Highlights of the Federal Budget 2020/21

§  JobMaker hiring credit – (already announced)

• A new JobMaker hiring credit to encourage businesses to hire younger Australians.
• The JobMaker hiring credit will be payable for up to twelve months and immediately available to employers who hire those on JobSeeker aged 16-35.
• It will be paid at the rate of $200 per week for those aged under 30, and $100 per week for those aged between 30-35.
• New hires must work for at least 20 hours a week.
• All businesses, other than the major banks, will be eligible.
• Treasury estimates that this will support around 450,000 jobs for young people.

§  Record investments in skills and training

• Established the $1 billion JobTrainer fund to create up to 340,000 free or low-cost training places for school leavers and job seekers.
• Committed $2.8 billion to protect 180,000 apprenticeships and trainees.
• Government commit an additional $1.2 billion to create 100,000 new apprenticeships and traineeships, with a 50 per cent wage subsidy for businesses who employ them (including GTOs).
• 50,000 new higher education short courses in agriculture, health, IT, science and teaching
• 12,000 new Commonwealth supported places for higher education in 2021
• 2,000 indigenous students through the Clontarf Foundation to complete Year 12 and pursue further education or find employment.

§  Backing hard working Australians

• More than 11 million taxpayers will get a tax cut backdated to 1 July this year.
• Lower- and middle-income earners will this year receive tax relief of up to $2,745 for singles, and up to $5,490 for dual income families compared with 2017-18.
• Government will bring forward Stage Two of legislated tax cuts by two years, lifting the 19 per cent threshold from $37,000 to $45,000, and lifting the 32.5 per cent threshold from $90,000 to $120,000.
• Government will also retain also retain the Low and Middle Income Tax Offset for an additional year.
• Tax cuts are part of a major structural reform to tax system Treasurer says will see around 95 per cent of taxpayers face a marginal tax rate of no more than 30 cents in the dollar in 2024-25.

§  Kick-starting investment

• From tonight, over 99 per cent of businesses will be able to write off the full value of any eligible asset they purchase for their business. This will be available for small, medium and larger businesses with a turnover of up to $5 billion until June 2022.
• Government has announced companies that have been doing it tough throughout this crisis will be able to use their losses earlier.
• Losses incurred to June 2022 can be offset against prior profits made in or after the 2018-19 financial year.

§  Women’s economic security statement

• This Budget includes our second Women’s Economic Security Statement, with $240 million in measures and programs to support:
• New cadetships and apprenticeships for women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics
• Job creation and entrepreneurialism, and
• Women’s safety at work and at home.

§  Strengthening recovery and building our capability

• $1.3 billion Modern Manufacturing plan (announced last week) will target six national manufacturing priorities:
• food and beverage manufacturing
• resources technology and critical minerals processing
• medical products
• recycling and clean energy
• defence industry, and
• space industry.
• Also announced:

§  $459 million in additional funding to the CSIRO

§  $1 billion for new research funding for our universities,

§  $1.9 billion in new funding as part of our energy plan to support low emissions and renewable technologies

§  Infrastructure investment to drive jobs

• $14 billion in new and accelerated infrastructure projects support a further 40,000 jobs (already announced).
• Government also announced a $2 billion investment in road safety upgrades
• Also expanding the Local Roads and Community Infrastructure program with an additional $1b in funding

§  Recovery in our regions

• Package of measures that:
• $2 billion in concessional loans to help farmers overcome the devastating drought
• $350 million to support regional tourism to attract domestic visitors back to the regions and a further round of the Building Better Regions Fund, and
• $317 million for Australian exporters to continue to access global supply chains, building on the 80,000 tonnes of exports we have already helped get to market.
• Government has committed further investment to Wyangala and Dungowan dams totalling $567 million.

§  Environment

• Additional $1.8 billion in funding for the environment.
• Government is banning the export of plastic, paper, tyres and glass waste
• Government will invest $250 million to modernise our recycling infrastructure, stop more than 600,000 tonnes of waste ending up in landfill
• $233 million to upgrade facilities in Uluru, Kakadu, Christmas Island and Booderee National Park
• $67 million in further funding to protect our oceans by improving their health and restoring Australia’s mangroves, tidal marshes, and sea grasses

§  Increasing home ownership and

• Additional 10,000 home buyers will be able to purchase a new home sooner under First Home Loan Deposit Scheme.
• Additional $1 billion of low cost finance to support the construction of affordable housing
• $150 million in the Indigenous Home Ownership Program to construct new homes in regional areas,

§  Guaranteeing the essential services

• Additional $3.9 billion for the NDIS
• Committed over $16 billion as part of the Government’s ongoing health response to the COVID-19 crisis
• Doubling the number of Medicare funded psychological services through the Better Access Initiative, from 10 to 20
• Listing of Lynparza® to help women with ovarian cancer.
• Aged Pensioners will receive an additional $250 payment from December and a further $250 payment from March next year
• 23,000 additional home care packages, at a cost of $1.6 billion.

§  Superannuation

• New super accounts will no longer be automatically created every time a worker changes jobs.
• Superannuation funds will be required to meet an annual performance test under the guidance of the prudential regulator
• Poor performing funds will have nowhere to hide and will be required to notify their members of their underperformance
• Government will also establish an online comparison tool known as ‘YourSuper’ to help more Australians make an informed choice about who will manage their retirement savings

§  Keeping Australians safe

• Additional funding in this Budget will see a total $1.7 billion invested in cyber-security plan
• Further $450 million is provided for our law enforcement and intelligence agencies

§  Economic Outlook

• Economy is forecast to fall by 3.75 per cent this calendar year and unemployment to peak at 8 per cent in the December quarter
• Economy is forecast to grow by 4.25 per cent, and unemployment to fall to 6.5 per cent by the June Quarter 2022