All the changes coming on July 1, and what they mean for your wallet
In Tasmania, meanwhile, those who fall under RBF Life Pensions, Interim Invalidity Pensions and Parliamentary Pensions will be indexed at 1.150 per cent, in line with the Consumer Price Index, on July 1. The most recent January indexation rate was 1.237 per cent.
New parents with due dates from July 1
In a positive step for birthing parents and primary caregivers, most of whom are women who will retire with significantly less super than their male peers, earnings under Services Australia's Paid Parental Leave will accrue super for the first time from July 1.
As part of the Albanese's government's improvement of the government-funded scheme, parents of children born or adopted from July 1 can also get an extra 10 days of paid leave, increasing the 22 weeks' paid leave to 24 weeks. From July 2026, that's expected to increase to 26 weeks, which new parents can claim up to three months before the child is expected to enter their care.
Workers on the minimum wage
Those under minimum award wages – estimated to be more than 2.6 million Australians – will see a pay increase of 3.5 per cent from the first full pay period either on or after July 1.
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The Fair Work Commission has approved an increase to $948 per week, which is $24.95 per hour in a 38-hour week. This is up from last year's $915.90, which saw those working 38-hour weeks under minimum award wages paid $24.10 per hour.
Workers paid under skilled visa income thresholds
Also seeing a pay increase are those looking to be remunerated under skilled visas, with thresholds increasing by 4.6 per cent when annual indexation comes into effect.
The Specialist Skills Income Threshold will increase from $135,000 to $141,210 for applications lodged from July 1, with the Core Skills Income Threshold and Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold increasing from $73,150 to $76,515. Applications lodged on or before June 30 will not have the new thresholds applied to them, and the new thresholds also won't affect existing skilled visa holders.
People who receive Centrelink payments
Some Centrelink payments will increase by 2.4 per cent on July 1 in a bid to help ease the rising cost of living for the more than 2.4 million recipients of social security payments across the country.
This means the Family Tax Benefit (FTB) Part A maximum payment for children under 13 will increase to $227.36 per fortnight, with children 13 and over increasing to $295.82 per fortnight.
FTB Part B's maximum rate, meanwhile, will increase to $193.34, and families with the youngest child aged five or over will see an increased rate of $134.96 per fortnight.
Students who use public transport … in one state only
July 1 means the South Australian government's cost-of-living measures come into effect, seeing the 28-day student MetroCard pass capped at a maximum price of $10. That's down from $28.60, meaning the average cost per trip will now be 25 cents.
For students across the country, the Albanese government's 'game-changing' 20 per cent cut to outstanding HECS debt is expected to be legislated on July 22 when parliament returns. Once the legislation is passed, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) will automatically apply the debt reduction, calculating it based on what the amount was on June 1, 2025, and adjust any indexation applied to the outstanding debt retrospectively.
Businesses subject to payroll tax … in select states and territories
If you're a business owner in Victoria, then you're in luck: from July 1, the payroll tax-free threshold will increase by $100,000 to $1 million for annual returns, and by $8333 to $83,333 for monthly returns.
In the Northern Territory, meanwhile, the payroll tax-free threshold and maximum annual deduction increases from $1.5 million to $2.5 million on July 1, with the new annual deduction dropping to $1 for every $2 of taxable wages above the tax-free threshold. Previously, it was $1 for every $4.
Households looking to install solar batteries
Only one in 40 Australian households have installed solar batteries, a figure the Albanese government pledged to increase with rebates ahead of the May 3 election. From July 1, it's not just Australian households that will be eligible for an upfront 30 per cent discount on battery purchase and installation costs, but businesses and community organisations as well.
This could shave $4000 off overall costs per new home battery with rooftop solar panels, though those systems would take a decade to pay for themselves. Read the full story here.
Anyone in the superannuation accumulation phase … under a certain threshold
Australians who are growing their superannuation balances through mandatory employer contributions, rejoice! From July 1, the general super guarantee rate increases to 12 per cent, up 0.5 per cent from last year. For those who live and work on Norfolk Island, that rate is increasing by one per cent from FY2024-25 to 10 per cent from July 1.
The maximum super contribution base is decreasing by $2570 to $62,500, however, and those who have a super balance of more than $3 million may not be as happy come July 1.
