY RATES
Around 2.3 million of Australia’s lowest paid workers will get a 3.5 per cent pay increase from July 1, with the national minimum wage to increase by $24.30 per week following the Fair Work Commission’s 2017-18 Annual Wage Review.
That brings the weekly minimum wage to $719.20, up from $694.90.
Sunday penalty rates are also changing. Full -time and part-time hospitality workers will have penalty rates decrease by 10 per cent while causal employees will continue to get the same rate.
Retail workers will drop by 15 per cent with an extra five per cent cut for casual workers.
Pharmacy employees' penalty rates will drop by 15 per cent and 10 per cent for fast food employees.
NEW PAYROLL SYSTEM
Employers with 20 or more employees must report payments such as salaries, wages, pay-as-you-go (PAYG) withholding and superannuation directly from their payroll or accounting software from July 1 under the Single Touch Payroll system. It could be expanded to include employers with 19 or fewer employees from July 1, 2019.
PASSPORT PHOTOS
From July 1 there will be new guidelines for passport pictures. The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said in a statement glasses could no longer be worn in photos.
“This will further strengthen the integrity of the Australian passport,” the statement said.
“Research has shown that glasses adversely affect passport facial matching. Matching is more accurate without glasses.”
A limited exception may apply for medical reasons when a medical certificate is supplied.
CARRY-ON LUGGAGE
The decision comes after a foiled bomb plot on an Etihad Airways flight from Sydney in July 2017.
There will be tougher screening at airport security and the measures will also extend to Australian domestic passengers departing from international terminals.
From June 30, powder products must be presented separately as travellers go through security.
*There is no limit on organic powders, such as food and powdered baby formula.
*There are quantity restrictions on the amount of inorganic powder that can be carried, such as salt, talcum powder and sand.
*Inorganic powders must be in containers of 350 millilitres (volume), 350 grams (weight) or less.
*The total volume of inorganic powders must not exceed 350 millilitres, 350 grams per person.
*Passengers cannot tip powders out to fall under the 350ml threshold as the restriction is calculated on total container volume.
*There are no restrictions on the number of containers of inorganic powders per person, provided the total volume of all the containers of inorganic powder is 350 millilitres or less.
*At the screening point all powders in your carry-on baggage must be separately presented for screening. Unlike liquids, they do not need to be put in a re-sealable plastic bag.
POWER PRICES
AGL has announced it will lower electricity prices across New South Wales, Queensland and South Australia. From July 1, AGL prices will change in NSW, Queensland, SA and WA, however there will be no change to gas prices in Queensland. Origin Energy has announced it will be cutting electricity and gas prices in some parts of the country from July 1, with rates frozen in other areas.
Origin has reduced its prices in South East Queensland and South Australia, while rates in New South Wales and the ACT will go unchanged. Natural gas customers in NSW can expect a price reduction, while those in the other states will see rates stay the same.
FOOD LABELLING
From 1 July 2018, if your business grows, produces, manufactures, distributes, imports or sells food in retail stores in Australia, you will need to comply with the new Country of Origin Labelling laws. This means food products sold in Australian supermarkets or retail outlets must display the new food labels.
SUPERANNUATION
From July 1 2018, the government has introduced an incentive for over-65s to downsize their homes, and make super contributions up to $300,000, outside the usual non-concessional (after-tax) contributions cap.
Rules will be tightened for tax deductions on personal contributions to ensure super fund members who receive a tax deduction on personal super contributions are completing ‘Notice of Intent’ forms.
PENSIONERS
From July 1 2018, to receive Age Pension or Disability Support Pension (DSP), a person will need:
*10 continuous years of Australian residence including at least five years during their Australian working life, or
*10 continuous years of Australian residence and proof they have not received activity tested income support for cumulative periods of five years or more, or
*15 years of continuous Australian residence.
PLASTIC BAGS
From July 1, single-use plastic bags will be banned in Queensland and Western Australia.
South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT have already banned the plastic bags.
Coles has been phasing out single-use plastic bags in Victoria and NSW after Woolworths removed its bags on June 20.
TRANSPORT COSTS
Road tolls are about to change across the country. Transurban, which operates toll roads in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, is increasing its prices by up to nine cents from July 1.
In Sydney, car tolls on the Cross City Tunnel will increase by between one and three cents, with a typical westbound trip to rise from $5.67 to $5.70.
Eastern Distributor tolls will rise by eight cents from $7.31 to $7.39.
Some Lane Cove Tunnel tolls will increase by up to two cents.
The toll for cars using the Hills M2 Motorway will rise between three and seven cents.
