2023 prices: Geelong residents to save on rail, pay more at the tip
New legislation, rules, and price changes will become effective on New Year’s Day. Here’s what you need to know.
Geelong
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New legislation and rules will become effective on New Year’s Day, including cash boosts for welfare recipients and slashed prescription medication.
Geelong residents are also paying more to go to the tip than they did the previous year, while they can look forward to cheaper rail in coming months.
From January 1, Australians who rely on Centrelink will be some of 2023’s biggest winners, with the payments set for their biggest boost in 25 years.
The Youth Allowance rate will go up by at least $19 a fortnight in the new year, with youth and student payments to be indexed by more than 6 per cent.
People 24 years old or younger with a student or apprenticeship, or aged 21 years old or younger and looking for work, are eligible for the Youth Allowance payment.
From January 1, the basic rate of Youth Allowance for singles will go up by at least $19.10 a fortnight, with the maximum figure an extra $41.40 a fortnight.
Austudy recipients will see an increase to their rate of between $32.40 and $41.40 a fortnight depending on their living arrangements and if they have dependent children.
Those on the disability pension aged under 21 and with no children will see a boost of between $27.40 and $40.70 a fortnight, with boosts also announced for ABSTUDY, the Carer Allowance and the Pharmaceutical Allowance.
But Geelong commuters will have to wait until March for a big reprieve, when state government plans to cap V/Line fares comes into effect.
On March 31, the price of a full fare ticket from Geelong to Melbourne will be slashed by 66 per cent, to just $9.20 as a result of an election promise.
At a Geelong municipal level, residents, fees have had small increases across the board with residents paying more for parking fines and animal registrations.
Geelong residents now pay $32.50 per car bootload to drop off rubbish at the tip, up $3.50 from 2021-22 and $9.50 more than the 2019-20 cost.
The cost of dumping industrial waste has also risen $24.58, now costing $220.58 per unit at the tip, while green waste has also risen by $24 to $206 per unit dropped off at landfill.
In the Surf Coast Shire, a cubic metre of uncompacted household waste will cost residents $103 to drop off at landfill, up two per cent, while industrial waste has risen over 10 per cent to $246 a tonne.
The state government has capped rate rises at 1.75 per cent a year, meaning ratepayers in Geelong will pay, on average, $61.67 more.
For the first time in its 75-year history, the maximum cost of general scripts under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) will fall.
It means someone taking one medication a month could save as much as $150 every year, or a family taking two or three medications could save as much as $300-$450 a year.
Meanwhile, Medicare-rebated psychology sessions will drop from a maximum of 20 sessions to 10 sessions per year.
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Originally published as 2023 prices: Geelong residents to save on rail, pay more at the tip
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