How the Albanese Government is delivering Cost of Living relief to you

The Albanese Labor Government's number one priority is delivering targeted cost of living relief to you. Since coming to government we've introduced a number of measures with more to come.

 

Since 1 July 2024 every Australian tax payer has received a tax cut, with people in our community saving an average of $1,489.

Thanks to Labor: 

    • A nurse working in Armadale on $74,000 will get a tax cut of $1,524.
    • A part-time shop assistant in Gosnells on $32,000 will get a tax cut of $414.
    • A high school teacher on $84,000 will get a tax cut of $1,779.

 

After inflation ran away under Scott Morrison's Liberals, the Albanese Government has worked tirelessly to bring inflation down responsibly. Inflation is now less than half the 6.1% we inherited and less than a third of it's peak. Our cost of living relief measures are helping Australians while putting downward pressure on inflation. Lowering inflation is providing some relief and the Albanese Labor Government’s policies are helping in the fight against inflation, but we’re not complacent because we know people are still under pressure. 

 

Households are getting $700 off their electricity bills. You've already received the first $350, and will see the second $350 credit in your Synergy bill from December. The Albanese and Cook WA Labor Governments have worked together to provide this joint relief which is easing pressure on households and helping to lower inflation. 

 

After the 10 years of the Liberals attacking workers, wages were on a downward turn. In fact the Liberals said that low wage growth was "a deliberate design feature of our economic architecture''. Now, thanks to Labor's responsible commitment to make sure Australians earn more, wage growth is at a 15 year high. We've fought for our lowest paid workers and minimum wage workers are now earning an additional $10,400 per year.

 

The Albanese Government's Cheaper Child Care reforms are delivering real cost-of-living relief to Australian Families. Families are now paying less per hour per child for centre-based care. Since then we haven't stopped, and soon we'll be capping fee increases so that fee's can't increase by more than 4.4% in the next year. We're also funding a 15% wage increase for Early Childhood Educators to ensure the workers looking after our children are paid fairly.

 

Since 20 September more relief has rolled out. On top of the usual indexation we've increased Commonwealth Rent assistance by an additional 10%, after the additional 15% increase the year before - the first back to back increase in CRA in 30 years. This means that since coming to government we've increased the maximum rate of Rent Assistance by 45%

 

Misconduct in the supermarket and retail sector is unfair, unacceptable and makes cost-of-living pressures worse for Australians. We're boosting funding to the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission to monitor and investigate deceptive practices. The Albanese Labor Government is also introducing a mandatory Food and Grocery Code to protect customers and punish supermarket breaches.

 

Australians have saved over half a billion dollars on the cost of medicines thanks to the Albanese Labor Government's Cheaper Medicines policy. PBS scripts are frozen at $31.60 until 2026, and for pensioners and concession cardholders PBS scripts will remain frozen at $7.70 until 2030. We've also introduced new 60-day prescriptions for almost 300 medications, allow patients to get a two month supply for the price of a single prescription.

 

We're wiping $3 billion in student debt from workers and students across the country. By making indexation rates fairer and ensuring indexation is never higher than wage growth. We're backdating this reform which will see an individual with the average HELP debt of $26,500 having $1,200 wiped from their loan. You can calculate your saving here.