Federal Budget 2025-26

Power bill rebate

The Government plans to continue the energy bill relief for eligible Australian households and small businesses until 31 December 2025. This means, starting from 1 July 2025, you’ll see $150 come off your power bill, paid as $75 over two quarters. 

Cheaper medicine

The most you’ll pay for prescription medicines covered by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) will reduce from $31.60 to $25.00. This is to start on 1 January 2026. Concession card holders will continue to pay $7.70 for medicines listed on the PBS. 

From 1 July 2026, the Government plans to introduce new tax cuts for all taxpayers. The tax rate for taxable income between $18,201 and $45,000 will be reduced from 16% to 15%, and further to 14% from 1 July 2027. This will give taxpayers up to $268 in 2026-27 and up to $536 in 2027-28 in their pockets. 

Medicare levy threshold increased 

The Government will increase the Medicare levy low-income thresholds for singles, families, and seniors and pensioners. This means over one million vulnerable Australians will continue to be exempt from paying the Medicare levy or pay a reduced rate. 

More bulk billing 

A commitment of $8.5 billion has also been proposed to increase availability of bulk billed doctor appointments and expand the Medicare Urgent Care Clinics Program. This will include an additional 50 Medicare Urgent Care Clinics across Australia, bringing the total to 137. 

The Government will increase funding for the Help to Buy program by $800 million, so more first-time home buyers can purchase a property. This includes increasing income caps from $90,000 to $100,000 for singles and from $120,000 to $160,000 for joint applications. 

A number of proposals were announced to ease the burden of student loans. Outstanding Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) and other student debts are proposed to be reduced by 20 per cent from 1 June 2025. Plus, from 1 July 2025 the Government has proposed to increase the amount that people can earn before they are required to start paying back their loans from $54,435 in 2024–25 to $67,000 in 2025–26. On top of this, compulsory repayments will be lower for people earning under around $180,000 and above the current minimum threshold.