Five minute guide to the 2016 SA State Budget

HOW will the State Budget affect you, your family and your business? Find out everything you need to know in our handy five minute guide.

3 min read

July 7, 2016 - 10:41AM

Australian money. Fifty dollar notes. Bundle. Roll. $50.

HOW will the State Budget affect you, your family and your business? Find out everything you need to know in our handy five minute guide.

SA’S FINANCES

A operating budget surplus of $254 million is forecast for 2016-17, rising to $400 million-plus over the next three years.
Net debt to jump more than $2 billion to $6.25 billion, largely thanks to the new Royal Adelaide Hospital.
Public sector wage growth limited to 1.5 per cent per annum for next three years.

HOUSEHOLDS

Fees and charges rose on July 1, but mostly by less than 2 per cent. Speeding fine increases are restrained this year, up by 1.7 per cent.
A single trip public transport ticket will cost $5.30, up from $5.20 last year. Drivers’ license renewals rise by 2.4 per cent.
Water and sewerage bills have dropped by up to 13.7 per cent.
A big increase in the solid waste levy, from $62 per tonne to $103 by 2019-20, is expected to flow through to households through higher council rates.

JOBS

A $109 million job creation grant scheme will pay between $4000 and $10,000 to businesses for each new worker they hire.
It is estimated these grants will support 14,000 new jobs over the next two years.

ECONOMIC FORECASTS

South Australia’s economy is expected to grow by 2% in 2016-17, rising to 2.25% the following three years. This is still below national GDP forecasts of 2.5 and 3 per cent.
Employment growth is forecast to be 0.75% in 2015-17 and 1% for each of the following three years.

TRANSPORT

$142 million of extra funding to encourage the use of public transport, including $50 million to extend the tram network to the old Royal Adelaide Hospital site.
$48 million has been set aside to upgrade the diesel railcar fleet, and there’s a $44 million industry assistance package for the taxi and chauffer vehicle industry.

EDUCATION

$250 million to be spent on improving science, technology, engineering and mathematics facilities at 139 public schools.
A $250 million program to give private schools access to cheaper loans for improving their learning facilities.

HEALTH

An extra $527 million has been budgeted to spend on the health system as patient numbers rise about 3 per cent and to offset Federal Government cuts to the health budget.
Health is the budget’s biggest single expense, costing an estimated $5.81 billion in 2016-17.

EMERGENCY SERVICES, LAW & ORDER

$45 million of extra spending is for additional resources for emergency services, including $16.2 million to strengthen the capacity to respond to bushfires and $9.2 million on fire truck safety equipment.
A commitment to recruit 313 extra police officers and boost frontline police services will cost $16.1 million.
Adding 198 prison beds across three prisons will cost the government $65.8 million, while $15.6 million is being spent on expanding the use of the home detention program.
A new system that continually monitors screening assessments of people who work with children will cost $10.6 million.

ENVIRONMENT

$34.3 million on improving the health of the River Murray.
$26.4 million will be spent on a range of grants for the waste and resource recovery sector.
$15.8 million to deal with contamination issues.

BUSINESS

The small business payroll tax rebate will be extended at a cost of $40 million.
Stamp duty concessions of up to $15,000 also will be extended and expanded for business contracts entered into before July 2017.
$29.8 million of extra spending on innovation initiatives for entrepreneurs and business.

ARTS

Her Majesty’s Theatre will be redeveloped in a $35.2 million upgrade.
$3.1 million of extra financial support for the OzAsia Festival, plus $1.4 million for a live music events start-up fund and $1 million towards keeping the Hans Heysen “The Cedars” open for public viewing.

TOURISM & LEISURE

The state’s tourism budget gets another big boost, up 43 per cent to $108 million.
Airport upgrades at Mount Gambier and Kangaroo Island will cost a combined $11.95 million.
$40 million will be spent on new and upgraded sporting facilities, including $10 million to the Football Federation of South Australia.

REGIONAL AND RURAL

$50 million of funding to support a new owner of the Whyalla Steelworks.
A $9.6 million interest-free loan scheme to help small businesses suffering cash flow problems caused by Whyalla Steelworks owner Arrium’s administration.
$20.4 million to support the continuation of the Leigh Creek township after its coal mining operations shut down.

INFRASTRUCTURE

Spending on infrastructure will total $12.1 billion over four years, led by $3.2 billion on health facilities including the new RAH.
Road projects will cost $2 billion, water infrastructure $1.6 billion, and $783 million will be invested in public transport infrastructure.
The government says its infrastructure spending will create close to 6000 jobs.