Federal Budget 2020: Your five-minute easy guide
It is a Budget without precedent, for a year unlike any other. Here are the basics you should know about the 2020 federal Budget — and how it will affect you.
Federal Budget
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- How Australia will climb out of record $1 trillion debt pile
- Calculate how new tax changes will affect you
The Federal Budget takes a deep look into how the COVID-19 global pandemic has affected Australians — and what is being done to get our economy running again.
Here’s a guide to what you need to know about the 2020 Federal Budget.
ECONOMY FORECAST 2020-2021
* Net debt $703.2 billion
* Unemployment 7.25 per cent
* Real GDP growth -1.5 per cent
* Wages growth 1.25 per cent
TAX
* Up to $2745 in tax relief for low and middle-income earners, while households will get up to $5490.
* The 19 per cent tax rate threshold will be increased from $37,000 to $45,000. The 32.5 per cent tax threshold will be increased from $90,000 to $120,000.
* A capital-gains tax exemption created for granny flats provided a written agreement is in place
* The ATO has been given an additional $15.1m to target crime in the tax and superannuation systems.
EDUCATION AND TRAINING
* $1.2b package for Australian businesses to employ 100,000 new apprentices and trainees
* $326m provided for 12,000 new domestic university placements
* $550m for universities to provide 50,000 new higher education short courses in agriculture, health, IT, science and teaching
* The fringe benefits tax that applied to businesses retraining workers has been scrapped
* The Smith Family charity will get $38m to help Australia’s poorest students finish high school.
ENVIRONMENT
* $249m boost for water and recycling industry, with another $103m for a National Radioactive Waste Management Facility at Napandee, near Kimba, South Australia
* Farmers and communities still struggling with the effects of the drought will be supported by $155.6m over four years.
* $233m for Uluru, Kakadu, Christmas Island and Booderee National Parks will receive $233m in funding, with $47.4m over four years for ocean health initiatives
HEALTH AND WELFARE
* $12b for five million pensioners and the unemployed who will pocket $500 in bonus payments ($250 in December and $250 in March).
* Thousands of new mums will qualify for paid parental leave even if they’ve been stood down during the pandemic (Usually they must be in paid work to qualify).
* No new childcare initiatives but record spending of $9bn next financial year.
* Funding for 23,000 new home care packages for older Australians
* Elderly Australians with a disability who can’t get access to the NDIS will get help from a new $125 million program.
* Aged care homes will get $746.3 million to help them manage COVID including workforce retention bonuses, infection control and training for nurses.
* $7.6 million for parents experiencing stillbirths or death of a child under 12 months
* $60 million for DV “safe places” initiative
* $9 million for research into cancer in children and young adults
* Adult children will be allowed to stay on their parents’ private health fund accounts until the age of 31
* Medicare funded mental health consults will double from 10 to 20
MORE BUDGET NEWS
YOUR FIVE-MINUTE GUIDE TO THE BUDGET
OPINION: WHY TREASURER’S ADVICE WILL LEAVE YOU BROKE
PENSIONERS TO POCKET EXTRA $500 TAX-FREE PAYMENTS
TOURISM
* $250 million program to encourage regional tourism
* $233.4 million over three years from 2021 to improve infrastructure in Commonwealth national parks. Hopes to improve tourism draw of these “internationally iconic places”.
* $6 million over two years from 2020-21 to support local tourism operators and encourage tourism to the Great Barrier Reef.
JOBS AND WORKERS
* $41b in spending on dole payments in 2020/21 but expected to almost halve to $22bn a year later.
* Under new reforms new superannuation accounts will no longer be created each time a worker starts a new job – instead the person’s super account will follow them to their next gig.
* JobKeeper to end March 28, 2021 but a “back-to-work” wage subsidy scheme for businesses employing Australians under 35 who have been forced onto welfare payments.
Firms can access $200 per week for those under 30 and $100 for those aged 30 to 35.
* No change to JobSeeker rate
INFRASTRUCTURE
* $10b allocated in infrastructure spending, including $7.5 billion in road and rail projects spread across all states and territories
* Australia’s domestic fuel security will benefit from $211m in funding while another $53m set aside for gas infrastructure
BUSINESS AND MANUFACTURING
* $1.5 billion allocated for manufacturing in six target areas: space, medicine, food and beverage, defence, resources tech, recycling and clean energy
* $800 million aimed at helping businesses work online, including $29.2m to boost early business access to the 5G network
* An additional 10,000 places have been created in the First Home Loan Deposit Scheme
* $419.9m allocated for upgrade of government’s business register
* The ATO will offer simplified GST accounting methods for businesses with turnovers under $50m
* Fringe Benefits Tax to be removed for many businesses. Companies with turnovers of between $10m and $50m will be able to access up to 10 small business tax concessions
TECHNOLOGY
* $4.5bn NBN upgrade will replace copper lines and older hardware. The upgrade, which will unlock download speeds of up to one gigabit per second for millions more fixed-line users, will take place over the next three years.
* High-speed 5G technology, which could compete with the NBN, also received a boost, with the government committing $29.3m for 5G trials in industries including agriculture and manufacturing
* $1.67b has been earmarked for the government’s cyber security strategy
* $260m has been allocated for the digital identity system for businesses
* The government will pay compensation of around $3b to Australians and citizens of other countries “for damage caused” by our national space program.
DEFENCE
* $101.7m allocated over four years for veterans’ mental health support and services.
* Infrastructure programs for Pacific allies have been funded to the tune of $124m over 10 years. Among other projects, Australian will construct a border and patrol boat “outpost” on the Solomon Islands.
REGIONAL AUSTRALIA
* $100m allocated for the Regional Recovery Partnerships program, including $30m Regional Connectivity Program and $200m for the Building Better Regions Fund
* Farmers will be able to access $50m in rebates for putting in bores and dams
MORE FEDERAL BUDGET NEWS:
Barefoot Investor: Why Treasurer’s advice will leave you broke
$103m boost to build radioactive waste dumping ground
New plan to help Aussie diggers
New top cop squad and plan to catch spies, white collar crims
Stay at home Aussies can stay on parent’s health plan for longer
Virus-hit aged care sector gets $2bn boost
Private schools’ huge funding boost over public
Domestic violence victims left behind in 2020 budget
Hildebrand: What the Treasurer said, and what he really means
Tech giants in tax firing line
Winners and losers: Did you come out in front?
Originally published as Federal Budget 2020: Your five-minute easy guide