LOSERS
Taxpayers with superannuation balances of more than $3 million
July 1 will see one of Labor's key policies – and a test for Treasurer Jim Chalmers – officially come into effect, with roughly one in 200 Australian taxpayers with superannuation balances of more than $3 million facing an additional 15 per cent tax on any investment returns (including interest, dividends or capital gains) above this figure.
For Australian taxpayers who have a superannuation balance of less than $3 million, the discounted taxation rate of 15 per cent on earnings from super in the accumulation phase will not change.
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If you are someone with a $3.5 million super balance, for example, you will continue to be taxed the discounted 15 per cent rate on everything earned on the first $3 million of your super balance from July 1. It's the investment returns on the additional $500,000 that will be taxed at 30 per cent from that date. Read the full story and see all the changes here.
Greater Sydney households cop wheelie bin fee hikes
If the debate for the best Australian city was neck and neck, the new cost of picking up household rubbish may just put Sydney second-best.
From July 1, residential domestic waste service fees will rise for 31 of Greater Sydney's 34 local councils, with some households expected to fork out more than four times above the current rate of inflation for standard bin collection services.
Lane Cove Council's increase is the largest of any Sydney Council, up $76.75 to an annual fee of $637.76.
Residents under Georges River Council's jurisdiction, however, will actually pay $13 less than the FY2024-25 fee. Read the full story and see the full rates list here.
In other waste management news, Tasmania's water and sewage utilities provider, TasWater, is increasing its prices by 3.5 per cent, with the average Tasmanian residential customer expected to fork out an extra 12 cents per day.
Hundreds of thousands of households with power bills
In news that would surely elicit a quirk of the brow from Liberal Senator James Paterson, who spent weeks in the lead-up to the federal election crowing about Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's failure to deliver his promised $275 cut to residential power bills, hundreds of thousands of Australian households will pay more for electricity from July 1.
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In May, the Australian Energy Regulator revealed its most recent round of annual price setting, increasing the maximum prices retailers can charge customers on standing power plans, from July 1, by up to 9.7 per cent in some hard-hit NSW areas and up to five per cent in certain parts of Victoria.
From July 1, the average annual retail price for power in Victoria will be $1675, up $20 from the $1655 price set for the previous 12 months.
Prices in NSW, meanwhile, vary between the state's three electricity distribution networks, with Ausgrid's default price increasing by $155, Endeavour Energy up $188 and Essential Energy rising by $228. Read the full story here.
Snail mail enthusiasts and Australia Post customers
Australians who want to send letters overseas face a weighted average increase of five per cent from July 1, Australia Post says, with several retail products and services – including mail redirection and return-paid parcels – either increasing in price or discontinuing.
Domestic Parcel Post prices are increasing by a weighted average of 1.95 per cent, with Express Post costs also increasing by a weighted average of 1.52 per cent.
Separately, on June 23, the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) said it did not object to Australia Post's proposed 13.3 per cent stamp price increase, which would see the price of ordinary letters, for example, increase from $1.50 to $1.70.
Unless Minister for Communications Anika Wells disapproves the proposal within 30 days of receipt, it's expected the notified letter prices will be increased by Australia Post from July 17.
Criminals in Queensland
Penalty unit rates are being indexed by the Queensland government from July 1, meaning people convicted of a crime will pay $5.60 more per penalty unit for most offences under state legislation.
This means someone who is fined for driving without a licence – one of the most common criminal traffic offences in Queensland – facing the fine of up to 40 penalty units could pay $6676 instead of what would have been $6452 in the previous 12 months.
The Commonwealth penalty unit, meanwhile, was increased from $313 to $330 in 2024.
People who pay their tax late and don't know about this subtle change
The ATO is officially cracking down on latecomers, closing the door on some tax deductions to encourage prompt tax payments and compensate the community for the cost of delays.
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According to Mark Chapman, HR Block's director of tax communications, any interest the ATO charges for overdue or unpaid tax debts, or other fees, will no longer be tax-deductible. Currently, the ATO's general interest charge is 11.17 per cent, compounding daily. Read the full story here.
With David Barwell, Mike Foley, Millie Muroi, Dominic Powell, Noel Whittaker.
