Federal Budget May 2023-24: Family

This Government has delivered a Budget with a strong focus on supporting Australian families, with significant spending measures announced to support parents and children.  Headline figures include a $40 per fortnight increase to welfare payments at a funding cost of $4.9 billion over five years and $1.9 billion over five years to extend the Single Parenting Payment to assist parents with children up to 14 years of age.  Additional funding will be provided for the Child Care Subsidy and the Early Childhood Education and Care sector.  

Welfare

• The Government will provide $4.9 billion over five years (with $1.3 billion per year ongoing) to increase support for people receiving working age payments. This includes:
  • increasing the base rate of working age and student payments by $40 per fortnight.  Commencing 20 September 2023, the increase applies to the JobSeeker Payment, Youth Allowance, Parenting Payment (Partnered), Austudy, ABSTUDY, Disability Support Pension (Youth), and Special Benefit; and
  • extending eligibility for the existing higher single JobSeeker Payment rate for recipients aged above 60 years to recipients aged above 55 years who are on the payment for nine or more continuous months.
• The measure is expected to increase personal income tax receipts by $220 million over three years from 2024-25 (with $80 million per year ongoing).

Supporting Parents

• The Government will provide $1.9 billion over five years (and $500 million per year ongoing) to extend eligibility for the Single Parenting Payment.  The eligibility changes will support single principal carers with a youngest child under 14 years of age (currently, support ends when the youngest child turns 9).
• The Government is providing additional funding to support the Early Childhood Education and Care sector, including a $72.4 million commitment for:
  • 75,000 subsidised places for early childhood educators, teachers and centre directors to undertake mandatory or highly recommended training;
  • financial assistance for 6,000 educators to undertake a paid practicum in initial teacher education courses; and
  • financial assistance for 2,000 workers to undertake a practicum exchange at a different service, including a living allowance for undertakings in rural or remote locations.
• The Government will provide additional funding for the Additional Child Care Subsidy, including $2.8 million over four years to streamline delivery.  Further funding of $18.6 million will be provided to the Department of Education and Services Australia to protect the program from fraud and non-compliance.  The Government expects this will achieve net savings of $139.4 million over four years.
• The Government will provide $19.7 million over two years to help parents support their children’s health and early development.  This includes:
  • $6 million to extend the Australian Red Cross Lifeblood’s role maintaining and expanding delivery of donor milk across Australia;
  • $5.3 million to continue support for the Australian Breastfeeding Association’s National Breastfeeding Helpline;
  • $5.0 million to extend funding for Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder prevention, diagnosis and support activities; and
  • $3.4 million to continue activities addressing declines in childhood immunisation rates for children under 5 years.
• The Government has committed $5.1 million over five years to address the Child Support Scheme recommendations of the Joint Select Committee on Australia’s Family Law System.  Funding will also change child support rules to improve support for secondary students who turn 18 while at school.
• The Government will spend $400 thousand this year for an Early Learning Childcare Facilities Improvement Grant opportunity to provide funding to identified early learning centres and other community organisations to improve facilities.

Supporting Families

• The Government will spend $64 million over six years to extend the Stronger Places, Stronger People program to deliver place-based initiatives in partnership with ten local communities and state and territory governments to improve outcomes for disadvantaged children and their families, and to enhance place-based initiatives in six of these communities.
• The Government will reprioritise $34.3 million in unspent funding to continue a range of activities under the Financial Wellbeing and Capability sub-program.  Funding includes:
  • $32.8 million over two years to provide additional financial wellbeing and capability supports for vulnerable individuals, families and communities in financial crisis; and
  • $1.5 million in 2023–24 to undertake a review of the sub-program.
• The Government will provide funding of $27 million over four years to undertake additional pilots of early interventions for infants with signs of autism, and further progress the Government’s commitment to deliver a National Autism Strategy.  Funding includes:
  • $22.1 million to undertake two pilots of pre-emptive early interventions for infants showing signs of autism (leveraging the design of the ‘Inklings’ pilot underway in Western Australia);
  • $3.7 million to undertake a co-designed national consultation and engagement process on the National Autism Strategy, and to support the Autism Cooperative Research Centre to continue to undertake research informing the Strategy; and
  • $1.2 million to undertake consultation on a National Roadmap to improve the physical and mental health of autistic people.