Federal Budget: the Flatmates Take

Last night’s Federal Budget was big news and not just because it revealed record-level national debt. The Government understands the impact that Covid-19 has had on young people and included a range of provisions to support them in this budget.

Depending on your circumstances, there’s news for you across five key areas:

1. Unemployment benefits
2. Jobs
3. Training
4. Mental health
5. Taxes

Here’s how it’s looking.

1. Unemployment benefits

At the moment, there’s no change to JobSeeker or the Coronavirus Supplement. The JobSeeker payment won’t change and the $250-per-week Coronavirus Supplement is set to continue until December.

That said, Anne Rushton, the Minister for Social Services, hinted that we can expect more news on JobSeeker before the end of the year. So it sounds like the big cats in Canberra are wanting to keep their options open on this.

But the new updates to Youth Allowance are game changing. Previously, young people had to earn $40,000 over 18 months or be studying and over the age of 22 to earn Youth Allowance. Now, any young person can qualify for Youth Allowance if they earn up to $15,000 in agriculture before December 30 2021.

2. Jobs

If you’re on JobSeeker and looking for work (or thinking about it), good news: the Government wants to make it easier for employers to hire you.

The new JobMaker Hiring Credit pays $200 per week to employers who hire a worker aged between 16 and 30 (and $100 per week for hiring a worker aged 30-35). The payments apply to new employees hired for at least 20 hours of work each week, who have been receiving JobSeeker. They last for up to 1 year.

It’s hoped that these payments will make it easier for businesses to employ more of us as the economy opens up and people start spending again. In fact, the payments are expected to create 450,000 jobs nation-wide.

Have you considered moving regionally? There’s also a stimulus to encourage people to go and pick fruit or help out on farms due to the lack of overseas workers. The govt will provide a one-off relocation rebate of up to $6,000 for anyone who packs their bags and works in a regional area for at least six weeks.

3. Training

JobSeeker, JobKeeper, JobMaker… If you can keep up, there’s another new name to learn: JobTrainer.

The Government is about to drop $1 billion on providing low-cost training programs to school leavers, and another $1.2 billion on wage subsidies for 100,000 new apprenticeships and traineeships.

So if you’re looking to learn, 2021 might be the perfect time to build your skills.

4. Mental health

If, like so many of us right now, you’re in need of mental health support, there’s some really good news.

Firstly, this budget doubles the Medicare-funded psychology sessions from 10 to 20. To access these free sessions, ask your GP.

There’s also money put aside for organisations like Beyond Blue, Headspace and Lifeline, as well as improved digital and telephone support services to support those living with eating disorders, CALD communities, and new parents (and those expecting a baby). An extra $30 million will establish what the Government describes as “enhanced mental health clinics.”

The budget also addresses health more broadly by continuing subsidies for telehealth services (including — but not limited to — mental health) until March 2021.

5. Taxes

If you’ve managed to hang onto work through the pandemic, good lucky for you! The tax breaks that made up so much of the Government’s platform at the last election are coming into effect.

If you benefit from the Low and Middle Income tax offset, you’ll be pleased to hear that this will be in place for the current financial year. Hopefully that will make a difference come July 2021.

The Government has also decided to bring forward new tax cuts, which it will backdate to the beginning of this financial year. That means, if you earn $45,000 (up to $90,000) you’ll be $1080 better off in your next tax return. If you want to figure out how much tax you’ll save, you can use this calculator.

The elephant in the room is, of course, The (still-in-development) Vaccine. Coronavirus vaccine and treatment research is to receive significant funding through this budget, to the tune of more than $1.7 billion. So if and when a vaccine is developed, Australians can be sure we’ll be receiving it, along with any successful treatments. In the meantime, these support measures will hopefully make life that bit more liveable in the coming months.