Budget 2021: What we already know

From $1.7 billion to increase childcare subsidies to $9 billion to lift the JobSeeker rate, more than $12 billion in infrastructure funding and a response to the aged care royal commission, here are the measures we know are coming in Tuesday’s federal budget.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, pictured with Treasury secretary Steven Kennedy, will hand down the federal budget on Tuesday.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen

TAX

$7.2 billion to extend low and middle-income tax offset for another year
$255 million in tax relief for small brewers and distillers – tripling the excise refund cap for small brewers and distillers from $100,000 to $350,000 a year
$120 million to implement deregulation measures
Allow small businesses to apply to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal to pause or modify disputed Tax Office debt recovery actions

JOBS

New target on unemployment level before tightening
Overhaul of $4 billion JobMaker hiring credit program
$9 billion over four years to fund $50-a-fortnight JobSeeker increase
Changes to grants program to encourage Australians to take up agricultural jobs – up to $2000 in relocation assistance after two weeks of work, and up to $6000 after four weeks

More than $6 billion will be pumped into road and rail upgrades in Victoria and NSW.Credit:Jessica Shapiro

INFRASTRUCTURE

Victoria – more than $3 billion including for a new Melbourne intermodal terminal and extra funding for the Pakenham and Monash roads upgrades
NSW – $3 billion including for construction of the Katoomba-Lithgow section of the Great Western Highway and upgrades to the Princes Highway in the Illawarra and Jervis Bay
Queensland – $1.55 billion including to upgrade the inland freight route between Mungindi and Charters Towers, for the Gold Coast light rail, and Bruce Highway upgrades
Western Australia – $1.3 billion including for extensions to Metronet rail and upgrades to the Great Eastern Highway and Reid Highway
South Australia – $3.2 billion including funding for the north-south corridor and the Truro bypass
Tasmania – $319.1 million including for upgrades to the Midlands Highway and safety on the Bass Highway
Northern Territory – $150 million for NT national network highway upgrades
$66 million to widen the Newcastle Airport runway
ACT – $34 million to duplicate William Hovell Drive and Gundaroo Drive and upgrade Beltana Road in Pialligo

AGED CARE

Release response to the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety
Extra funding of at least $10 billion

HEALTH

$354 million to support women’s health and maternal and baby health measures including improvements to cervical and breast cancer screening, extra mental health support for new and expecting parents, and funding for endometriosis programs
$114 million to extend Medicare rebates for telehealth until the end of the year
$65 million from 2022 to boost bulk-billing rebates in regional, rural and remote areas

Health funding will include improvements to cervical and breast cancer screening.

EDUCATION

$53.6 million for English-language and non-university higher education providers hit hard by COVID-19 border closures including funding 5000 short course places for domestic students, and grants to help providers improve online course delivery

WOMEN’S ECONOMIC SECURITY

$1.7 billion ($570 million a year) to increase childcare subsidies for families with more than one child aged under five in care and remove the annual subsidy cap for higher-income parents
Expected measures to top up women’s superannuation in certain circumstances

WOMEN’S SAFETY

Spending on domestic violence programs to double to at least $680 million

ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY

$600 million has been earmarked for the National Recovery and Resilience Agency in response to the bushfire royal commission.Credit:Getty

$660 million contribution to a state energy and emissions reduction deal with South Australia
$600 million to establish the National Recovery and Resilience Agency in response to the bushfire royal commission
$565.8 million for low-emissions international technology partnerships and research
$275.5 million for four clean hydrogen hubs and a clean hydrogen certification scheme
$263.7 million for carbon capture and storage projects
$210 million to establish an Australian Climate Service
$100 million for projects aimed at managing ocean habitats and coastal environments while reducing emissions
$58.6 million for gas infrastructure and development of new supply hubs
$15 million for a 35MW big battery in the NT’s Darwin to Katherine Interconnected system
$15 million for microgrids in up to 10 remote Indigenous communities

The HomeBuilder program will be extended to give people who have already applied an extra 12 months to start their build.Credit:Paul Rovere

HOUSING

New family home guarantee to help 10,000 single parents over four years buy a home with a minimum 2 per cent deposit
Extend the new home guarantee for a second year, with an extra 10,000 places for first home buyers to build or buy a newly built house with a minimum 5 per cent deposit
Increase the maximum amount people can withdraw from their super to put towards a house from $30,000 to $50,000
$124.7 million for states and territories to build public housing or support homelessness services
Extend HomeBuilder program to give people who have already applied an extra 12 months to start their build

REGIONAL

$10 billion guarantee underwriting a reinsurance pool to cover cyclone and related flood damage in northern Australia
$371 million biosecurity package to keep out exotic pests and diseases and improve Australia’s ability to fight an outbreak
$130.4 million to improve digital connectivity in regional, rural and remote communities
$16.4 million to improve mobile phone services in bushfire-prone areas on the outskirts of cities

Funding will be provided for a royal commission on veteran suicides.Credit:Glenn Campbell

OTHER

$1.2 billion for a digital economy strategy including an overhaul of myGov, more training in digital skills and expanding a small business digital solutions advice service
$100 million to extend the junior minerals exploration incentive for four years
$79.9 million for national institutions in the arts portfolio
$15 million for newswire service AAP
$8 million for a compensation scheme for ACT residents who develop asbestos-related illness after living in a home with Mr Fluffy loose-fill asbestos insulation
$4.2 million for the Australian Communications and Media Authority to implement the digital platforms mandatory bargaining code
Funding for a royal commission on veteran suicides
Funding for the Brisbane Olympics bid

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