The 2024-25 Federal Budget was announced last Tuesday and included several measures seeking to ease cost-of-living pressures, support economic growth, and advance environmental goals.
Deciphering what these measures may mean for you can be time-consuming (and not to mention, confusing) so we’ve put together a quick, simplified guide for your convenience. Read on to find out how the new budget may affect you.
Aged care
The Transition Care Programme will be redesigned and extended to continue providing short-term care of up to 12 weeks following a hospital stay for older citizens. The program currently offers older citizens a minimum of four to six weeks of support at home following a hospital stay to complete their restorative process.
Bills
Households will receive a $300 rebate on their power bills, automatically applied as a credit of $75 per quarter, while small businesses will receive a $325 rebate.
Renters will receive a 10 per cent increase to their Commonwealth Rent Assistance payment.
Gun safety
A national firearms register will be established, providing law enforcement with near real-time information on firearms and owners.
Health
Longer specialist consultations for women with endometriosis and other complex gynaecological conditions will now be covered under Medicare from July, 2025.
The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) will introduce a one-year freeze on the indexation of co-payments for general patients, and up to a five-year freeze for pensioners and concession card holders.
The Medicare levy threshold will increase to $97,000 for singles, and $194,000 for families. For low-income earners, the threshold will increase to $26,000 for individuals, and $43,846 for families.
Access to mental health support will soon be free of charge and require no referral, with the government announcing the establishment of a national digital service.
Students
The Federal Government will commit $90 million to cover the costs of housing and construction courses, allowing another 20,000 students to access these programs at little to no cost. Payments of up to $10,000 during a student’s study will also be on offer for those wanting to learn clean energy skills under the New Energy Apprentice Payment.
The government will also reduce the indexation rate of student loans from 7.1 per cent to 3.2 per cent, backdating the reduction to June 1, 2023. This will cut $3 billion in student debt for over 3 million Australians.
Students undertaking practical placement for teaching, nursing, midwifery, and social work courses will now be paid $319.50 a week, benefiting about 68,000 higher education students and more than 5,000 VET students from July, 2025.
Tax cuts
From July 1, 2024, new tax cuts will be introduced, with the 19 per cent tax rate reduced to 16 per cent, and the 32.5 per cent tax rate reduced to 30 per cent.
The threshold at which the 37 per cent tax rate applies from will be increased from $120,000 to $135,000, and the threshold at which the 45 per cent applies from will be increased from $180,000 to $190,000.
Under the instant asset write-off scheme, small businesses with an annual turnover below $10 million will be able to claim a tax deduction on new equipment, up to $20,000.
Tradies buying new Utes can find relief too, with last year’s tax break extended for another year.
