How life will change for millions of Aussie from July 1
Don't miss out on the headlines from Economy. Followed categories will be added to My News.
From minimum wage increases to a crackdown on tobacco, a number of changes will come to effect for millions of Australians from July 1.
State and federal governments typically use the new financial year as a starting point for a range of regulatory and legislative changes.
Among this year's changes are an increase to the minimum wage and changes to skilled migration.
The NSW and Victorian governments will also crack down on tobacco with new licensing schemes.
The Albanese government will institute a number of changes from July 1. Picture: NewsWire / Andrew Henshaw
See the full list of changes here:
National
– The minimum wage will increase by 3.5 per cent from July 1. The Fair Work Commission has approved the increase in the national minimum award to $948 per week or $24.95 per hour, which will apply from the first full pay period starting on or after July 1. The minimum award wages will increase by the same percentage.
– A number of changes to nsuperannuation will come into effect from July 1. On that day, the superannuation guarantee rate will increase to 12 per cent. The new percentage will be applied to all salary and wages paid to eligible workers on or after July 1, and will mean employers will have to pay a minimum of 12 per cent to an employee's superannuation fund. The maximum super contribution base will meanwhile decrease from $65,070 to $62,500.
– From July 1, Services Australia will lift the number of Parental Leave Pay days from 110 to 120 for children born from that day. Parents, including of adoptive children, will be able to claim up to three months before the date they expect the child to 'enter their care'.
– Skilled visa income thresholds will be increased by 4.6 per cent from July 1, when the annual indexation takes affect. The Core Skills Income Threshold and Temporary Skilled Migration Income Threshold will increase from $73,150 to $76,515 while the Specialist Skills Income Threshold will increase to $141,210.
– The sorts of products smokers can purchase is set to change from July 1. In the new financial year, a raft of changes to tobacco sales will come into full affect, including the banning of flavoured or menthol cigarettes, the removal of names such as 'smooth' and 'gold', packets will be standardised at 20 cigarettes, as well as the rolling out of consistent shapes and sizes, and new health information. Many of the changes have already been implemented.
NSW Premier Chris Minns has faced criticism ahead of the state's tobacco crackdown. Photo: NewsWire/ Gaye Gerard
NSW
– From July 1, NSW will finally have a tobacco licensing scheme. Retail businesses selling tobacco and non-tobacco smoking products will be required to notify NSW Health, with stiff penalties for any breaches.
– A new Community Services Industry portable long service leave scheme will be introduced on July 1. It will give workers in the community services industry, who often work with multiple employers, access to long service leave after seven years of service to the industry with one or more employers.
– Improved protections for renters will come into effect from July 1, including making it easier for accessibility infrastructure to be installed, providing evidence that an animal is an assistance animal, and obtaining approval for minor renovations.
– A raft of changes to strata in NSW will come into effect from July 1. They include new strata committee duties, protection for owners in strata from unfair terms, increased penalties for developers, and other improvements to strata laws.
– Community land law changes will also take effect from July 1, including ensuring that sustainability is discussed during annual general meetings, that requests to change association property for accessibility infrastructure only needs a majority vote at an association meeting, and that by-laws don't ban sustainability infrastructure based on appearance – except if it is a heritage property.
Tobacconists in NSW and Victoria will require a licence from July 1. Picture: Newswire/ Gaye Gerard
Victoria
– New rules requiring motorists to slow down to 40km when passing workers on the roadside, or stationary or slow-moving vehicles (travelling at 10km/h or less) displaying flashing lights, will be introduced from July 1. Previously applicable to emergency and law enforcement vehicles, motorists will now also have to slow down for other vehicles, including accident towing trucks, roadside assistance, and incident response vehicles.
– From July 1, tobacco retailers and wholesalers will be required to apply for a licence to sell tobacco products. Tough penalties will apply for those found contravening the new regulations, inducing a fine of $829,878 for anyone operating without a licence or caught possessing or selling illicit tobacco. For an individual, it is $165,975 (or five years prison.