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Sydney Morning Herald
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- Sydney Morning Herald
Chalmers hits back at critics talking down economic talkfest before it has even begun
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has rounded on critics of the government's economic roundtable, insisting the three-day meeting to map out ways to improve Australians' living standards will not be a waste of time. As the Greens vowed to use their balance of power in the Senate to drive progressive reforms from the roundtable, Chalmers said that next week's forum would be the start of a three-year drive to increase productivity rather than 'instant policy gratification'. The roundtable begins on Tuesday with discussions to focus on issues ranging from regulatory barriers to building new homes, the structure of the tax system and recognition of occupational licences across state and territory boundaries. The government has already ruled out substantial tax reform from the roundtable, especially in contentious areas such as the GST and negative gearing. There have also been criticisms that the roundtable could become a talkfest that will fail to deliver policies to address the nation's slowdown in productivity growth. But Chalmers said he wanted to push back at critics, many in the Coalition, who have claimed that the gathering will be a waste of time. Loading 'I feel the effort we've put in, which has been very, very substantial, probably the most intensive period of consultation that I've been involved in, I feel like it's already worth it,' he told this masthead. 'You shouldn't anticipate that we will have every problem solved in the economy at the end of three days of fruitful discussions, but it will be a really important way to inform the decisions of the cabinet.' Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the treasurer have at times struck different tones, creating a perception that Chalmers is more keen to use the roundtable to enact bigger reforms, though the pair have not been obviously at odds over any specific policy.
The Age
2 hours ago
- The Age
Chalmers hits back at critics talking down economic talkfest before it has even begun
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West Australian
2 hours ago
- West Australian
Three days to turn up ideas for three budgets: Jim Chalmers has big roundtable ambitions
By Thursday evening you should know what the Albanese government wants to do with its next three years in power. At least, that's the best case scenario for Treasurer Jim Chalmers. But the wooden bugs inlaid in the ceiling of the Cabinet room have heard a lot of hot air and ideas in their decades. So, too, the old political hands who suspect next week's economic roundtable will be another in a long line of ambitious talk fests that lead to minimal change. The money man and his hand-picked roundtable participants are sifting through hundreds of suggestions for how to fix poor productivity, a budget mired in red ink and bolster economic resilience. They'll spend three days next week in the sacred Cabinet room, locked away from distractions and prying eyes, aiming for genuine conversation to thrash out potential solutions. Dr Chalmers has promised a late and lengthy press conference on Thursday evening to relay the next steps to the public. But he insists that even if only a handful of concrete pledges emerge the intense consultation over the past several weeks has already made the exercise worth it. 'We've shaken the tree. There's a whole bunch of ideas. We've got people grappling with the big trade-offs that governments have to make in economic policy,' he told Agenda during a one-on-one interview this week. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his Treasurer unleashed the beast in June when they announced the roundtable in twin National Press Club speeches delivered a week apart. The Government has expressed surprised at just how many ideas people had stashed away and were willing to voice. Treasury has received almost 900 submissions and the Productivity Commission another couple of hundred for its 'five pillars' reports feeding in to next week's talks. The core group of 22 attendees spending the whole three days next week in the cabinet room, and the 25 others invited to attend individual sessions, will bring their own thoughts. Regulators have also offered up 140 new ideas to cut red tape. Dr Chalmers has met with more than 75 of the nation's top business leaders over the past month, while ministerial colleagues have collectively heard from more than 700 people across 41 pre-roundtable meetings in their own portfolios. In fact, the sheer onslaught of suggestions has led the Government to tamp down expectations over the past fortnight. 'I see this as three days to help inform three budgets,' Dr Chalmers said. 'There'll be a lot of work that begins on Thursday, not ends on Thursday. 'I'm pretty confident that the directions that people are encouraging us to take, that there will be elements of that that we'll be able to pick up and run with.' Mr Albanese has also been keen to emphasise that the talks might be in the Cabinet room, but they are not Cabinet discussions. His Government will pick and choose what it does with the suggestions that emerge — and that will take time. 