All the financial changes for Australians from July 1

Perth Now

8 hours ago

Australians will get a boost to minimum wages while more will be squirrelled away into retirement nest eggs under changes taking place at the start of a new financial year.
July 1 marks brighter news for the hip pockets of Australians with increases to wages and welfare payments and continued energy bill support.
The national minimum wage will increase 3.5 per cent, with the lowest-paid workers taking home $24.95 per hour, or $948 per week.
The rate at which superannuation is paid into workers' nest eggs will increase from 11.5 per cent to 12 per cent and expand to working parents who take leave to care for their babies.
A mother-of-two's retirement savings will see a boost of about $14,800, with about 200,000 mums benefiting from the change annually.
But while most Australians will enjoy more in their super accounts, those with balances over $3 million, about 80,000 people, will have their accounts tax doubled from 15 per cent to 30 per cent.
Parents will gain an additional 10 days, totalling 120 days, of parental leave for babies born after July 1.
For 2.4 million people on social security payments, the new financial year brings a 2.4 per cent increase to some payments due to indexation.
Families on the Family Tax Benefit Part A, will receive $227.36 a fortnight for children aged under 13 and $295.82 for children aged 13 or over.
Those on Family Tax Benefit Part B see their payments increase to $193.34, and those with a youngest child aged five or over, the rate will increase to $134.96 a fortnight.
While aged pension rates aren't increasing, the threshold for the income and assets a pensioner must earn under to receive a full pension will lift by 2.4 per cent.
Four new Medicare items will support longer consultation times and higher rebates for specialised gynaecological care from Tuesday.
They apply to initial and follow-up consultations which last a minimum of 45 minutes, either in person or via video, while new menopause and perimenopause health assessments will also be made available.
'You simply can't be serious about strengthening Medicare without a serious focus on women's health,' Health Minister Mark Butler said. 'Women consume about 60 per cent of all health services in this country and they face a range of significant costs simply by virtue of being women.'
Meanwhile, energy bill support will continue from the government, bringing down pressure on households and small businesses with a $150 rebate automatically applied to bills in two quarterly instalments.
But some households could be in for a power bill shock as new benchmark prices take effect, with NSW customers on standing offers facing increases of between 8.3 per cent to 9.7 per cent.
Southeast Queensland customers on default plans can expect hikes of between 0.5 per cent and 3.7 per cent, while people in South Australia face rises of 2.3 per cent to 3.2 per cent.
Victorian households can expect an average one per cent bump, with some distribution zones actually set for small price drops.