In Brisbane, car tolls on the Gateway Motorway, Logan Motorway, Legacy Way, Go Between Bridge and Clem7 will increase by between three and nine cents.
In Melbourne, car tolls on CityLink will increase by between one and five cents, meaning a trip across the Bolte Bridge will change from $3.06 to $3.08.
Melbourne operator EastLink will increase its prices by less than Transurban’s CityLink to 1.9 per cent. The toll cap for a car is changing from $6.13 to $6.25 per trip.
Opal card fares in NSW will increase by 2.2 per cent in July, but Opal cards for seniors would not be affected.
DISABILITY EMPLOYMENT SERVICES
There will be changes to the Disability Employment Services program.
There are also new rules and stronger penalties for job seekers who don’t meet their requirements in jobactive and Disability Employment Services. They also apply to participants in ParentsNext.
If you fail to meet requirements your payment will stop until you talk to your provider.
If you don’t have a valid reason, you may also get a demerit.
You could get a financial penalty if you:
*Get 5 demerits in 6 months or haven’t been turning up to job interviews, and
*Keep missing appointments or activities
This means you may lose some or all of your payment. In some cases, you could have your payment cancelled.
If you are in jobactive or Disability Employment services, you could also have your payment cancelled if you:
*Don’t accept or start a suitable job
*Quit a job without a valid reason, or
*Lose your job because of misconduct
If your payment is cancelled, you’ll need to submit a new claim and wait at least four weeks before you get paid.
PAYMENTS FOR CARERS
From July, the government will pay eligible carers the Carer Supplement and the Child Disability Assistance Payment.
If you’re eligible, payments will go into your bank account by July 31.
If you don’t get the payments but think you’re eligible, check your Centrelink online account.
JOB SEEKERS
From 1 July 2018, there are new rules and stronger penalties for job seekers who don’t meet their requirements.
The new rules apply to job seekers in jobactive and Disability Employment Services. They also apply to participants in ParentsNext.
However, if you don’t meet your requirements your payment will stop until you talk to your provider. If you don’t have a valid reason, you may also get a demerit.
You could get a financial penalty if you:
*Get 5 demerits in 6 months or haven’t been turning up to job interviews, and
keep missing appointments or activities
This means you may lose some or all of your payment. In some cases, you could have your payment cancelled. You won’t be able to avoid these penalties by doing an activity.
You can avoid demerits and penalties by:
*Going to your appointments and job interviews
*Doing your job search
*Doing the activities in your plan, and always letting your provider know beforehand if you can’t meet a requirement
NEWSTART AND YOUTH ALLOWANCE
From July 1 you may need to meet with an Employment Services Provider before you get your first payment. Go here for more details.
GST AND ONLINE SHOPPING
The Turnbull Government’s new online GST laws will require businesses with annual turnover greater than $75,000 to collect GST on purchases under the current low-value threshold of $1000. It affects Amazon Australia, which will stop shipping to local addresses from its global website. Shoppers will be sent to its Australian site instead. Other global brands are expected to follow their lead.
PROPERTY AND GST
In May last year, the Federal Government announced that it will strengthen compliance with the GST law by requiring purchasers of newly constructed residential properties or new subdivisions to remit the GST directly to the ATO as part of settlement.
The ATO reports that under the current law (where the GST is included in the purchase price and the developer remits the GST to the ATO), some developers are failing to remit the GST to the ATO despite having claimed GST credits on their construction costs. As most purchasers use conveyancing services to complete their purchase, they should experience minimal impact from these changes. This change takes effect from July 1, 2018.
PARKING FINES
The NSW Government is cutting its 10 most lucrative parking fines by 25 per cent.
Fines will be dropped by $30 in government-controlled parking zones including Barangaroo, around the Sydney foreshore, The Botanic Gardens, Centennial Park, Sydney Olympic Park, and Wentworth and Parramatta Parks.
The 10 fines include park for longer than permitted, park after ticket expired, park after meter expired, park without ticket displayed, stand vehicle in area longer than allowed, not stand vehicle in marked parking space, park without paying meter fee, park without current loading zone ticket, remain in ticket-operated loading zone and stop in restricted area.
CHILDCARE
After July 1, parents get access to a New Child Care Package from July 2, where a new Child Care Subsidy (CCS), will replace the current Child Care Benefit and Child Care Rebate.
The CCS will be supported by the Child Care Safety Net and is designed to be simpler than the current multi-payment system, and is expected to offer more help to low and middle income families. To be eligible to receive CCS for a child, the child must be aged 13 years or under and not attending secondary school. The child also must meet immunisation requirements and the parent or carer must meet residency requirements.
Originally published as New laws and changes that will affect Australia from July 1, 2018
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