2024-25 Federal Budget at a glance

16 May 2024

The Australian Government's 2024-25 Budget, handed down on Tuesday 14 May, focuses on:

easing cost-of-living pressures
building more homes for Australians
investing in a Future Made in Australia
strengthening Medicare and the care economy
broadening opportunity and advancing equality

COST OF LIVING

* $300 energy bill rebate for households; $325 for 1 million small businesses

* $3.4 billion to list new medicines on the PBS

* 5-year price freeze (maximum $7.70) on medicines for pensioner/concession cardholders

* 12-month ACCC inquiry into supermarket sector

* Separate review of Food and Grocery Code

* CHOICE to publish quarterly supermarket price comparison reports

Cost of Living

TAXES

* Stage 3 tax cuts amended to benefit low- and middle-income earners in package worth $359 billion over 10 years

* All taxpayers earning above $18,200 to get a tax cut – worth an average $1888 a year, or $36 a week

Taxes

HEALTH

* $2.2 billion for aged care, including extra homecare packages
* $361 million for mental health system, including a free national digital service
* $227 million for 29 extra Medicare Urgent Care Clinics
* $13 billion boost for public hospitals
* $319.50 a week for eligible student nurses/midwives/social workers on mandatory placements from July 2025
* $49.1 million to help women with complex gynaecological conditions

Health

WELFARE

* $41 million to extend eligibility for higher rate of JobSeeker

* Extended freeze on deeming rates for 876,000 income support recipients

* $45.5 milion to set up NDIS Evidence Advisory Committee

* $20 million to help people with disability navigate services

* $5.3 million for preliminary work to reform NDIS pricing arrangements

* $213.8 million to fight fraud and co-design NDIS reforms with people with disability

Welfare

HOUSING

* $11.3 billion to build 1.2 million homes by the end of decade for women in crisis, low-income families and homeless

* $1.9 billion in loans to help build 40,000 social and affordable homes

* $1.9 billion to increase maximum rates of Commonwealth Rent Assistance by a further 10 per cent. Nearly 1 million households to benefit

Housing

ENVIRONMENT

* $13.7 billion in production tax breaks for green hydrogen/processed critical minerals

* $1 billion for solar panel production
* $566 million over 10 years to map what is under our soil and seabed
* $520 million to deepen net-zero trade/engagement with our region
* $519.1 million for farmers for drought preparation
* $330 million to big business for decarbonisation
* $625 million to help rural communities cut emissions/prep for climate change

Environment

INDIGENOUS

* $700 million remote jobs program, contained in February’s Closing The Gap document
* $4 billion remote housing program for the Northern Territory

Indigenous

DEFENCE

* $101.8 million to create industrial workforce for next-gen military programs

* $5. billion boost over four years; $50.3 billion over a decade

* $1 billion to accelerate long-range strike capabilities

* $11.1 billion for navy’s new surface combat fleet

* $14-18 billion to bolster northern bases/support Indo-Pacific security

* $7 billion - $10 billion for 26 army landing craft

* $53 billion - $63 billion for AUKUS nuclear-powered subs

* $100 million for Ukraine

Defence

INDUSTRY

* $566.1 million Future Made in Australia policy over 10 years to support Australian innovation and industry, including clean energy and advanced manufacturing

* $1 billion to build the world’s first fault-tolerant quantum computer in Brisbane

Industry

SUPERANNUATION

* Up to 22 weeks of super payments (12%) for recipients of Commonwealth parental leave payments, from next financial year

* Tax on earnings from fund balances above $3 million to rise from 15% to 30%

* Employers to pay super at the same time as wages from July 2026 (average worker should be $6000 better off by retirement)

Superannuation

EDUCATION

* $3 billion worth of HECS debt wiped for 3 million+ Australians, backdated to July 1, 2023
* $319.50 a week for eligible teaching students on mandatory placements from July 2025
* $350 million for fee-free uni-ready courses.
* $90 million for 20,000 new fee-free TAFE and VET places and pre-apprenticeships
* $6.5 million for trial of age verification tech to stop young people seeing porn/violent content online

Education

SMALL BUSINESS

* $290 milion in cashflow support for up to 4 million small businesses

* Extending the instant asset write-off; small businesses with a turnover of less than $10 million will be able to deduct assets costing less than $20,000 until June 30, 2025

Small Business