KEY POINTS:
- A number of changes made by the Australian government will come into effect on 1 January.
- Plastic, postage and and public holidays are all set for a shake up in 2023.
- Long awaited child care changes will be introduced but parents will have to wait a little longer.
A new year brings change; school students move into new classes, people take the opportunity to make the switch to new jobs and even our favourite but there are also changes that come in on a broader scale.
In 2023, Australians could see changes to their income, how COVID-19 is handled and their ability to access affordable healthcare.
We've compiled a guide to some of the new measures coming into effect in 2023 that you might notice in places including the post office, cafe and waiting room.
Increase to Centrelink payments
Youth and student payments will go up as of the new year. The federal government adjusts different Centrelink payments at different points throughout the year.
Youth Allowance and Austudy payments are among those which will be indexed by 6.1 per cent as of January 2023.
Austudy is among a number of payments that will rise with indexation as of January 1. Source: Getty / SolStock
“Income support payments were woefully inadequate before the prices of food, rent, medicines, energy and other essentials skyrocketed and they will still be totally insufficient after indexation,” she said.
“There are more than three million people living in poverty in Australia and this Christmas, one in five of us were struggling to afford food.
“The federal government must take action to change this by lifting income support payments to at least $73 a day in the May budget.”
Cheaper medicines
For the first time in the 75-year history of Australia’s pharmaceutical benefits scheme (PBS), the maximum price of government-subsidised prescription medicine will drop.
The maximum amount people will pay for medications that fall under the PBS will .
It’s estimated a person who takes just one medication a month could save up to $150 a year thanks to this change.
Fewer subsidised psychology sessions
Subsidised mental health sessions available to Australians will be cut in half in 2023.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the former Coalition government allocated funding to subsidise up to 20 psychology appointments to help address of lockdowns.
When announcing the Labor government would not renew the funding to subsidise sessions after the first 10, Health Minister Mark Butler said the additional subsidies were “not delivering for all Australians equally”, and the most disadvantaged Australians were “missing out”.
The reduction in available subsidies could potentially increase the out-of-pocket cost of any additional sessions beyond the first 10, by hundreds of dollars.
While the decision has met and even within the Labor party itself, the subsidies are still set to be wound back.
Josh Burns, the federal Labor member for Macnamara in Melbourne, who spoke on this very topic in his maiden speech to parliament in 2019, tweeted a statement saying “we need to reconsider this decision”.
He said while he agreed that access to mental health services needed to be improved, “the answer is not to reduce support for those who need it” and he vowed to continue to advocate for the reinstatement of the 10 extra Medicare rebated sessions for those who require it.
PCR tests will be less accessible
People in some parts of Australia were spending hours in lines for PCR tests this time last year, but now the nation’s approach to COVID-19 is set to look very different in 2023.
Almost all and as of 1 January, to get a free (Medicare-funded) PCR test, people will have to first see their GP for a referral.
The country’s COVID-19 management plan for 2023 stated "there is no public health requirement or recommendation for low-risk individuals to seek PCR testing”.
Phasing out of more single-use plastic items
Australians have changed the way they shop in recent years, bringing reusable bags with them to tackle unacceptable levels of plastic waste.
In 2023, as each of the states and territories tackles plastic waste to their own timeline, more single-use plastic items will begin to be phased out.
There will be a ban on the sale of plastic-stemmed cotton buds (among other items) in Queensland in September.
In February, Victoria will join other states which no longer allow single-use plastic straws and Western Australia will become the first Australian state to ban single-use plastic (lined) takeaway coffee cups.
While WA is set to be the first Australia state to ban single use coffee cups that are lined with plastic, other states are expected to follow. Source: Getty / Cavan Images
Price rise on posting a letter
Sending mail within Australia via Australia Post will cost more in 2023.
The basic postage rate or the cost of a stamp, will increase from $1.10 to $1.20 on 3 January.
Cheaper childcare
Parents will have to wait until July, but come the second half of the year, most families will pay less for childcare.
Childcare subsidy rates will lift from 85 per cent to 90 per cent for families earning less than $80,000. Subsidy rates will then taper until it reaches $530,000.
Families will continue to receive existing higher subsidy rates for their second and subsequent children aged five and under in care, up to 95 per cent.
King's Birthday public holiday
With the Queen's passing in 2022, the Queen's Birthday holiday is no longer.
Those keen for a long weekend won't miss out though, the King's Birthday - which actually falls on November 14 - will be celebrated in Australia, in place of the former public holiday.
The day off in honour of the reigning monarch will fall at a similar time as it has been in the past, in mid-June for much of the country, other than WA, where it is recognised in September and Queensland where it is marked in October.