– A planning permit will not automatically be required for a venue with a liquor licence in Victoria beginning July 1.
– The payroll tax free threshold will increase from July 1 to will be lifted from $900,000 to $1,000,000 for annual returns, and from $75,000 to $83,333 for monthly returns.
– The Victorian Default Offer, a set electricity price, will be set at $1675 from July 1.
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan has spearheaded a number of changes. Picture: NewsWire / Aaron Francis
Queensland
– Annual rent and eligibility checks for all social housing tenants will be reintroduced from July 1. The checks will confirm if tenants still meet income thresholds.
– People convicted of a crime will pay more from July 1, when the Queensland government indexes the rate of a penalty unit. From that date, a single penalty unit will rise from $161.3 to $166.9 for most offences covered under state legislation, as well local law penalties.
Western Australia
– Reforms to WA's public sector will begin to take effect from July 1. They include the transition of the Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation to the Department of Energy and Economic Diversification and a new Office of Defence Industries. A new Department of Mines, Petroleum and Exploration will administer and drive the future development of the resources industry.
– Rebates will be made available for residential solar batteries of up to $1300 for Synergy customers and up to $3,800 for Horizon Power customers from July 1. The reforms are aimed at allowing more households access to batteries and rebates.
South Australia
– The SA government will implement cost of living measures from July 1, including capping the price of a 28-day student pass on the MetroCard to $10 – down from $28.60. The change means a trip for a student on public transport will cost about 25c.
Victorian motorists will finally have to slow to 40km for roadworks. Picture: NewsWire / Luis Enrique Ascui
Tasmania
– RBF Life Pensions, Interim Invalidity Pensions, and Parliamentary Pensions will be indexed in-line with reflation and a Consumer Price Index of 1.150 per cent on July 1.
– TasWater, Tasmania's water and sewage utility, will increase its prices by 3.5 per cent from July 1. The average residential customer will see an increase of about 12.04 cents per day.
– From July 1, the electoral reforms will establish a new scheme for disclosing political donations and electoral expenditure in parliamentary elections, and administering public funding in relation to House of Assembly elections in Tasmania.
Northern Territory
– The payroll tax-free threshold will increase to $2.5m on July 1, with maximum annual deductions also increased to $2.5 million
maximum annual deduction to $2.5 million
ACT
– On July 1, the ACT government will raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 14.
– A short-term rental accommodation levy will be introduced in the ACT on July 1. It will apply to books of no more than 28 days.
– The ACT Public Service will berestructured from July 1, including directorate mergers, function transfers and the creation of the new Digital Canberra directorate.
Originally published as How life will change for millions of Aussie from July 1
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sky News AU
an hour ago
- Sky News AU
Labor ‘out of control' by sanctioning Israeli ministers
Sky News host Andrew Bolt discusses the Albanese Labor government sanctioning two Israeli ministers. 'The hypocritical Albanese government really does hate Israel, doesn't it? It is acting like Greta Thunberg and has now hit two Israeli ministers with sanctions,' Mr Bolt said. 'But I want to know why, why this is in Australia's interest to act like useful idiots of radical Islam.'
