What will the 2015 budget mean for you?

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Health

Although health spending is projected to increase by 3.2 per cent in real terms over the next four years, to more than $69 billion next financial year, nearly $2 billion will be actively cut from the health system over the next five years.

• Mental health: $300 million will be allocated for a 12-month funding extension to mental health services and organisations, with a priority on frontline services.^[1]


• Patients will be able to get Medicare rebates for some eye tests, tests for gastric reflux and radiation therapy for early stage breast cancer, as well as second opinions on some pathology services.^[2]


• $1 billion in savings by "rationalising and streamlining" some programs, including dental workforce programs and axing any GP super clinics that have not yet been built.^[3]


• Smaller health programmes including grants for preventative health research, chronic disease prevention and rural outreach will be cut.^[4]


• An existing $34 million dollars has been allocated to support taskforces which will examine the Medicare system and propose reform by the end of the year.

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Our neighbouring countries

The Government's recent cuts to foreign aid saw Australia's standing slide from 13th to 14th in OECD rankings. Our aid budget is currently at its lowest level since records began in 1960.

• Foreign aid: The Government has cut aid to Indonesia by more than $219m to $323m. While Cambodia and Papua New Guinea have remained largely immune from cuts (Australia has refugee resettlement deals with both).


• Africa and the Middle East bore the brunt of funding cuts, allocated $31.8 million in 2015-16 – down from $106 million the year before.^[1]

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Pensioners

• The aged pension will be cut to the tune of $2.4 billion per annum. Changes to the eligibilty criteria of the aged pension will see approximately 91,000 current part-pensioners no longer eligible for the pension, and another 235,000 will have their payments reduced. ^[1] Last year's controversial changes to the indexation of the aged pension have been dropped.

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Students and universities

Total federal funding for primary and secondary schools will go up by $4.1 billion over the next four years, and there is an extra $16.9 million thrown in to improve the quality of teacher education.¹

• University fee deregulation: Interestingly, there was no mention of the Government's contentious deregulation proposals,^[2] which means it's likely they're here to stay.


• University graduates living overseas will now have to start paying back their HECS debts once they pass the $53,000 income threshold, rather than avoiding the debt repayment.
  
  Students with a disability will get extra support, with the Federal Government allocating a record $1.3 billion in the budget for the year ahead.^[2]

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Families

• Maternity leave: in a spectacular backflip from the 2013 election, new parents with workplace maternity leave schemes will no longer be able to access the Federal Government's policy. Previously parents could access 18 weeks leave at the minimum wage on top of any private leave they had, but the Government says this policy of 'double dipping' will no longer be tolerated.^[1]


• The proposed Family Tax Benefit B cuts from the 2014 budget remain in play, despite being blocked by the Senate earlier in the year. If passed this time around, the Family Tax Benefit B changes would mean losing the benefit if a child is older than 6 years, freezing indexation of the payment, changing end of year supplements, and reducing the eligibility threshold to receive the benefit. The passage of these cuts, and the cut to paid parental leave, are being used by Minister Morrison as a pre-requisite for changes to child care.


• The sweetener is child care changes, with an increase in the subsidy provided for child care, rising to as much as 85% for families earning less than $65,000 per year and the ceiling for receiving some form of subsidy at $185,000. There is also funds provided to help disadvantaged families access childcare.

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Job seekers

• Newstart: the Government has backed down on their changes to Newstart allowance, instead of asking people under 30 to wait six months before receiving support, the Government will now seek to extend the existing one-week waiting period to four weeks for people aged under 25.^[1]

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Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians

Given Tony Abbott is the self-declared Prime Minister for Indigenous Affairs, it's surprising the Government's Budget has failed to address the skyrocketing rates of incarceration of Aboriginal Australians, and restore Close The Gap to its previous funding levels.

Sadly, this is yet another missed opportunity to deal with the issues affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.

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Climate change

• Reducing emissions: The Government has committed $300 million to assist drought affected farmers, but has allocated no further funding to curb the emissions that contribute to the disastrous effects of climate change.^[1]


• One source reports that climate spending will drop dramatically from $1.35 billion in 2014-15, to less than half this amount, with just $550 million expected to be spent in 2018-19 on reducing Australia's carbon emissions.^[2]


• Bjorn Lomborg's Consensus Centre is here to stay: the Government has allocated $4 million to establish the centre, but will need to find somewhere else to put it with the University of Western Australia refusing to house it.^[3]

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Corporations

• Tax evaders: The Government will introduce new legislation to clamp down on multinational corporations with global revenues of $1 billion or more, seeking to avoid tax in Australia. New penalties will force cheating companies to pay double what they owe in taxes, plus interest.^[1]

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Who else will the Budget affect?

• Internet Service Providers and telco companies: $131 million will be allocated to Internet and telecommunications companies to help them to store their customers' phone and internet records, as required under the Federal Government's data retention scheme.^[1] ASIO has also received a $296 million boost for new IT systems.


• Human Rights Commission: Funding cut by $1.7 million, which will reduce the number of Human Rights Commissioners by one.


• The Refugee Council of Australia: has received yet another blow, with the Government cutting $140,000 of their funding. Click here to make a donation to help support RCOA's great work