Federal Budget 2024-25

In March this year the Government committed to pay super on its PPL from 1 July 2025. The Government plans to spend $1.1 billion on the super payments, benefitting 180,000 families per year.

While taking time out of paid work to care for children is a normal part of working life for parents, women are more likely to take a break from paid work and as a result their future retirement income is impacted. Women retire, on average, with about 25% less super than men.^*

Media Super welcomes the Government's plan. CEO Kristian Fok says it will assist in closing the super pay gap and help members achieve a more dignified retirement.

“We support action in addressing policy challenges where the system still must be strengthened to address women retiring with substantially less super than men and too often retiring with low or non-existent balances.”

The Government estimates:

• If a woman earning $70,000 per year takes 22 weeks of Government PPL in July 2026
• She'll receive a $2,500 super contribution as a result of the proposed changes, and
• She'll retire with a super balance that’s around $4,250 higher^†.

If the proposal becomes law, the 12% super payments will be made annually from
1 July 2026 to eligible parents of babies born or adopted on or after 1 July 2025.

The Government plans to extend the Fair Entitlements Guarantee Recovery Program to pursue unpaid super owed by employers in liquidation or bankruptcy from 1 July 2024.

Unpaid super is a big issue for our members, and we’re always advocating for stronger policies to protect you and your super. About one-in-four workers across Australia currently miss out on about $5 billion in super each year. This averages out at $1,700 for each worker whose super isn’t paid. For those affected, this can mean more than $60,000 less in super savings by retirement.^‡

If your super isn’t paid, this doesn’t just impact your account balance, it also impacts your investment returns over time. It could even mean your insurance cover is cancelled, leaving you in a vulnerable position.

We’re here to help you. With the support of our sponsoring organisations, we recovered $126.4 million of members’ unpaid super during the 2022-23 financial year.

If you believe your super hasn’t been paid, contact your local Coordinator.

Beyond super, the Budget included proposals to help people with the rising cost of living.

The Government has legislated tax cuts for all 13.6 million Australian taxpayers from
1 July 2024. On average, taxpayers will receive a tax cut of $1,888 or $36 per week in 2024–25.^§

The Government has proposed a further $7.8 billion for cost of living relief. If these changes go ahead, members may benefit from:

• Energy bill relief: from 1 July 2024 more than ten million households will receive a $300 discount on their energy bills
• Support for renters: from 20 September 2024 all Commonwealth Rent Assistance maximum rates will increase by 10%
• Cheaper medicines: the cost of Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme-listed medications will be frozen until 2026 for everyone with a Medicare card. For concession card holders, prices will be frozen for five years
• Debt relief for students: backdated to 1 June 2023, the indexation rate for HELP and other student loans will be capped to be the lower of either the Consumer Price Index or the Wage Price Index. This will wipe $3 billion of student debt for 3 million Australians.

To address housing shortages and housing affordability, the Government aims to build more homes in every state and territory - 1.2 million new homes over 5 years from July 2024.

Funding more social and affordable housing:

• The first $500 million minimum annual disbursement from the $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund (HAFF) will be made in 2024–25
• Additional concessional financing of up to $1.9 billion to community housing providers to support delivery of dwellings under the HAFF and the National Housing Accord
• Expand the Affordable Housing Bond Aggregator program by increasing Housing Australia’s liability cap by $2.5 billion to $10 billion and lend an additional $3 billion to Housing Australia to support ongoing delivery of the program.

Supporting more homes:

• The Government proposes a further $1 billion to states and territories to deliver new housing – connecting essential services such as water, power, sewerage and roads
• This investment expands on the $500 million already committed through the Housing Support Program, enabling infrastructure to unlock more home construction.

The Government plans to extend the instant asset write-off scheme for another year. If you have a small business with an annual turnover below $10 million, the scheme allows you to claim a tax deduction on new equipment (such as a new car, software, tools, or even a coffee machine) up to the value of $20,000.

You could potentially claim for multiple assets, but any asset/s need to be used/installed and ready for use by 30 June 2025.

Deeming rates are percentages set by the Australian Government and used by Centrelink to assume how much you’ll earn over the next twelve months from things like super and other financial assets.

The Government plans to freeze social security deeming rates at their current levels for a further 12 months until 30 June 2025, to support 450,000 Age Pensioners and other income support recipients who rely on income from deemed financial assets. This will allow retirees to benefit from increases in interest rates and returns without reductions in their age pension.

The Government plans to set aside $2.2 billion to address the recommendations of the royal commission into the aged care sector, including:

• Home care packages: if you’re older and want to stay in your own home longer, the Budget plans to fund an additional 24,100 home care packages in 2024–25 and cut average wait times
• Improving aged care quality: the Budget proposes $110 million to support increased supervision of aged care quality and $1.2 billion to roll out improved digital systems
• Higher wages for aged care workers: a proposed increase in award wages to attract staff and ensure high quality care.

Beyond super, the Budget included proposals to help people with the rising cost of living:

• Energy bill relief: from 1 July 2024 more than ten million households will receive a $300 discount on their energy bills
• Support for renters: from 20 September 2024 all Commonwealth Rent Assistance maximum rates will increase by 10%
• Cheaper medicines: the cost of Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme-listed medications will be frozen for everyone with a Medicare card for two years. For concession card holders and pensioners, prices will be frozen for five years.

The Government plans to provide $216 million over four years from 2024–25 (and $59 million per year ongoing) to further support Australia’s arts, entertainment and cultural sector under the National Cultural Policy – Revive. This includes:

• $115.2 million to Australia’s eight national arts training organisations to ensure their continued operation
• $14.5 million to support the production of Australian children’s screen content
• $9.3 million to expand and enhance the National Film and Sound Archive’s capacity to store highly flammable nitrate-based cultural heritage material belonging to our national collecting institutions. These historically significant films and photographic negatives are currently at risk of being lost
• $8.6 million for the Revive Live program to provide essential support to live music venues and festivals showcasing Australian bands and artists
• $5.2 million to expand and develop the Canberra and Darwin symphony orchestras.

The Government previously announced that from 1 July 2026, employers will be required to pay their employees’ super on the same day that they pay wages. The Budget has included additional funding to support workplaces to implement policy changes, including payday super.

The Government is planning additional resourcing to support the SuperStream Gateway Network Governance Body, an industry-owned not for profit organisation, to manage the integrity of the Superannuation Transaction Network, which allows Gateway Members to transmit contribution data between employers and superannuation funds, with funding provided through the Australian Taxation Office.

The Government plans to support small business cash flow by extending the instant asset write-off scheme for 12 months. If you have a small business with an annual turnover below $10 million, the scheme allows you to claim a tax deduction on new equipment (such as a new car, software, tools or even a coffee machine) up to the value of $20,000.

You could potentially claim for multiple assets, but any asset/s need to be used/installed and ready for use by 30 June 2025.

The Government plans to provide around one million eligible small businesses with energy relief. This means you may receive a $325 discount on your energy bills.

The Government plans to reduce the administrative burden for small business by abolishing 457 nuisance tariffs and delivering $10 million to provide additional support for small business employers administering the government paid parental leave scheme.

The Budget outlines a proposed investment of $10.8 million to deliver tailored, free and confidential financial and mental wellbeing supports for small business owners. To help small businesses understand and comply with recent workplace relations changes, the Government plans to provide $20.5 million to the Fair Work Ombudsman.