The Advertiser
2 hours ago
- The Advertiser
Home solar battery contracts ripped up as promised government rebate ditched
Households in NSW promised federal and state government discounts on a new home solar battery have been told they are no longer eligible for both and will need to start from scratch. Australians with rooftop solar rushed to take advantage of the new federal "cheaper home batteries" discount - worth about $4000 on a typical 11.5kWh battery - in the wake of Labor's May election win. Many installers took orders and started fitting batteries on the basis the federal rebate could be claimed after July 1 on top of any state schemes. But the NSW government on June 10 announced it was scrapping its existing discount after only seven months. Instead, it decided to expand a program to encourage households to sell power stored in batteries back to the market through virtual power plants. This left installers with a lot difficult phone calls to make to battery customers who they'd promised would receive both the state Peak Demand Reduction Scheme (PDRS) discount and the federal rebate on new batteries. Some customers who had not yet had a battery fitted were offered refunds on their deposits, or new quotes with the NSW discount - sometimes worth thousands of dollars - removed. "There have been no circumstances where people can claim solar battery installation incentives under both the commonwealth and NSW schemes," a spokesman for the NSW energy department said. "We recommend that households and small businesses contact their installer to discuss any quote that claimed both incentives would apply." Installers would likely have to bear the cost of the state discount they expected where households had already paid for, and received, their battery. Solar Battery Group, which operates nationally and has been installing 40 batteries a day since the government's re-election on May 3, was one of those. "If the customer is adamant they don't want to change the size of battery or the specifications, then yes, we will wear it," chief executive James Hetherington said. "We've had a lot of people wanting finance that are very confused because those [NSW] laws changed." Mr Hetherington said each business made a choice about how to respond to the federal funding - but new policy "hand grenades" were coming thick and fast across the country. "They did warn all of us: 'Install at your own risk'," he said. "They made that quite clear and we all made our own individual decisions on what risks we were going to take based on our own margins, on our own business models." He said the industry was moving very fast. "It's never moved like this in its history with batteries. "It's had this, obviously, many times with solar and solar panels, but the battery industry is not used to this, so it's got a few growing pains in the next six months," Mr Hetherington said. A spokeswoman for Energy Minister Chris Bowen said the federal battery discount was always designed to be used in conjunction with state incentives. "We designed the cheaper home batteries program to be stackable with state incentives, and it is," she said. "NSW are now also offering a battery incentive, for joining virtual power plants, which is stackable with ours. "The design and balance of NSW incentives is a matter for them, but giving more people more support to get batteries and join [virtual power plants] is good news for the industry." But the industry at a wider level was nonetheless disappointed in the cancellation of the NSW battery installation discount. "The announcement of the new NSW scheme was not the outcome they had expected or wanted," Smart Energy Council acting chief executive Wayne Smith said. "Industry has been operating under a great deal of uncertainty as they awaited clarity around the NSW PDRS that's caused considerable pain for many," he said. "The cuts to the scheme will continue to cause pain." RESINC Solar and Batteries founder Leigh Storr did not offer customers both NSW and federal installation discounts. "I feel for any installers who've jumped the gun," he said. "What they've been selling on is hope." He said the cheaper home batteries discount was a large enough incentive on its own to encourage battery take up. "I'm in huge support of what Chris Bowen has done," Mr Storr said. The PDRS scheme in NSW, which delivered about 11,000 rebates in first six months of the program, will be scrapped after June 30. Instead households with batteries are eligible for up to $1500 to help more connect to virtual power plants, which take customers' excess energy stored in batteries and sell it on. "From 1 July the NSW Peak Demand Reduction Scheme (PDRS) incentives for installing a battery will be suspended, but the consumers will have access to higher incentives under the commonwealth cheaper home batteries program," an NSW energy department spokesman said. "Incentives under the NSW PDRS to connect batteries to virtual power plants (VPPs) will almost double, and can be stacked with the commonwealth program." Any new batteries cannot be turned on before July 1 in order to be eligible for the federal discount under the $2.3 billion cheaper home batteries program. Households in NSW promised federal and state government discounts on