As you may be aware the 2024/25 budget was published this month and one of the main focuses was easing the pressure of the cost of living. Some of the main incentives the government have put in place to help relieve all Australians of the cost of living pressures include:
- Tax cuts for all Australians from 1 July 2024
- New power bill relief
- Cheaper medicines
- Debt relief for students
- Paid placements for nurses, teachers and social workers
Tax cuts
The government has put in the following tax cuts:
- Reducing the 19 per cent tax rate to 16 per cent
- Reducing the 32.5 per cent tax rate to 30 per cent
- Increasing the income threshold from $120,000 to $135,000 for the 37 per cent tax rate
- Increasing the income threshold from $180,000 to $190,000 for the 45 per cent tax rate
Power bill relief
The government is providing energy bill relief for Australian households and small businesses.
Households will receive a total rebate of $300 and eligible small businesses will receive $325 on their electricity bills throughout the year.
Cheaper medicines
Government is in the finalising stages of the Pharmacy agreement.
As part of the Agreement, instead of rising with inflation, there will be a one‑year freeze on the maximum Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) patient co‑payment for everyone with a Medicare card and a five‑year freeze for pensioners and other concession cardholders.
For pension or concession card holders, this means they will pay no more than $7.70 per script for up to 5 years.
Debt relief for students
The government will cap the HELP indexation rate to be the lower of either the Consumer Price Index or the Wage Price Index.
Changing the calculation of HELP indexation applied from 1 June 2023 means that the indexation rate is reduced from 7.1 per cent to 3.2 per cent in 2023 and from 4.7 per cent to around 4 per cent in 2024.
E.g. Julian had a HELP debt of $26,500 in 2023, which was the average outstanding HELP loan. With the government changes Julian will receive a credit of $1,190 across 2023 & 2024 as long as the this legislation is passed.
Paid placements for nurses, teachers and social workers
The government has announced that over 73,000 students will now receive $319.50/week while undertaking mandatory placements.
Author
Natasa Briffa
