How the changes on July 1 could affect your wallet

July 1 brings new rules, a tax cut and an increase to paid parental leave Wed 1 Jul 2026 at 4:51am Today marks the beginning of a new financial year, with a host of new rules coming into effect. Tap the boxes below to find out how these changes could impact you. A minor tax cut Read moreThe federal government is cutting the tax rate on income between $18,201 and $45,000 from 16 per cent to 15 per cent from today. The tax brackets will remain the same, but the rates will now look like this: | Taxable income | Tax on this income | |---|---| | 0 – $18,200 | $0 | | $18,201 – $45,000 | 15 cents for each $1 over $18,200 | | $45,001 – $135,000 | $4,020 plus 30 cents for each $1 over $45,000 | | $135,001 – $190,000 | $31,288 plus 37 cents for each $1 over $135,000 | | $190,001 and over | $51,638 plus 45 cents for each $1 over $190,000 | The above rates do not include the Medicare levy of 2 per cent. This will benefit everyone earning more than $18,201, not just people in the tax bracket between $18,201 and $45,000. That's because people's entire income isn't taxed at the same rate. The first $18,200 they earn isn't taxed at all. Their earnings between $18,201 and $45,000 will be taxed at the new rate of 15 cents for each dollar. And earnings between $45,000 and $135,000 will be taxed at the existing rate of 30 cents for each dollar and so on. It gets a bit more complicated when the Medicare levy and the Medicare levy surcharge are applied, but that's the gist of it. This change, which was announced in last year's federal budget, will save everyone who earns $45,000 or more $268 on tax per year. It works out to be an extra $5 back in your pocket each week. A minimum wage pay rise Read moreFrom today, workers on the national minimum wage will get a 5.97 per cent pay rise, while minimum award workers will get a 4.75 per cent increase. These changes will apply to any shifts worked from today, and should be automatically reflected in workers' pay cheques that cover this period. The pay rises came off the back of Fair Work Australia's wage review, something it does every year. The national minimum wage applies to workers who aren't covered by an award or enterprise agreement. But most employees are covered by an award, Fair Work Australia says. An award is a legal document that tells employers the lowest rate they can pay workers and what conditions they have to provide staff in a certain industry or occupation. For example, a person employed as a hairdresser might be covered by the Hair and Beauty Award, while someone who works at a clothing shop could be covered by the General Retail Industry Award. The new national minimum wage is now: - $1,004.90 per week; or - $26.44 per hour That's up from $948 per week or $24.95 per hour, and works out to be an increase of $56.90 per week. It gets a bit more complicated for individual award wages, so if you want to check how much extra you could be paid, check out Fair Work Australia's pay calculator. Fair Work Australia sets the pay rates for minimum wage and minimum awards, but the specific award level workers are being paid under is between staff and their employers. Workers may have to check their pay slip or employment contract to see what level they're currently on. Super will be paid every payday Read moreEmployers will now have to pay their workers' superannuation at the same time as their wages so that super contributions reach their nominated funds within seven business days. Before now, employers deducted super contributions from workers' pay cheques each pay cycle, but only had to pay it into their nominated funds every three months. The change, which was announced back in 2023, was touted by the federal government as a way to boost retirement incomes and ensure employers were keeping up with their super requirements. Some employers may already be paying super on the same day as they pay their staff, so those workplaces will be unaffected by this change. An extra 10 days of parental leave Read moreEligible families with a child born or adopted from today will get an extra 10 days of paid parental leave. It used to be 24 weeks, but it's now 26 weeks or 130 days. Single parents will be able to take all their parental leave pay days; however, a certain number of days have to be reserved for the other partner in coupled parents. This period used to be 15 days, but now 20 days will be reserved for the other partner. Because the payment is tied to the national minimum wage, that will also increase from today. So the payment will increase by 5.97 per cent to $1,004.90 per five-day week. These changes were announced in 2022 and legislated in 2023. Fuel excise discount slashed Read moreBack in March, the federal government announced it was halving the fuel excise to combat the rising cost of petrol caused by the war in the Middle East's disruption to the oil market. The fuel excise is a sales tax on petrol and diesel which is paid by fuel importers and retailers, who pass it on to customers. The standard fuel excise is 52.6 cents per litre, so halving it knocked 32 cents off each litre of petrol. At the time, the government said this would last three months, with a deadline of June 30. But with uncertainty around the conflict in the Middle East continuing while the deadline loomed, the government extended the discount by another month at a reduced rate. The new reduced rate of 16.4 cents off per litre applies from today until August 2. This is expected to cost about an extra $12 per tank on a standard 65-litre car. Some Centrelink payment thresholds increase Read moreAnother round of indexation increases will apply to some social security payment rates and thresholds from today. All payments and thresholds are regularly indexed to keep up with inflation throughout the year, but they aren't all indexed at once. For example, Jobseeker payments went up in March, while the disability support pension for people under 21 with no dependent children went up in January. Here's a snapshot of what will be increasing from today: - Family Tax Benefit (Part A and Part B) rates - Pension means testing limits - Parenting payment means testing limits - Youth Allowance means testing limits - Deeming thresholds Benchmark power prices fall for some Read moreEarlier this year, the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) cut the default market offer in the areas the regulator covers. In states where there are multiple energy companies, these companies might offer a range of different contracts or plans for power prices. But customers will typically be on a company's default plan unless they contact their energy provider and actively choose a different plan. The AER's default market offer is a cap on how much companies can charge for that basic, automatic plan each year. It only applies to New South Wales, South Australia and an area classified as south-east Queensland. Power prices will fall by up to: - 7.7 per cent in New South Wales - 10.7 per cent in south-east Queensland - 1.1 per cent in South Australia However, some customers in South Australia will see a 1.4 per cent increase. These changes apply from today. Benchmark prices in Victoria, which is covered by a different regulatory body, will fall by 5 per cent. Customers in affected states should check what plan they're on, read the fine print of their agreements and may have to switch plans to make sure they're saving money overall. Three free hours of power a day for some Read moreThe Solar Sharer Offer (SSO) is set to be introduced in New South Wales, South Australia and parts of south-east Queensland today. This will give eligible customers up to three hours of free electricity per day. It'll only apply to people in areas covered by the AER's default market offer and customers will have to opt in. They'll also need to have a smart meter installed. Sender ID register kicks in Read moreFrom today, businesses and organisations wanting to send out text messages with their name at the top of the message will need to join the SMS Sender ID Register. The move is a bid to combat scam activity, the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) says. The idea is to block messages coming from scammers pretending to be from legitimate businesses. Scammers had been able to trick users into thinking they were legitimate by having a business name appear in the name at the top of text messages, known as a Sender ID. But the new rules should make it harder for scammers to trick victims. "Messages sent by non-participating telcos and message providers will be blocked," the ACMA's website says. "Unregistered sender IDs will be labelled 'Unverified'." [Image text:] SerOutAustralia 1191.42 1801 6788 10-480 49-350 1091.41 1022.7 49.507 93.690 ARD BALANCE 1oo 10 984.55 84876 984 o 24, 66734 25.405 ANK 57014 88611 ANK 20.092 67908 e 63.145 45.420 SAN 50 608 3489 58 40194 19250 68.656 50A 24.485 .274 666 031 7.519 308 35047 69163 53213 15193 98933 95.403 49112 76.731 58.021 83.612 57.226 39.344 47642 44.279 28452 43797 89.567 34.828 124 87 10 48 37 42 42 90