Budget 2023: Everything We Know Before Jim Chalmers’ Second Budget

A “moderate budget” that offers targeted cost-of-living relief but doesn’t make a bad situation worse – that’s what Treasury Secretary Jim Chalmers is trying to communicate on Tuesday.

A year into office and inflation still too high, the Albanian government must walk a financial tightrope.

With the Aged Care budget reaching $24.8 billion this year, the Pentagon is trying to repurpose some of the budget, and the government is trying to curb the out-of-control NDIS. 15 years before years of structural deficits.

Here’s what we know about the 2023 budget so far:

Cost of living

Australians have been promised Tuesday’s budget will include a ‘substantial’ cost-of-living package designed to help distressed Australians while not adding inflationary pressure.

The $1.5 billion power package will provide up to $500 in power bill savings for over 5 million homes and 1 million businesses.

The package, which was promised as a result of an emergency parliamentary meeting in December, has been plagued with disagreements and other complications that prevented it from being rolled out early.

Expect the budget to boast that the government’s decision to intervene in the gas market will moderate gas price increases from 20% to 18% and 4% respectively over the next two years.

There are also electrification packages for low-income households and renters designed to increase energy efficiency and protect households from future price shocks in the energy market.

NED-8895-Budget 2023-What We Know So Far

welfare

JobSeeker Australians aged 55 and over expect more bi-weekly payouts.

A government-ordered survey called for all JobSeeker recipients to receive the boost, but Dr. Chalmers said this week that people over the age of 55 (women are overrepresented) were among the recipients. said to be the most vulnerable group.

However, there are signs that people under 55 may also pay more, but not by much.

Single parents on welfare benefits can extend a helping hand for several more years. Currently, a single parent receives single parent payments until the youngest child is 8 years old. After that, their pay is reduced by about $100 a week.

There have been suggestions that the age could be raised to 13 or 14, in line with the recommendations of the Task Force on Economic Equality for Women, but the government has remained tight-lipped.

The highly infamous ParentsNext program, which forces parents with young children into parenting programs and job training, or risks losing their payments, will be discontinued.

The Government has made strong proposals that it may increase Commonwealth Rental Assistance within the budget, as is widely requested.

It is not yet known how much the government will raise payments or if there are any requirements for such an increase.

NDIS has become one of the largest burdens of the federal budget. As such, growth will be cut from 13.8% to 8% by mid-2026. The government has set aside $720 million for him to fund necessary reforms to increase staff and cut costs.

Childcare

The government has promised to reduce childcare fees even before its launch, and from July 1, the subsidy rate will be abolished, and 1.2 million households will benefit.

The government pledges $55.31 billion over the next four years to make childcare more affordable.

In addition, the government will invest $72.4 million over five years to support the skills and training of workers in the early childhood education and care sector.

defense

A broad Defense Strategy Review recommended a $19 billion surpass to future estimates to modernize Australia’s defense posture and force, which the government accepted.

Defense Secretary Richard Marls said last week that the $7.8 billion already in the defense budget would be “re-prioritized.”

In terms of personnel, the DSR recommends that by 2040 more than 18,000 additional troops will be needed.

To retain existing employees, the government has already announced a $50,000 bonus for employees who serve for an additional three years after service requirements expire.

The entire program costs over $400 million.

Worker

Millions of Australians could live better off as part of a budget plan that forces employers to pay superannuation on payday instead of withholding quarterly and other payments. can.

Some experts predict young workers will earn $50,000 when they retire.

But it’s not all good news for workers, with more than 10 million Australians missing out on lower and middle income tax relief on incomes below $126,000.

Instead, the government is preparing a so-called “third phase” of tax cuts to begin next year, which will change tax rates and save thousands of high-income earners.

health

In the same way that Australia finally nearly won the war on tobacco, flavored e-cigarettes (vapes) have reared their ugly heads targeting young people.

The government has said this will make e-cigarettes more difficult to obtain, and has announced that Australians will soon need a prescription from a doctor before buying flavorless e-cigarettes. Only as a smoking cessation treatment.

Health Minister Mark Butler announced that the budget will include $234 million to fund new measures.

To curb smoking more broadly, the government has announced a 5% increase in tobacco taxes. This will generate a total of $3.3 billion in additional revenue over the next three years to help pay for health programs.

Pharmacies will allow up to 6 million Australians to buy double the price of one script as part of a revamped drug benefit scheme.

The government has announced a $50 million investment in the Future of Medical Research Fund, and Covid long-term research will also benefit from the budget.

Medicare rebates will also be extended through June 30, 2025 for heart health assessments to cover heart disease, the nation’s “leading cause of death.”

The budget will include details about the government’s Medicare overhaul.

Aging Care

A growing aging population will continue to put significant pressure on the budget, as care for the elderly will become the fifth largest area of ​​federal government spending.

Costs will rise to an estimated $29.6 billion this year, a jump of 23% from $24.8 billion in 2022.

Rising costs are due to the aging of Australia’s population, with the number of people receiving care for the elderly increasing by 3.5% from 2020-21 to 2021-22, reaching 1.5 million. .

Aged care workers will start receiving a 15% wage increase from July 1, as promised by the Albanian government and decided by the Fair Labor Commission.

It will take $11.3 billion over the next four years to fund an increase of 250,000 workers in the sector.

Costs are recovered by raising the cost of services within the sector.

home buyer

Families and friends who want to buy a home together can have the initial home warranty and overhaul to their local counterparts.

The expansion of this scheme will allow more Australians to access government guarantees. This means you can buy a home with just a 5% deposit and the government guarantees the remaining 15%.

oil and gas

Large oil and gas producers face tougher tax compliance measures as part of a budget crackdown that caps tax deductions and estimates the Treasury to raise $2.4 billion over four years .

The largest source of revenue among the 16 Technical Petroleum Resource Rental Tax (PRRT) changes is to limit annual deductions for expenditures at 90% of project revenues each year from July 2023.

school

More than 1,300 schools nationwide will benefit from $32 million in grants to upgrade school infrastructure and equipment.

Part of a $250 million effort to improve school infrastructure, the funding will fund new or improved outdoor study areas, new or upgraded air conditioning, improved ventilation, new tablets and laptops, and more. project.

Natural disasters

Cutting-edge technology will be invested in saving lives for Australians living in areas affected by natural disasters.

A nationwide messaging system is expected to be operational by 2024, but the government has not disclosed the cost of the program.

The government will spend $10.1 million to establish a task force to set up a new broadband system that will allow all emergency services agencies across jurisdictions to communicate more effectively.

Elsewhere, an additional $4.4 million will go to 83 emergency and flood relief providers in Queensland and Western Australia following recent floods.

environment

The government has committed $150 million to improve the quality of water flowing into the Great Barrier Reef.

And the national parks, including Uluru, will cost an additional $262.3 million.

culture

Australia’s nine ‘National Collecting Agencies’, including the Old Parliament House, the National Archives and the Portrait Gallery, will receive $535.3 million over four years for urgent repairs and improvements.