Federal Budget Summary 2023: housing, pension, energy bill relief

Easing the cost-of-living pain for millions of Australians is a key focus of the Albanese government’s budget. Here’s what is included and who will benefit the most.

Cost-of-living relief was a centrepiece of Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ Budget.

But not all Australians will benefit.

His $14.6bn hip pocket pledge aims to provide help with power bills, bring down out-of-pocket health costs, support vulnerable Australians, create more affordable housing and boost wages.

Here’s what is included and who will benefit:

COST OF LIVING

*$14.6bn in relief, including $500 energy rebates for 5.5m households and 1m businesses

*Thousands will miss out on the electricity bill relief worth up to $500 under an income threshold cut-off. For families with one child, the Family Tax Benefit is cut off after you reach a combined income of more than $108,000

*Relief will be targeted to pensioners, Commonwealth Seniors Health Card holders and households receiving income support including Family Tax Benefit A and B

*$11.3bn to fund a 15 per cent pay rise for aged care workers

*$9bn in additional childcare subsidies

*$2.2bn for primary health care, the first step in major reforms to Medicare

*$1.9bn to extend sole parent payments until children turn 14

TAXES

*No changes to impending Stage 3 tax cuts, which have been legislated to start in July 2024 and deliver annual savings of up to $9075 for high income earners

*Petroleum Resource Rent Tax changes to bring in another $2.4bn

*Minimum 15 per cent tax for large multinational companies

*Tobacco tax up 5 per cent every year for three years

brakes on the amount small business can claim for a piece of new equipment – down from $150,000 to $20,000 – making it impossible for businesses to instantly claim the cost of new commercial vehicles as a tax deduction

HEALTH AND AGED CARE

* $3.5bn to help GPs provide free, bulk-billed consultations to around 11.6m pensioners, concession card holders and those under 16

* 60 days’ worth of medicine for the price of a single prescription for people with chronic illness from September

* $50m for the Medical Research Future Fund, including long Covid research

* The Medicare rebate to be extended for heart health assessments until June 30, 2025.

* costs to rise to an estimated $29.6bn, up from $24.8bn in 2022.

* $11.3bn over the next four years to fund a 15 per cent pay rise for 250,000 aged care workers from July 1.

WELFARE

* $40 per fortnight increase for JobSeeker recipients – plus those on Youth Allowance, Austudy and other income support payments

* Sole parents will be able to receive the single parenting payment until their youngest child turns 14 – up from the current age of eight

* The much maligned Parents Next program that forced parents with young kids to train or risk losing their payments will be axed

* $1.9bn for First Nations’ health, housing, education, employment and other essential services

HOUSING

* Commonwealth Rent Assistance to be increased by 15 per cent or $31 extra a fortnight for people renting in the private market and community housing

* The expansion of the first-home guarantee scheme, allowing family and friends to purchase a home together with a 5 per cent deposit

* New tax break for build-to-rent projects, cutting the managed investment trust withholding tax from 30 to 15 per cent

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ENVIRONMENT

* $1bn to help provide low-cost loans for double-glazing, solar panels and other improvements that will make homes easier – and cheaper – to keep cool in summer and warm in winter

* $845m for enhanced biosecurity measures

* $302m to help farmers transition to a low emissions future and improve agricultural sustainability

* An extra $262.3m for national parks

* $121.0m to establish Environment Protection Australia

* $200m for disaster prevention projects across Australia, including levee and drainage system upgrades, seawalls, bushfire risk reduction projects and more.

* $310, in tax incentives for small businesses to invest in energy efficiency and electrification.

JOBS AND WORKERS

* Australians aged 55 and over to get extra JobSeeker support, down from 60

* $200m for place-based partnerships and projects that are delivering measurable success.

DEFENCE

* $2bn to “harden” ADF bases in the north, including Darwin, RAAF Base Townsville and Cocos (Keeling) Islands

* $1.6bn for more long-range strike missiles and systems

* 2.5bn for manufacturing of guided weapons and 155mm artillery and sea mines

– $591m Advanced Strategic Capabilities Accelerator for Defence innovation, science and technology programs.

– $1.9bn economic and security assistance for Pacific

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SUPERANNUATION

– From 2026, employers must pay super at the same time as wages

– $40m to fund an ATO compliance program targeting unpaid super

– Broader crackdown on unpaid tax and super by medium and large businesses, forecast to net $440m over four years

– Increased tax on super over $3m from 2026

EDUCATION AND CHILDCARE

* $4.9bn boost in support to about 1.1 million Australians looking for work, studying or doing apprenticeships

* $32m in grants to upgrade infrastructure and equipment at 1300 schools. The funding, part of a $250m commitment to improving school infrastructure, will go towards projects like new or upgraded airconditioning.

* $18.7m over four years to expand existing higher education student support programs.

* $55.31bn across the next four years to make childcare more affordable.

* $72.4m over five years to support the skills and training of workers in the early childhood education and care sector.

* 1.2 million families are set to benefit from July 1 when subsidy rates are lifted.

* $2.8m over four years to streamline the delivery of the Additional Child Care Subsidy (ACCS)

ENERGY

– $2bn in a new ‘Hydrogen Headstart’ program, so Australia can be a world leader in producing and exporting the zero-emission future fuel

* changes to Petroleum Resource Rent Tax, delivering a greater return on the sale of our natural resources, sooner.

TRAVEL

Revenue generated through the lifting of the passenger movement charge to $70 on every departure from Australia will now hit $1.38bn in 2024/25.

Originally published as Federal Budget Summary 2023: housing, pension, energy bill relief