The Federal budget An Australian federal budget is

The Federal budget An Australian federal budget is a document that sets out the Australian government's proposed revenues and expenditures and conduct of its operations in the following financial year, and its fiscal policy for the forward years

Group Activity 10 minutes • What are the government budget plans for your social group? • What impacts do you think it will have on your income level? • Are you going to spend money more or less? Why? • Determine if you are the budget winner or loser.

Budget 2015: Parents of young kids Boosting access to child care constitutes one of the budget's main sweeteners, with $3. 5 billion in new money earmarked over five years. Families earning $65, 000 or less will get 85 per cent of their fees subsidised. That subsidy will reduce to 50 per cent for families earning $170, 000 or more.

Thinking Question Do you think the budget will enable Australia get into surplus? Provide reasons.

Budget 2015: Small Business Owners Tax burden for small business owners – those with annual turnover under $2 million – will be lowered to the tune of 1. 5 per cent, costing the Government $1. 45 billion. For smaller, unincorporated businesses, there will be a 5 per cent tax discount. To help small businesses invest in new tools or machinery the Government will provide an immediate tax deduction of all assets under $20, 000. Small businesses can buy as many items under that amount as they like and receive that deduction on each one, starting from budget night.

Budget 2015: Middle-income earners While middle-income earners stand to benefit from a range of Government policies, including the childcare changes, some of the heavy lifting of the return to surplus will fall upon them through bracket creep. Bracket creep occurs when increases in wages to account for cost-of-living pressures push people into higher income tax brackets. These wage increases are normally offset by adjustments in the tax brackets, but the tax brackets are budgeted to remain steady into the future.

Budget 2015: Farmers Farmers battling drought will get a lifeline with $250 million set aside to continue the Drought Concessional Loan Scheme for another year. Farmers will also be able to claim fences and new water storage as tax write-offs. $25 million will be made available to help farmers in drought-affected areas soften the impact of pest animals. Infrastructure in drought-affected areas will get a $35 million boost through the establishment of a new grants system. And for those feeling the emotional impacts of working on the land without rain, $20 million will go towards extending social and community support services for an extra 20 local government areas. There will also be an extra $1. 8 million for more counsellors. Cattle farmers in the north of the country will also benefit in $101. 3 million in funding over four years to improve road infrastructure for cattle supply chains

Budget 2015: Foreigners People from overseas coming to Australia on a working holiday will no longer be eligible for the $18, 000 tax free threshold, and instead have to pay tax at 32. 5 per cent on every dollar they earn up to $80, 000. The Commonwealth's coffers are also set to benefit to the tune of $651 million over four years from tougher enforcement and penalties foreign investment law breaches, especially related to real estate, as well as significant new application fees. The budget forecasts that $735 million in extra revenue will be raised, while only $83. 6 million is being budgeted to be spent on extra compliance and enforcement activities

Budget 2015: National Security With homegrown terrorism a major area of concern for the Government, this budget sets aside $450 million to boost national security by giving various intelligence agencies more resources. Of that, $296 million will go to boosting the technological capabilities of the country's intelligence-gathering agencies, while the new border protection service, the Australian Border Force, will get $50 million to train its officers. The Government will also give $131 million to the telecommunications industry to help it comply with the new metadata collections laws, which force telcos to store the metadata of their customers for two years. There will also be $22 million for social media monitoring that will help counter the online extremist dogma of groups like Islamic State.

Research Task Ø Students work in pair to find an article on current economic issues, these include: _Housing affordability _Rising Unemployment _Falling value of the Australian Dollar _Falling commodity prices _Economic Growth Ø Students to : 1. summarize the article 2. identify who are the stakeholders in the articles 3. discuss the effects the issue has on the stakeholders 4. Suggest solutions for the issue