January 1 will see some major changers across Australia – It’s good news for some, but bad news for others.
2024 is finally upon us.
Just like July 1, the first day of the New Year always brings with it a raft of changes as new laws and regulations, fees and charges, and taxes and benefits come into effect.
Here are all the biggest changes you need to know about from January 1, 2024.
Importation of all disposable vapes containing nicotine will be banned from January 1 under the “toughest laws” in the world.
The government announced in May that it would outlaw the importation of non-prescription vaping products in the biggest smoking reforms in a decade.
Under the new laws, the only vapes legally allowed into Australia will be pharmaceutical products prescribed by a doctor and dispensed through a pharmacy to help people quit.
New measures will also see packaging and flavours used for pharmaceutical vapes severely limited, and potentially extend laws banning workplace smoking to vaping.
More than 3.5 million Australians aged 14 and older smoke or vape according to June research released by Cancer Victoria.
“This is the number one behavioural issue in school communities around the country, indeed around the world … it’s just driving people crazy,” Health Minister Mark Butler told the ABC in November. “It’s driving parents crazy.”
More than 936,000 Australians receiving youth, student or carer support will see a 6 per cent boost to their payments from January as indexation takes effect.
Young job seekers and students will see their Youth Allowance payments increase between $22.40 and $45.60 a fortnight, and those receiving Austudy will get an increase of between $36.20 and $45.60 a fortnight.
Recipients of Disability Support Pension aged under 21 years will receive payment increases of $31.10 to $44.90 a fortnight, and over 600,000 carers will receive additional financial support as Carer Allowance will increase to $153.50 a fortnight.
New homes built in Victoria from January 1 will be banned from connecting to natural gas.
The controversial ban was announced in July by former Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews, who billed it as a cost of living measure claiming households will save up to $1,000 off their annual energy bills while reducing household emissions.
From January 1, planning permits for new homes and residential subdivisions will only connect to all-electric networks.
To encourage new homeowners to go all-electric, eligible new home builders, as well as existing homeowners and renters, can access $1,400 solar panel rebates and interest free loans of $8,800 for household batteries.
All Victorian households and businesses are also eligible for gas to electric rebates to upgrade heating and cooling and hot water heaters.
The government intends to use a lesser-known provision of the Crimes Act 1900 to address the rise of antisemitism and Islamophobia stemming from the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
Section 93Z of the act establishes an offence wherein a person, through a public act, deliberately or recklessly threatens or incites violence against another individual or group based on factors such as race, religious beliefs, affiliation, sexual orientation, gender identity, intersex status, or the fact that the person is living with HIV-AIDS.
Australian-based subsidiaries of major multinational corporations will be subject to a minimum tax rate of 15 per cent, marking a significant development in the OECD’s ongoing effort to modernise the global business taxation framework.
Effective for income years commencing on or after January 1, this domestic minimum tax is a key component of a comprehensive set of measures the federal government implements to address tax concerns related to multinational companies.
NSW motorists using toll roads will be limited to racking up a weekly toll bill of $400, if they want to benefit from the $60 cap — a key election promise of the Labor government before it won the state election in March.
During the election, Labor in opposition said they would bring in a $60 weekly maximum spend on tolls, with drivers able to claim back the amount spent over it.
The two-year trial will begin from January 1, with the first round of rebates set to be issued through Service NSW from April 2024.
Victorians who own more than one home will be slugged with 10 years of increased taxes from January 1 under a “temporary” measure designed to help the state pay down its Covid debt.
Under Victoria’s budget changes announced in May, those who own more than one home will pay at least $5,000 over the next 10 years, with a new $500 annual tax for investment properties with a land value between $50,000 and $100,000.
The payment will increase to $975 for homes valued between $100,000 and $300,000, while an extra 0.1 per cent of the land value will be applied to properties worth more than $300,000.
Parents in Queensland will be able to access free kindy starting from January 1.
Kindergarten, for children aged at least four-and-a-half, is 15 hours per week, 40 weeks per year, offered in long day care services and sessional kindergarten services.
Announced under former Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk in June’s state budget, the free kindy initiative will provide cost-of-living relief of up to $4,600 per year for an estimated 50,000 additional families.
Around 14,000 Queensland families were already eligible for free kindergarten. The free kindy expansion will cost the state $645 million and bring the investment in kindergarten to $2 billion over four years.
Heavyweight plastic bags will be banned in the ACT from January 1, under the next phase of the territory’s crackdown on single-use plastics.
The territory was the second jurisdiction after South Australia to ban lightweight plastic bags in 2011, with the thicker reusable bags becoming popular — but they weren’t actually reused as much as had been hoped.
“We did see some members of the community use some of the heavyweight plastic bags that were meant to be reusable as single-use items,” City Services Minister Chris Steel told Riotact in July.
Brisbane households will be able to access a new $200 rebate when they install insinkerators and waste dehydrators from January 1, under a plan by council to help residents avoid the state government’s controversial “bin tax”.
The Towards Zero Waste strategy, announced by Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner in November, contains a suite of measures aimed at helping households reduce the amount of waste they send to landfill.
Brisbane Council warns that the state government’s decision to increase the “bin tax” waste levy while also cutting rebates to councils will cost the city an estimated $338 million, or about $600 per household, over the next 10 years.
Pet owners in Bendigo, central Victoria, will have to keep their dogs permanently leashed outside designated areas from January 1 under tough new rules passed by council.
Greater Bendigo City Council voted in May to permanently lock up cats and default to an on-leash municipality in 2024, while creating 21 new designated off-leash areas.
The 24-hour cat containment requirement will kick in later in the year, from July 1.
(news.com.au)