a new home solar battery have been told they are no longer eligible for both and will need to start from scratch. Australians with rooftop solar rushed to take advantage of the new federal "cheaper home batteries" discount - worth about $4000 on a typical 11.5kWh battery - in the wake of Labor's May election win. Many installers took orders and started fitting batteries on the basis the federal rebate could be claimed after July 1 on top of any state schemes. But the NSW government on June 10 announced it was scrapping its existing discount after only seven months. Instead, it decided to expand a program to encourage households to sell power stored in batteries back to the market through virtual power plants. This left installers with a lot difficult phone calls to make to battery customers who they'd promised would receive both the state Peak Demand Reduction Scheme (PDRS) discount and the federal rebate on new batteries. Some customers who had not yet had a battery fitted were offered refunds on their deposits, or new quotes with the NSW discount - sometimes worth thousands of dollars - removed. "There have been no circumstances where people can claim solar battery installation incentives under both the commonwealth and NSW schemes," a spokesman for the NSW energy department said. "We recommend that households and small businesses contact their installer to discuss any quote that claimed both incentives would apply." Installers would likely have to bear the cost of the state discount they expected where households had already paid for, and received, their battery. Solar Battery Group, which operates nationally and has been installing 40 batteries a day since the government's re-election on May 3, was one of those. "If the customer is adamant they don't want to change the size of battery or the specifications, then yes, we will wear it," chief executive James Hetherington said. "We've had a lot of people wanting finance that are very confused because those [NSW] laws changed." Mr Hetherington said each business made a choice about how to respond to the federal funding - but new policy "hand grenades" were coming thick and fast across the country. "They did warn all of us: 'Install at your own risk'," he said. "They made that quite clear and we all made our own individual decisions on what risks we were going to take based on our own margins, on our own business models." He said the industry was moving very fast. "It's never moved like this in its history with batteries. "It's had this, obviously, many times with solar and solar panels, but the battery industry is not used to this, so it's got a few growing pains in the next six months," Mr Hetherington said. A spokeswoman for Energy Minister Chris Bowen said the federal battery discount was always designed to be used in conjunction with state incentives. "We designed the cheaper home batteries program to be stackable with state incentives, and it is," she said. "NSW are now also offering a battery incentive, for joining virtual power plants, which is stackable with ours. "The design and balance of NSW incentives is a matter for them, but giving more people more support to get batteries and join [virtual power plants] is good news for the industry." But the industry at a wider level was nonetheless disappointed in the cancellation of the NSW battery installation discount. "The announcement of the new NSW scheme was not the outcome they had expected or wanted," Smart Energy Council acting chief executive Wayne Smith said. "Industry has been operating under a great deal of uncertainty as they awaited clarity around the NSW PDRS that's caused considerable pain for many," he said. "The cuts to the scheme will continue to cause pain." RESINC Solar and Batteries founder Leigh Storr did not offer customers both NSW and federal installation discounts. "I feel for any installers who've jumped the gun," he said. "What they've been selling on is hope." He said the cheaper home batteries discount was a large enough incentive on its own to encourage battery take up. "I'm in huge support of what Chris Bowen has done," Mr Storr said. The PDRS scheme in NSW, which delivered about 11,000 rebates in first six months of the program, will be scrapped after June 30. Instead households with batteries are eligible for up to $1500 to help more connect to virtual power plants, which take customers' excess energy stored in batteries and sell it on. "From 1 July the NSW Peak Demand Reduction Scheme (PDRS) incentives for installing a battery will be suspended, but the consumers will have access to higher incentives under the commonwealth cheaper home batteries program," an NSW energy department spokesman said. "Incentives under the NSW PDRS to connect batteries to virtual power plants (VPPs) will almost double, and can be stacked with the commonwealth program." Any new batteries cannot be turned on before July 1 in order to be eligible for the federal discount under the $2.3 billion cheaper home batteries program. Households in NSW promised federal and state government discounts on a new home solar battery have been told they are no longer eligible for both and will need to start from scratch. Australians with rooftop solar rushed to take advantage of the new federal "cheaper home batteries" discount - worth about $4000 on a typical 11.5kWh battery - in the wake of Labor's May election win. Many installers took orders and started fitting batteries on the basis the federal rebate could be claimed after July 1 on top of any state schemes. But the NSW government on June 10 announced it was scrapping its existing discount after only seven months. Instead, it decided to expand a program to encourage households to sell power stored in batteries back to the market through virtual power plants. This left installers with a lot difficult phone calls to make to battery customers who they'd promised would receive both the state Peak Demand Reduction Scheme (PDRS) discount and the federal rebate on new batteries. Some customers who had not yet had a battery fitted were offered refunds on their deposits, or new quotes with the NSW discount - sometimes worth thousands of dollars - removed. "There have been no circumstances where people can claim solar battery installation incentives under both the commonwealth and NSW schemes," a spokesman for the NSW energy department said. "We recommend that households and small businesses contact their installer to discuss any quote that claimed both incentives would apply." Installers would likely have to bear the cost of the state discount they expected where households had already paid for, and received, their battery. Solar Battery Group, which operates nationally and has been installing 40 batteries a day since the government's re-election on May 3, was one of those. "If the customer is adamant they don't want to change the size of battery or the specifications, then yes, we will wear it," chief executive James Hetherington said. "We've had a lot of people wanting finance that are very confused because those [NSW] laws changed." Mr Hetherington said each business made a choice about how to respond to the federal funding - but new policy "hand grenades" were coming thick and fast across the country. "They did warn all of us: 'Install at your own risk'," he said. "They made that quite clear and we all made our own individual decisions on what risks we were going to take based on our own margins, on our own business models." He said the industry was moving very fast. "It's never moved like this in its history with batteries. "It's had this, obviously, many times with solar and solar panels, but the battery industry is not used to this, so it's got a few growing pains in the next six months," Mr Hetherington said. A spokeswoman for Energy Minister Chris Bowen said the federal battery discount was always designed to be used in conjunction with state incentives. "We designed the cheaper home batteries program to be stackable with state incentives, and it is," she said. "NSW are now also offering a battery incentive, for joining virtual power plants, which is stackable with ours. "The design and balance of NSW incentives is a matter for them, but giving more people more support to get batteries and join [virtual power plants] is good news for the industry." But the industry at a wider level was nonetheless disappointed in the cancellation of the NSW battery installation discount. "The announcement of the new NSW scheme was not the outcome they had expected or wanted," Smart Energy Council acting chief executive Wayne Smith said. "Industry has been operating under a great deal of uncertainty as they awaited clarity around the NSW PDRS that's caused considerable pain for many," he said. "The cuts to the scheme will continue to cause pain." RESINC Solar and Batteries founder Leigh Storr did not offer customers both NSW and federal installation discounts. "I feel for any installers who've jumped the gun," he said. "What they've been selling on is hope." He said the cheaper home batteries discount was a large enough incentive on its own to encourage battery take up. "I'm in huge support of what Chris Bowen has done," Mr Storr said. The PDRS scheme in NSW, which delivered about 11,000 rebates in first six months of the program, will be scrapped after June 30. Instead households with batteries are eligible for up to $1500 to help more connect to virtual power plants, which take customers' excess energy stored in batteries and sell it on. "From 1 July the NSW Peak Demand Reduction Scheme (PDRS) incentives for installing a battery will be suspended, but the consumers will have access to higher incentives under the commonwealth cheaper home batteries program," an NSW energy department spokesman said. "Incentives under the NSW PDRS to connect batteries to virtual power plants (VPPs) will almost double, and can be stacked with the commonwealth program." Any new batteries cannot be turned on before July 1 in order to be eligible for the federal discount under the $2.3 billion cheaper home batteries program. Households in NSW promised federal and state government discounts on a new home solar battery have been told they are no longer eligible for both and will need to start from scratch. Australians with rooftop solar rushed to take advantage of the new federal "cheaper home batteries" discount - worth about $4000 on a typical 11.5kWh battery - in the wake of Labor's May election win. Many installers took orders and started fitting batteries on the