July 1 doesn’t just mean tax time – there’s a raft of prices, policies and payments that change with the new financial year that will have a considerable impact on your hip pocket.
Some, such as welfare indexation, happen every year, or sometimes even more frequently, while others, like stage 3 tax cuts and energy bill relief, are major one-off changes.
Here’s a run-down of what’s changing this coming Monday, and what impact each of the measures will have on you.
They’ve been in the works for six months, and now the stage 3 tax cuts are finally coming into effect on July 1.
Rather than a big lump-sum payment like some other tax relief, the tax cuts will mean you get to take home more of your salary every payday because less of it will be lost to the tax office, effectively giving you a pay rise.
Minimum wage increase
From effective pay rises to literal ones, about 2.6 million Australians will get a raise on July 1 when the minimum wage increases by 3.75 per cent, up from $23.23 an hour to $24.10.
For someone working a full-time week of 38 hours, that’s an extra $33 per week.
Extra paid parental leave
Under the federal government’s changes to paid parental leave, eligible parents will get access to an extra two weeks of publicly funded leave, bringing the total up to 22.
That figure will increase by another two weeks in both 2025 and 2026.
Superannuation increase
The superannuation guarantee will increase on July 1 from 11 to 11.5 per cent, putting more money into the super accounts of full-time, part-time and casual workers.
The guarantee is the minimum amount of an employee’s base earnings an employer has to pay as super. Like paid parental leave, it will increase again on July 1, 2025.
Energy bill relief
One of the government’s key federal budget announcements was $300 in energy bill relief for every household this coming financial year.
This will be in the form of four $75 rebates – one each quarter – that will automatically be applied to your bills.
Extra paid parental leave
Under the federal government’s changes to paid parental leave, eligible parents will get access to an extra two weeks of publicly funded leave, bringing the total up to 22.
That figure will increase by another two weeks in both 2025 and 2026.
Housing targets begin
The housing crisis is one of the biggest issues facing Australia today, and on Monday a new effort to address it will officially begin.
The push is the federal government’s housing targets, which have set the goal of building 1.2 million new homes by the end of June 2029.
Unfortunately, Australia’s current levels of building approvals and completions are well under what’s needed to meet that plan, which requires 240,000 new dwellings a year or 20,000 a month.
But If met, the targets will facilitate a much-needed surge in housing supply, which should (theoretically) in turn get property prices and rents under control.
