Delivering cost of living relief is our number one priority as a government. From 1 July 2024, every taxpayer got a tax cut, and every household getting $300 in power bill relief. And we’ve got wages moving again so that Australians earn more and keep more of what they earn. 

 

 

A Tax Cut for Every Taxpayer:

From July 1 2024, every taxpayer received a tax cut.  

The Morrison Government's tax cuts left out people earning $45,000 or less. Under our government, everyone who pays income tax gets a tax cut. 

This saw 95,000 locals $1441 better off on average.  

Our cost-of-living tax cuts are about rewarding hard working Australians.  

We want Australians to earn more and keep more of what they earn. Peter Dutton and the Liberals just want Australians to work longer for less. 

 

We are Providing Energy Bill Relief:

From July 1 2024, every Australian household is getting $300 off their power bills, and 1 million small businesses are getting a rebate of $325. 

We know Australians are feeling the pressure from higher global energy prices. 

These rebates will help families pay the bills, while putting downward pressure on inflation.

 

We are Getting Wages Moving:

After a decade of the Liberals and Nationals in government deliberately keeping wages low, our Labor Government is getting wages moving again. 

We’ve supported back-to-back increases in the minimum wage, and we’ve delivered an historic 15 per cent pay rise for aged care workers and childcare workers.  

We’ve taken the gender pay gap to a record low. 

We’ve banned pay secrecy clauses.  

We’ve made deliberate wage theft a crime. 

We’ve legislated our ‘same job, same pay’ protections for casual workers.  

And we are seeing wages grow at a higher rate than inflation. 

 

We’ve Made Medicines Cheaper:

Labor built Medicare and we will always strengthen it. 

In our latest Budget, we provided $3 billion to support pharmacies and to keep the costs of medicines down. 

We’re freezing the maximum cost of PBS prescriptions for a year. That means no one will pay more than $31.60 for a PBS script. 

And we’ve allowed 60-day dispensing – saving locals a trip to their GP and fewer visits to the pharmacy for their medications.  

For Australians with pensioner or concession cards, we’re freezing the price of PBS medicines for five years. So those Australians won’t pay more than $7.70 for the medicine they need. 

These policies have meant locals have saved over $1.9 million on over 150,000 scripts.  

And we’re adding more life-changing medicines to the PBS list. 

 

Relief for Students:

Labor will always invest in education because we know it changes lives. 

That’s why we’re wiping $3 billion in student debt and changing the way HELP loans are indexed, to make it fairer and cheaper over the life of a loan. 

And by backdating this change to mid-2023, we’re able to provide debt relief in the form of HELP loan credits to over 18,669 locals with student debts.  

We’re also reducing financial barriers for the next generation of nurses, midwives, teachers and social workers. 

These students will be eligible for a prac payment to support them while undertaking the compulsory placements that are required to graduate. 

And if we’re re-elected, we will cut student debt by 20%.

 

A Fair Go For Consumers:

We want to make sure Australians are getting a fair deal at the checkout.   

That’s why we’re holding supermarkets to account with a stronger competition watchdog and a mandatory Grocery Code of Conduct. By increasing competition and accountability in the sector we will secure fairer prices. 

The Albanese Government is committed to continued access to cash and ensuring it can be used to pay for essentials.    

We’re also cracking down on businesses ripping off Australians by banning unfair trading practices. The Government’s actions will address a wide range of practices, including: 

  • ‘Subscription traps’ that use arduous and confusing steps to make cancelling a subscription difficult 
  • ‘Drip pricing’ practices where fees are hidden or added throughout the stages of a purchase 
  • Deceptive and manipulative online practices that aim to confuse or overwhelm consumers, omit or hide material information or create a false sense of urgency or scarcity – this can include warnings that a customer only has limited time to purchase a product 
  • Dynamic pricing where a product’s price changes during the transaction process 
  • Requiring consumers to set up an account and provide unnecessary information to make an online purchase 
  • Where a business makes it difficult for a consumer to contact them when they have a problem with their product or service. 

We are announcing that the Government will mandate that businesses selling essential items must accept cash, with appropriate exemptions for small businesses.  

 

More Support for Parents:

We want new parents to have the flexibility, support and choice they need. That’s why we’re delivering the biggest boost to government Paid Parental Leave since Labor created it in 2011.  

We’ve made childcare cheaper for around 8,000 families. 

We’re moving towards six months of paid time off – with the flexibility to choose how to split it between parents. 

And we’re introducing paid super on government Paid Parental Leave. 

It’ll mean more dads can take time off work, so caring responsibilities can be shared more equally. And it’ll mean more opportunity for mums, boosting workforce participation across the economy.