The new fiscal year is here.
If that wasn’t enough to make you cringe, a number of policy changes have gone into effect as of today.
This is what they are and how they will affect you.
The national minimum wage has increased
Starting today, Australia’s minimum wage will officially be $21.38 per hourfollowing a decision by the Fair Work Commission to increase wages by 5.2 percent.
In total, this works out to be $812.60 per week.
your super has increased
The super guarantee, the share of wages that employers must contribute to their workers’ retirement savings, has increased by half a percent annually, before reaching a final value of 12 percent by 2025.
This means that the retirement guarantee has increased to 10 percent and will rise 0.5 percent annually.
Under previous retirement agreements, if a person earned less than $450 a month from an employer, they were not entitled to receive the retirement guarantee.
You can save for your first home using your super fund
An existing scheme that allows a first-time homebuyer to tap into their retirement to help buy a home is being slightly expanded.
The First Home Super Savings (FHSS) The scheme started in 2017 and aims to help buyers boost their savings for a deposit.
You can contribute to your super using the sale of your house
Starting today, if you are 60 years or olderyou can contribute up to $300,000 from the proceeds of the sale of all or part of your home in your retirement fund.
Previously, downsizing contributions were only available to people age 65 and older.
Some of the eligibility criteria you must meet are:
- The home must be in Australia, owned by you or your spouse for at least 10 years, and the disposition must be exempt or partially exempt from capital gains tax.
- You have not previously made a downsizing contribution to your pension from the sale of another home or from the sale of part of your home.
Your energy bill will increase
One more thing to add to the list of things that put pressure on your expenses: your next energy bill.
Starting today, the cost of energy bills will increase after the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) updated its default market offer — a limit on the amount of electricity that retailers can charge customers.
There is no general answer as to how much energy costs will rise across Australia because it differs from state to state.
Regulators say energy bills will rise by 18.3 percent in New South Wales, 12.6 percent in Queensland Y 1.25 percent decrease in ACT.
Jobactive has been replaced by Workforce Australia
If you have been in Jobactive while receiving the JobSeeker payment, you will now be transferred to the new program.
The Department for Education, Skills and Employment (DESE) describes it as a new “front door” service, aimed at helping people keep a job, change jobs or create their own job.
Centrelink family payments have increased
Today, more than 1.4 million families will see an increase in family payments.
Under this change, Family Tax Benefit Part A and B Centrelink payments have increased.
Family Tax Benefit Part A has increased by:
- Up to $204.40 per year for families with a child under 13
- $255.50 per year for those with a child age 13 or older
Family Tax Benefit Part B has increased by:
- Up to $164.25 per year for families with a child under the age of five
- $116.80 per year for those whose youngest child is between the ages of five and 18
Goodbye to the ‘lamington’
The government has chosen gradually eliminate the so-called Compensation of Taxes on Medium and Low Incomes (known as LMITO or lamington).
However, it has increased pay for everyone by $420for its last year of operation.
So when you file your taxes in the second half of this year, that will be the last time you’ll benefit from this relief.
There was speculation that the government might want to keep the LIMIT for at least one more year, to reduce cost-of-living pressures for millions of taxpayers in an election year.
Nevertheless, costs $7 billion a yearso you are discarding it.