'There will be some things that are put forward that can be done immediately. Some things can be the result of legislation, some things will feed into next year's Budget, some things will feed into a future commitments about future terms,' he said this week. Many of the core participants are reluctant to outline their thinking publicly ahead of the roundtable, but there is clear consensus already building in areas such as speeding up environmental and planning approvals and reducing duplication across State and Federal processes. This was reflected in leaked Treasury advice obtained by media this week which set out options for speeding up approvals and clearing a backlog of housing applications as possible outcomes from the talks. Dr Chalmers, who has been briefed weekly on all the submissions, said his interests lay in making the Federation work more effectively, better regulation and faster approvals. 'My broad view, as you know, is that if it's good for Western Australia, it's usually good for the nation,' he said, talking about whether the States would get on board. 'WA plays a key defining role in our national economy, and so we work closely with Rita and Roger and the West Australian colleagues to find these win-wins and to make progress.' State treasurers, meeting on Friday, agreed to work across jurisdictions on faster approvals for major projects, cutting red tape and reducing overlap, boosting competition and building more homes faster. They also agreed to continue work on a model for road user charges — needed to replace fuel excise as more people start driving EVs — but cautioned that would take time. Independent MP Allegra Spender has been speaking to fellow roundtable participants and said there was clear recognition across the board that environmental laws were failing to protect nature and stymieing progress on renewables and housing. 'Reforming these in line with Graeme Samuel's recommendations is an urgent priority for almost everyone I've spoken to,' she said. Commonwealth Bank chief executive Matt Comyn has also pointed to housing supply and the energy transition as key priorities, while unions back a 'fast to yes, faster to no' approach for renewables projects. 'We think there is a growing consensus on the need to tackle intergenerational inequality in Australia. We hope the roundtable participants work together to help address this,' ACTU secretary Sally McManus said. ACCC head Gina Cass-Gottlieb has also been speaking with other participants and a spokeswoman said there was a shared interest in competition, innovation and 'right fit regulation'. Red tape is also in the sights of business participants. Council of Small Business Organisations Australia chair Matthew Addison said that 'regulatory burden and complex compliance obligations (were) impacting businesses of all sizes'. The Business Council of Australia, representing some of the nation's largest companies, this week estimated red tape cost the country more than $110 billion a year in compliance costs and called for a target to cut this by 25 per cent by 2030. The idea is similar to one put forward by the Productivity Commission as well as that being pursued in the UK by Keir Starmer and is in line with Dr Chalmers' thoughts about the 'Abundance agenda' (after Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson's influential book). Better regulation aside, artificial intelligence and tax are proving to be more contentious topics. Take the proposal from the Productivity Commission to lower company tax rates for all but the 500 largest businesses, partially offset by a new 'cashflow tax'. Big business rejected the whole plan, but COSBOA backed the company tax cut element, although it signed on to a BCA-led statement against the cashflow tax element. Mr Comyn said of course the Commonwealth Bank would like a tax cut, 'but I don't think that's the highest priority'. Last week, Dr Chalmers warned participants that he wanted them to start talking before gathering in Canberra and that any ideas costing money had to come with suggestions on how to offest the extra burden. His message has been heeded in part. Not the money part, though. 'We need to make sure that the ideas that people put forward are affordable, and I see that our political opponents and others have criticised that,' Dr Chalmers said. 'But the alternative to that is telling people to bring unaffordable ideas. The alternative to this roundtable is to involve people less.' One person — involved in preliminary discussions but not heading to Canberra — thought Treasury should simply reject any proposals that didn't detail where the money would come from. Ms Spender says she believed there was appetite for a proper tax reform process, while the BCA called for a snap three-month review. 'Everyone acknowledges that we can't fix our tax system in a single afternoon, but there's appetite to kick start a reform process that can examine the many interesting proposals put forward to date,' she said. But shadow treasurer Ted O'Brien indicated in a speech on Friday that taxes were a red line for the Coalition. 'From recent media reports, it looks like the roundtable has been engineered to rubber stamp a doubling down on Labor's failed tax and spend strategy,' he said. 'Let me be crystal clear: the Coalition will be no such rubber stamp. And we reject any suggestion Labor has a mandate to hike taxes.' He also likened the roundtable to Willy Wonka's famed chocolate factory, with Dr Chalmers as the candy man himself offering up 'the tasty temptation of higher taxes mixed with big doses of debt', in a speech that might leave the Treasurer reconsidering Mr O'Brien's invitation. Nevertheless, Dr Chalmers said he had an 'overwhelming sense of gratitude' that people had largely approached the talks in the right spirit. 'I don't see my role as … banging heads together. I'm trying to draw the threads together where there is sufficient common interest and sufficient common ground for the Government to do further work,' he said. 'Our job is to make the most of this opportunity before this window of opportunity shuts.'
