Release date: 15/06/23

The Malinauskas Government is providing $471.3 million for cost of living relief for South Australians who need it most, in the largest package of cost of living relief measures ever deployed in South Australia.

This includes $254.4 million in energy bill reductions for South Australians as part of the Energy Bill Relief Plan, jointly funded by the Commonwealth. The State Budget commits $127.2 million in funding over 2023-24 and 2024-25.

The energy bill reductions are available to help more than 420,000 eligible SA households and 86,000 small businesses. Households eligible under the plan will receive rebates of up to $500, while eligible small businesses will receive rebates of up
to $650.

In addition, the government will provide $44 million over five years to index existing concession payments in line with higher inflation. Concession payments will be indexed by 8.64 per cent in 2023-24.

The increase, which will also apply to the energy concession, medical heating and cooling concession, water concession and sewerage concession, will bring further relief to eligible South Australians on low or fixed incomes.

Households eligible to receive the one-off energy bill rebate, in addition to the state government energy concession, cost of living concession, water and sewerage concessions and ESL remission will benefit from up to $1,547 in total relief in 2023-24.

The concession increases are in addition to other targeted measures to provide relief to South Australians who need it most.

The government is spending $32.1 million over four years to increase carer payments  from 1 July 2023, including an extra $50 per fortnight for general foster and kinship carers for each child or young person in their care under the age of 16 years plus a 4.8 per cent boost to all carer payments to assist with growing cost of living pressures.

There is also $57.2 million over four years to help non-government organisations delivering services to the community on behalf of government to meet the challenge of rising costs associated with wage and inflation pressures. This is in addition to the $55 million over four years announced for the same measure in the 2022-23 Mid-Year

The Budget also provides:

  • $56.4 million over five years to reduce car parking charges to public hospital
    workers, including cleaners and contractors, at metropolitan hospitals to an
    average of $2.50 per day and to provide free public transport for these workers;
  • $12 million in 2023-24 to continue a $100 per child subsidy for the government
    school materials and services charge for the 2024 school year, benefitting the
    parents and caregivers of around 120,000 government school students;
  • $6.5 million over four years to expand the school breakfast program delivering
    more than one million additional meals, the largest investment of its kind;
  • $4 million over four years for food relief organisations including $2 million for the
    largest provider, Foodbank, to help with increased demand;
  • $1 million over two years for the delivery of financial counselling services.

There is also additional relief for regional SA - $3.7 million over five years to abolish the asset sustainability levy payable by outback residents.

For the second year in a row the government has indexed fees and charges to keep them well below inflation.

Motorists will continue to benefit from competitive CTP Scheme legislated in 2016 by the previous Labor Government with the vast majority of premiums to fall from 1 July.

The cheapest premium offered to motorists will be $276.84 from 1 July for metropolitan based private passenger vehicles, down $18.15 (6%), and down $8.57 (4%) for nonmetropolitan-based vehicles.

The measures are in addition to significant support offered by the Federal Government including cheaper childcare and paid parental leave from July, benefitting around 1.2 million families.

It is also tripling the bulk billing benefit for GPs, providing cheaper medicines, lifting the single parenting payment age cut off from 8 to 14, increasing Commonwealth Rental Assistance and increasing the base rate of income support payments, such as JobSeeker, Austudy and Youth Allowance by $40 per fortnight to eligible people.

Quotes

Attributable to Stephen Mullighan

We know that high inflation and rising interest rates are putting many households and small businesses under extraordinary pressure.
The government is providing relief to those in our community who need help the most.

The budget measures are designed to provide cost of living relief without adding to inflation. There is no point putting extra cash in the pockets of people if the RBA feels it needs to take it out the next month with interest rate hikes. That’s why this substantial
package is carefully targeted.

An Adelaide family with two school aged children, eligible for Family Tax Benefit A or B could save around $700. Eligible pensioners who own their own home could receive up to $580 in additional cost of living relief, through the Energy Bill Relief plan and the increase to various government concessions, bringing total government concession relief of up to $1,547 in 2023-24.

They will also continue to benefit from the government’s election commitment to provide free public transport for seniors cardholders.