17 May Budget 2018 – Bite-Sized.
Guaranteeing Medicare with record funding
- Medicare spending is guaranteed and increasing every year from $24 billion in 2017-18 to $28.8 billion in 2021-22 to support healthcare for every Australian.
- Absolute rock-solid commitment to Medicare with an additional $4.8 billion investment,
- Building on the Medicare Guarantee Fund established last year.
- For 2017-18, $34.4 billion has been credited to the Fund.
- A further credit of $35.3 billion will be made to meet the estimated Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) and Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) expenditure for 2018-19.
Protecting women’s safety and welfare
- Zero tolerance to violence against women
- Committing $54.4 million to services for women affected by violence and for online safety initiatives
- Additional $11.5 million for the national sexual assault, domestic and family violence counselling service 1800RESPECT over two years;
- $6.7 million to maintain funding for DV-alert to continue its domestic violence response training for community frontline workers;
- $14.2 million over four years for the Office of the eSafety Commissioner to help make cyberspace safe for women; and
- $22 million over five years to address the abuse of older Australians, which affects up to 20 percent of elderly women.
Rural Health – Stronger Rural Health Strategy
- The government will invest $550 million in the Stronger Rural Health Strategy
- The comprehensive package, delivered over the next ten years, will fundamentally change the training and supply of rural and regional doctors
- Will transform medical training in the regions
- 3,000 additional doctors for rural Australia
- more than 3,000 additional nurses in rural general practice
- hundreds of additional allied health professionals in the regions over 10 years.
- Provide greater opportunities for Australian doctors through better teaching, training and retention
Aged Care – More Choices For a Longer Life package
- support older Australians to live longer and be better prepared, healthier, more independent and connected to their communities,
- An additional 14,000 high-level home care packages so older Australians can stay in their homes longer if they want to;
- Since the last Budget, the Turnbull Government has delivered an extra 20,000 high-level home care packages, to support people to live at home longer.
- Allowing pensioners to earn more without reducing their pension;
- Greater flexibility to use home equity to increase retirement incomes.
- We will provide 13,500 new residential aged care places and 775 short-term restorative places to be made available where they are most needed
- $60 million for capital investment.
- We will also invest $40.0 million to support aged care providers in regional, rural and remote Australia for urgent building and maintenance works.
Infrastructure – Roads
- Building Better Regions Fund – extended
- Successful First Round – delivered 26,000 jobs and 250 projects
- Additional $200 million now available through a third round,
- Stronger Communities Programme – EXTENDED
- Fourth round with additional $22.5 million
- Additional $3.3 billion toward the Bruce Highway – total investment now $10 billion
- Move freight more efficiently to our ports and markets
- Better connect our regions
Defence & Border Security
- Commitment to providing Defence
- Deployment of more than 140 additional AFP Counter Terrorist First Response officers at airports and a further 50 officers to provide tactical intelligence and other support.
- Upgrades to inbound air cargo and international mail screening technology.
- Improved training and accreditation of all screening staff at airports.
- $50.1 million in funding to support regional airports to upgrade security
- Ensuring safety and security at home and secure maritime borders
- Defence budget growing to two percent of GDP by 2020–21
- $36.4 billion in 2018–19 and $160.7 billion over the Forward Estimates
Sport
- Delivered $230 million package of sports and physical activity participation initiatives
- More Australians to be more active, more often
- Community sporting clubs with $29.7 million for the sports infrastructure grants program
- Community sporting clubs will share in infrastructure grants of up to $500,000 for small to medium scale projects or for improvements to existing or ageing facilities
- The Sporting Schools Program will be extended for the calendar year 2019 with a $41.7 million investment to deliver high-quality sporting activities for students and will encourage children to play sport and be active
