PROTECTING AND CREATING JOBS

In March 2021, Australia became the first advanced economy to have more people in employment than prior to the pandemic.

Between May 2020 and June 2021 1,016,300 jobs were created.

In August, Australia’s unemployment rate fell to 4.5% – below its pre-pandemic level in March 2020.

By contrast, following the 1990s recession, it took Australia 10 years for unemployment to return to its pre-recession level.

Despite COVID-19, Australia’s unemployment rate is lower than the 5.7% when Labor left Government.

Prior to the pandemic, Australia had the lowest level of welfare dependency in 30 years (as at June 2019).

Without JobKeeper and other measures to support our economy, Treasury estimates the unemployment rate would have been 5 percentage points higher.

The Government’s plan to secure our recovery and create more jobs includes: tax relief for workers; investment incentives for businesses, subsidising apprenticeships, boosting skills, record infrastructure investment and diversifying our economy.

There is a long way to go, but the Government’s economic recovery plan is working.

 

ACCESSIBLE, AFFORDABLE CHILD CARE

Under Labor, child care fees increased 53% over six years.

Since we came into office 280,000 more children are in childcare and child care expenditure is up 77%.

This financial year, the Government is providing $9 billion in Child Care Subsidy, which makes child care more accessible and affordable.

The child care system is targeted, with those who earn the least receiving the highest level of subsidy (85%). Those who work, train or study the most get the most support.

Approximately 90% of families using approved child care are eligible for a Child Care Subsidy of between 50% and 85%.

A typical family is around $1,300 better off per child per year.

From 1 July 2022, additional support will be provided:

• For families with more than one child in child care, the level of Child Care Subsidy will be increased by 30% – to a maximum of 90%. This will benefit around 250,000 families by an average of $2,200 per year.
• The $10,560 cap on Child Care Subsidy will also be removed – benefiting around 18,000 families.

Families can see how they benefit from the Child Care Subsidy at: www.dese.gov.au/early-childhood

Information about fees, vacancies, and quality ratings is available at: www.childcarefinder.gov.au

 

MORE FLEXIBLE PARENTAL LEAVE

Families are now able to split their Government funded Parental Leave Pay into blocks of leave, allowing them to work in between.

Since the introduction of the Government’s Paid Parental Leave scheme, more than 1.5 million people have received Parental Leave Pay – including over 650,000 people having received Dad and Partner Pay.

In 2019-20, the Government provided $2.4 billion in parental leave payments.

This makes returning to work much more flexible.

We have also extended the work test rules so more women are eligible for Government funded Parental Leave Pay.

 

TAX RELIEF

The Morrison Government has legislated tax relief so people keep more of what they earn.

In the 2020 Budget, the Government brought forward Stage Two of our legislated tax cuts by two years.

In the 2021 Budget, the Government extended the Low and Middle Income Tax Offset for an additional year.

This will deliver additional tax relief of up to $1,080 for individuals or $2,160 for couples.

These changes mean more than 7 million Australians receive tax relief of $2,000 or more this year, compared to 2017-18.

This tax relief is part of a major reform to our tax system that will see around 95% of taxpayers face a marginal rate of no more than 30 cents in the dollar in 2024-25.

It means Australians will have more of their own money to spend on what matters to them, generating billions of dollars of economic activity and tens of thousands of new jobs.

 

BETTER HEALTH CARE

Federal funding for public hospitals will more than double compared to Labor – $13.3 billion in 2012-13 to $29.9 billion in 2024-25.

This means record numbers of hospital services, doctors and nurses.

More Australians are now seeing their doctor without having to pay.

The GP bulk billing rate last year (12 months to June 2021) was 88.8%, up from 82.2% in 2012-13 (Labor’s last year in government).

More than 171.5 million free GP services were delivered in 2020-21 – 67.5 million more than in Labor’s last year.

Since we came into government, over 2,700 medicine listings worth $13.5 billion have been added to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.

These help people suffering from cancer, heart disease, epilepsy, spinal muscular atrophy, multiple sclerosis, cystic fibrosis, severe asthma, severe osteoporosis and chronic migraines.

We have taken steps to make private health insurance more affordable. This includes requiring insurers to categorise products as gold, silver, bronze or basic, and use standard definitions to make clear what’s covered and what isn’t.

All 12 and 13 year old girls and boys now have free access to the Gardasil 9 Vaccine, to protect them from the HPV virus.

Our No Jab, No Pay policy is protecting children from preventable diseases. The immunization rate for five-year-olds is now over 95% – the highest on record.

 

INVESTING IN SCHOOLS AND STUDENTS

The Coalition Government has almost doubled school funding since coming to office.

We have provided real needs-based funding, growing from $12.9 billion in 2013, to $23.4 billion in 2021 to $32.7 billion in 2029.

This increases average funding per student by 60% over a decade.

Parents can see for themselves all the facts on school funding – including the funding increases at their local school, at the Department of Education’s School Funding Estimator: https://school-funding.dese.gov.au

We are focusing on enhancing outcomes for students, so they have the best start in life.

 

MORE AFFORDABLE, RELIABLE ELECTRICITY

The Morrison Government is committed to reducing power prices.

ABS data shows that since December 2018 the average price of electricity fell by 13.2% (to March 2021).

A number of new measures – a price safety net for customers, big stick legislation to stop energy companies ripping off customers, and new investments in power generation and transmission and new technologies – will put more downward pressure on prices.

 

REDUCING CONGESTION

The Coalition Government’s 10 year roads, rail and airport pipeline will relieve congestion, grow our regions and make life easier for Australians.

We are investing in major highway safety upgrades, congestion busting road projects and important public transport rail projects to reduce travel times and improve safety.

 

KEEPING AUSTRALIANS SAFE ONLINE

In 2015, the Government established the world’s first Children’s eSafety Commissioner, now the eSafety Commissioner for all Australians.

In 2020-21, the eSafety Commissioner assisted 934 children and young people reporting serious cyberbullying. The eSafety Commissioner also helped 2,687 victims of image-based abuse and 1,599 victims reporting adult cyber abuse.

Also in 2020-21, investigations were made into 14,633 items of illegal content, including child sexual abuse material.

In the last five years, the eSafety Commissioner has reached over 650,000 students, parents and community groups through their training programs.

The Government is developing a new Online Safety Act which will further strengthen protections against cyber bullying, cyber abuse and violent material online.

Information current as at September 2021