basis the federal rebate could be claimed after July 1 on top of any state schemes. But the NSW government on June 10 announced it was scrapping its existing discount after only seven months. Instead, it decided to expand a program to encourage households to sell power stored in batteries back to the market through virtual power plants. This left installers with a lot difficult phone calls to make to battery customers who they'd promised would receive both the state Peak Demand Reduction Scheme (PDRS) discount and the federal rebate on new batteries. Some customers who had not yet had a battery fitted were offered refunds on their deposits, or new quotes with the NSW discount - sometimes worth thousands of dollars - removed. "There have been no circumstances where people can claim solar battery installation incentives under both the commonwealth and NSW schemes," a spokesman for the NSW energy department said. "We recommend that households and small businesses contact their installer to discuss any quote that claimed both incentives would apply." Installers would likely have to bear the cost of the state discount they expected where households had already paid for, and received, their battery. Solar Battery Group, which operates nationally and has been installing 40 batteries a day since the government's re-election on May 3, was one of those. "If the customer is adamant they don't want to change the size of battery or the specifications, then yes, we will wear it," chief executive James Hetherington said. "We've had a lot of people wanting finance that are very confused because those [NSW] laws changed." Mr Hetherington said each business made a choice about how to respond to the federal funding - but new policy "hand grenades" were coming thick and fast across the country. "They did warn all of us: 'Install at your own risk'," he said. "They made that quite clear and we all made our own individual decisions on what risks we were going to take based on our own margins, on our own business models." He said the industry was moving very fast. "It's never moved like this in its history with batteries. "It's had this, obviously, many times with solar and solar panels, but the battery industry is not used to this, so it's got a few growing pains in the next six months," Mr Hetherington said. A spokeswoman for Energy Minister Chris Bowen said the federal battery discount was always designed to be used in conjunction with state incentives. "We designed the cheaper home batteries program to be stackable with state incentives, and it is," she said. "NSW are now also offering a battery incentive, for joining virtual power plants, which is stackable with ours. "The design and balance of NSW incentives is a matter for them, but giving more people more support to get batteries and join [virtual power plants] is good news for the industry." But the industry at a wider level was nonetheless disappointed in the cancellation of the NSW battery installation discount. "The announcement of the new NSW scheme was not the outcome they had expected or wanted," Smart Energy Council acting chief executive Wayne Smith said. "Industry has been operating under a great deal of uncertainty as they awaited clarity around the NSW PDRS that's caused considerable pain for many," he said. "The cuts to the scheme will continue to cause pain." RESINC Solar and Batteries founder Leigh Storr did not offer customers both NSW and federal installation discounts. "I feel for any installers who've jumped the gun," he said. "What they've been selling on is hope." He said the cheaper home batteries discount was a large enough incentive on its own to encourage battery take up. "I'm in huge support of what Chris Bowen has done," Mr Storr said. The PDRS scheme in NSW, which delivered about 11,000 rebates in first six months of the program, will be scrapped after June 30. Instead households with batteries are eligible for up to $1500 to help more connect to virtual power plants, which take customers' excess energy stored in batteries and sell it on. "From 1 July the NSW Peak Demand Reduction Scheme (PDRS) incentives for installing a battery will be suspended, but the consumers will have access to higher incentives under the commonwealth cheaper home batteries program," an NSW energy department spokesman said. "Incentives under the NSW PDRS to connect batteries to virtual power plants (VPPs) will almost double, and can be stacked with the commonwealth program." Any new batteries cannot be turned on before July 1 in order to be eligible for the federal discount under the $2.3 billion cheaper home batteries program.
Canberra Times
2 hours ago
- Canberra Times
Tassie stadium plan is a lot of bread for a circus
Allan, who lived in Los Angeles for six years in the 1980s, writes: "We've visited the USA numerous times since, but never again. Our initial concerns as we've grown older were with their health system, where serious illness could literally cost millions. Now the political situation is what worries us. I wouldn't rule out something akin to civil war the way things are escalating. But no, I don't think Albanese should raise the Tomasi shooting with Trump personally, it would achieve nothing and detract from other more important discussions."
