2025-26

The Budget included proposals aimed at easing cost of living pressures. If these changes go ahead, members may benefit from:

• Further tax cuts: every Australian taxpayer to receive a tax cut. The 16% rate will go down to 15% from 1 July 2026, and then down to 14% from 1 July 2027. The Government proposes a person making $79,000 a year will pocket $268 in the 2026-27 financial year, then $536 a year in 2027-28¹
• Increased Medicare levy low-income threshold: from 1 July 2024 an increase of 4.7% for singles, families, seniors and pensioners
• Extended energy bill relief: all households to receive a $150 reduction on their power bill, provided in two quarterly payments between 1 July 2025 and 31 December 2025
• Cheaper medicines: from 1 January 2026, Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) medicines will cost a maximum of $25, down from $31.60 (pensioners and concession cardholders costs remain frozen at $7.70 until 2030)
• Bulk billing for all Australians: from 1 November 2025, all people who are eligible for Medicare will be eligible for bulk-billed general practice care (if their clinic offers it). With a $7.9 billion investment in Medicare to strengthen bulk billing, the Government proposes nine out of 10 general practitioner visits will be bulk billed by 2030².
  

The Government plans to encourage people into housing construction trades and provide apprentices with cost of living support. From 1 July 2025, eligible apprentices will receive up to $10,000 in incentives.

The Government announced measures aimed at boosting supply of affordable housing:

• Expanding Help to Buy: with an additional investment of $800 million, the program will be made more accessible. Help to Buy is a $6.3 billion policy where the government loans first home buyers up to 30%-40% of their purchase price. Expansion of the program means income caps will be increased to $100,000 for singles (up from $90,000) and $160,000 for joint applications (up from $120,000). Property price caps will also increase. The Government proposes Help to Buy will support 40,000 working Australians to buy a home of their own³.
• Speeding up housing construction: plans to invest $54 million to modernise the manufacturing of homes. This includes $49.3 million to ‘supercharge’ prefabricated and modular home construction, and $4.7 million to develop a nationwide certification process to streamline build approvals.

Other measures previously announced include:

• Placing restrictions on foreign buyers: the Government will ban foreign buyers from purchasing existing homes for two years from 1 April 2025.
• Crisis and transitional accommodation: launch of a $1 billion fund to boost essential support.
  

The Government plans to provide the Australian Tax Office (ATO) $50 million over three years from 1 July 2026 to help ensure timely payment of tax and super.

In the 2023-24 Federal Budget, the Government announced that from 1 July 2026, employers will be required to pay workers’ super on their pay day.

Payday super is not yet law

If Payday super is introduced as planned from 1 July 2026, it will help address unpaid super by:

• Helping ensure your super contributions are made on time
• Giving you better visibility of when your super is paid and a clearer picture of your retirement savings.

Workers in the building and construction industry are significantly more likely to experience unpaid super. If your super isn’t paid, this doesn’t just impact your account balance, this can also impact your investment earnings over time. It could even mean your insurance cover stops, leaving you in a vulnerable position.

We’re here to help

With the support of our sponsoring organisations, we recovered $198 million in unpaid super for our members in the 2023-24 financial year (up from $126 million the previous financial year).

If you believe your super hasn’t been paid, contact your employer, union delegate or Coordinator. 

The Government has committed $900 million to design and develop a national licensing system for electrical trades people.

National licensing will allow electrical tradies to work across state and territory borders without reapplying for a separate licence or paying additional fees. The Government says this will cut red tape, boost productivity and save tradies time and money.

The Government plans to reduce all outstanding Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) and other student debts by 20%. Estimates show that a university graduate with an average debt of $27,600 will save $5,520⁴. 

Deeming rates are percentages set by the Australian Government. They’re 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 2026, supporting 460,000 Age Pensioners 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 Budget included proposals to help people with cost of living pressures. If these changes go ahead, members may benefit from:

• Energy bill relief extended to end of 2025: all households to receive a $150 reduction on their power bill, provided in two quarterly payments between 1 July 2025 and 31 December 2025
• Increase to Medicare levy threshold: more Australians will be exempt from paying the Medicare levy. The Medicare levy low-income threshold will be increased by 4.7% for singles, families, seniors and pensioners from 1 July 2024
• Cheaper medicines: the cost of Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) medicines will be frozen at their current level of $7.70 for pensioners until 2030. For others, medicines will cost a maximum of $25, down from $31.60. Changes would take effect from 1 January 2026
• Bulk billing for all Australians: from 1 November 2025, all people who are eligible for Medicare will be eligible for bulk-billed general practitioner (GP) care (if their clinic offers it). With a $7.9 billion investment in Medicare, the Government proposes nine out of 10 GP visits will be bulk billed by 2030².
  

The Government plans to provide $291 million to continue the delivery of aged care reforms. This includes applying recommendations from the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety.

The Government also plans to support the aged care workforce by investing $2.6 billion for further pay rises for aged care nurses from 1 March 2025.

Announced earlier this year, the Government plans to encourage people into housing construction trades and provide apprentices with cost of living support. From 1 July 2025, eligible apprentices will receive up to $10,000 in incentives.

Employers of these apprentices may also be eligible for a Priority Hiring Incentive of up to $5,000. This been extended for six months to 31 December 2025.

The Government plans to provide $12 million to support and protect small businesses. This includes $3 million over four years from 1 July 2025 for the Australian Securities and Investments Commission to better target enforcement activities to deter illegal phoenixing activities particularly in the construction industry.

The Government plans to extend energy bill relief to the end of 2025. Around one million eligible small businesses will receive a $150 reduction on their power bill, provided in two quarterly payments.

The Government has committed $900 million to design and develop a national licensing system for electrical trades people. National licensing will allow electrical tradies to work across state and territory borders without reapplying for a separate licence or paying additional fees. The Government proposes this will cut red tape, boost productivity and save tradies time and money.

The Government plans to provide the Australian Tax Office (ATO) $50 million over three years from 1 July 2026 to help ensure timely payment of tax and super.

In the 2023-24 Federal Budget, the Government announced that from 1 July 2026, employers would be required to pay workers’ super at the same time they pay salary or wages.

Payday super is not yet law

Payday super aims to create a fairer super system. While most employers do the right thing, unpaid super remains an issue that affects one in four Australian workers. In the 2021-2022 financial year, 2.8 million Australians missed out on super worth $5.1 billion⁵.

If it’s introduced as planned from 1 July 2026, Payday super will help address unpaid super by:

• Helping ensure that super contributions are made on time
• Giving workers better visibility of when their super is paid and a clearer picture of their retirement savings.

What Payday Super will mean for employers

Payday super will be a significant change for employers. Many employers currently pay their workers’ super monthly, while others pay super quarterly.

The good news is that paying super on payday means fewer liabilities building up over time, which may make managing cash flow easier. Plus, it lines up with payroll processes, reducing the administration of making separate super payments.

When Payday super becomes law when will the changes occur?

• In December 2024, the government committed to an investment of $404 million to support the introduction of Payday super from 1 July 2026. This was confirmed in this Budget
• On 14 March 2025, the Government released Payday super draft legislation which proposes to implement design principles outlined in their September 2024 Payday super fact sheet (PDF)
• The Government invites feedback about the draft legislation
• If the legislation passes, Payday super is currently proposed to come into effect on 1 July 2026.

We’re here to help

We understand this change will be significant.

When more information is available, we'll share updates and practical guidance. We’re here to help you prepare and we’re committed to making this as easy we possibly can.

If you have any questions, contact us on 1300 361 784, 8am to 8pm (AEST/AEDT) Monday to Friday.