The below article is written by CEO of RFCS NSW, Craig Hough.
On 25 March 2025 the federal Treasurer delivered the Federal Budget.
This is presented in the context of increased global uncertainty and volatility – tariffs and trade disputes and wars in the middle east and Europe; cyclone and floods in Queensland and NSW, drought in parts of the southern states in particular South Australia; a sluggish Chinese economy and continued high cost of living. With inflation now back in the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA’s) target band of 2-3% there are fresh hopes for further interest rate cuts while unemployment continues around the 4 per cent mark and the economy grows moderately between 1½ to 2½ per cent over the next few years.
Like the 2024 Budget the government continues to prioritise non-inflationary cost of living relief particularly for lower income and disadvantaged people, capability building and economic growth. This has resulted in an overall Budget deficit of 1.5 per cent of GDP ($42.1 billion) forecast for 2025–26. While this is expected to reduce over the forward estimates to 1.1 per cent of GDP ($36.9 billion) in 2028-29, net debt (the sum of interest-bearing liabilities less the sum of selected financial assets) is forecast to grow from 19.9 per cent of GDP ($556 billion) in 2025-26 to 23.1 per cent of GDP ($$768.2 billion) in 2028-29.
The big initiatives driving the government’s agenda are:
- Building Australia’s Future program – increasing manufacturing capacity and capability ($1.13 billion over four years)
- Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) – lowering the general patient co‑payment from $31.60 to $25.00 on 1 January 2026 ($784.6 million over four years), improving access to medicines ($539.4 million over five years) and providing new or amended listings ($1.8 billion over five years).
- Medicare – incentivizing bulk billing and modernizing systems ($10 billion over five years)
- Infrastructure – Various projects across the country e.g. Bruce Hwy upgrade ($17.1 billion over ten years)
- National Broadband Network – Upgrading the remaining 622,000 premises on the Fibre to the Node (FTTN) network ($3 billion over seven years)
- Indigenous affairs – National Partnership on Northern Territory Remote Aboriginal Investment ($842.6 million for six years) and the National Agreement on Closing the Gap ($506.4 million over five years).
Other initiatives listed in the Budget likely to have more of an impact for RFCS NSW’s clients are:
Tax cuts for low-income earners
Currently people earning between $18,201 – $45,000 per annum pay 16c for each $1 over $18,200 in income tax. From 1 July 2026, the 16 per cent rate will be reduced to 15 per cent and from 1 July 2027, the 15 per cent rate will be reduced further to 14 per cent.
Energy bill relief
$1.8 billion has been provided over two years from 2025–26 to continue energy bill rebates of $75 per quarter for eligible Australian households and small businesses until 31 December 2025.
National Anti-Scam Centre
$6.7 million will be provided in 2025–26 to extend the operation of the National Anti‑Scam Centre within the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. The purpose of this initiative is to continue protecting consumers and businesses from scam activity.
Tax compliance
$999 million has been provided over four years to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) to extend and expand their tax compliance activities. It is likely that this will increase demand for financial counselling services.
Trade development
$23.8 million has been provided over three years from 2025–26 to sponsor agricultural trade events.
$6.8 million has been provided in 2025–26 for the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry to sustain non‑regulatory agricultural export and trade functions, including international engagement in multilateral forums and technical market access services.
These initiatives increase capacity for agriculture exporters to showcase their products and services to international markets.
Biosecurity
$11 million has been provided in 2025–26 to continue efforts to reduce the economic and environmental burden of established feral animals, pests and weeds. This builds on much larger investments in previous Budgets and advances implementation of the national biosecurity strategy.
National Food Strategy
$3.5 million has been provided over two years from 2025–26 to develop a National Food Security Strategy. It is expected that RFCS NSW will provide input to the strategy on behalf of its clients.
Continuing Implementation of the Murray‑Darling Basin Plan
The government will provide funding over three years from 2025–26 to continue implementation of the Murray‑Darling Basin Plan through additional voluntary water purchases that will contribute towards better environmental outcomes under the Basin Plan. The financial implications of this measure are not for publication because they would impair the Commonwealth’s position in negotiating contracts.
Bushfire resilience
$17.7 million has been provided in 2025–26 for the Bushfire Community Recovery and Resilience Program to support bushfire resilience activities in rural and regional Australia. There may be an opportunity for RFCS NSW to assist with the roll out of this program given the relationship between the programs.
Understanding the Food and Grocery Code
$2.9 million has been provided over three years from 2025–26 to assist fresh produce suppliers to understand and enforce their rights under the Food and Grocery Code to achieve more favorable commercial outcomes when negotiating with large grocery businesses. RFCS NSW will complement this initiative by going through and considering code provisions with relevant clients in casework.
