On 9 May the Government delivered their 2023 Federal Budget.
Its focus is to provide cost of living assistance, with no significant fiscal reform.
The key aspects include:
Infrastructure
A review of major infrastructure projects to ensure they are properly prioritised, deliverable and value for money.
Environment
Support for the transition to sustainable energy
Housing
Expansion of First Home Buyers schemes
Additional support to deliver social and affordable housing
Social security and welfare
A 15% increase in wages for workers in the aged care sector
Increased financial support for low-income earners and the unemployed through:
- An increase to JobSeeker and other support payments
- Extended access to Parenting Payments for single parents
- Additional support for Commonwealth Rent Assistance recipients, and
- Increased childcare subsidy payments.
More resources for a crackdown on fraud in the NDIS.
Energy price relief plan (from July)
Up to $500 in electricity bill relief for eligible households and up to $650 for eligible small businesses.
Health
The Government is tripling bulk billing payments to GP's, making it cheaper to see a doctor.
A ‘60-day prescribing policy’ that will halve the cost of more than 320 medicines on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) for Australians with stable, ongoing conditions.
For more details on the Budget, click here
How does the budget impact the Illawarra? Click here for RDA Illawarra's analysis.