Serena Copley, Liberal for Kiama. Click here to learn more.
$14.4 BILLION TO DELIVER PUBLIC TRANSPORT
BUDGET SHINES SPOTLIGHT ON COST OF LIVING
$196M FOR A HEALTHIER ENVIRONMENT
SUPPORTING THE STATE’S MOST VULNERABLE
NSW GOVERNMENT CONTINUES TO BACK OUR KIDS: $474.3M INVESTMENT IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
- The NSW Government announced a $14.4 billion budget for public transport and infrastructure, an investment that will continue to fuel the State’s infrastructure boom while providing quality services for customers.
- The coming year will see a massive step in the transformation of public transport in Sydney with passenger services commencing on the new Sydney Metro Northwest in the first half of 2019.
- Australia’s first automated trains will provide customers with a new, world-class rail service between the north west of Sydney and Chatswood.
- NSW will benefit from a $2.3 billion investment in world-class hospitals and health services in 2018-19, with a record $8 billion being invested over the next four years for new facilities, upgrades and redevelopments.
- This record Budget delivers funding for 40 new, upgraded, or redeveloped hospitals.
- A healthy economy means a healthy hospital system.
- The NSW Government’s record health funding ensures our nurses, doctors, and other clinicians can continue to provide the best possible care, supported by the most modern equipment in the newest facilities.
- The NSW Government will offer 100,000 free apprenticeships as part of an unprecedented level of support for apprentices in NSW Budget 2018.
- The free apprenticeships will be on offer in any course at TAFE and non-TAFE providers approved to deliver apprenticeship programs.
- The 100,000 free apprenticeships will be on offer over the next four years and include all 121 courses currently funded under the Smart and Skilled program.
- For more information, including details about how to enrol from July 1, click here.
- A record $15billion will be spent on school funding this year as the Government ramps up its recruitment drive to lure more quality teachers to NSW public schools.
- An additional 900 full-time teachers will be rolled out in schools across NSW to ensure the future success of our children and young people.
- Since coming to Government, the NSW Liberals and Nationals have added 4,569 teachers into the public school system.
- New teachers will be deployed to areas experiencing population growth, such as the north west and south west Sydney.
- Expectant mums, new parents and newborns will benefit from a landmark $157 million Parents Package in the NSW Budget.
- The funding will boost the number of midwives and family health nurses, invest in testing and treatments for children’s diseases, and provide practical and emotional support to parents.
- The funding includes 100 more midwives, extra child and family health nurses to support new parents both in hospital and at home.
- In addition to the Parents Package, the NSW Government has also fast-tracked $11.5 million in the 2018-19 Budget to expand and refurbish the birthing suite and refurbish existing operating theatres at St George Hospital.
- A record $1 billion in new re3current funding brings the 2018-19 Health Budget to $23 billion, supporting vital hospital and community health services and employing an extra 1,370 frontline health workers.
- The NSW Government announced an extra 950 nurses and midwives, 300 doctors and 120 allied health workers for hospitals and health services across the State.
- The 2018-19 Health Budget will include $23 billion in recurrent funding, in addition to the yet-to-be-announced infrastructure investment.
- People living with mental illness, their families and carers will benefit from a record investment of $2.1 billion in mental health services and infrastructure funding in the NSW Budget 2018.
- This significant increase on last year will ensure critical mental health services meet the needs of people in NSW experiencing mental health issues.
- The record mental health Budget includes the $700 million state-wide Mental Health Infrastructure Program to support the 10-year Living Well reform of mental health care in NSW.
- This is the biggest single investment in mental health infrastructure in Australia’s history and will help us build specialist mental health units in Western Sydney for young people, mother and their babies, older people, and enhance ‘step-up stepdown’ capacity in the community.
- Service NSW will soon take on the new role of cost of living cop on the beat, actively searching for better energy deals for consumers, which could help households save more than $1,000 a year on their bills.
- Consumers will soon be able to quickly change electricity deals via Service NSW’s new free ‘One-Click Energy Switch.’
- Service NSW will pilot the new service in coming months across Service Centres in Wynyard, Lismore, Parramatta, Taree, and Wetherill Park, with a wider State rollout later this year.
- NSW businesses will receive a boost to their bottom lines with $881 million to be returned to their pockets in payroll tax cuts over the next four years.
- The NSW Government will lift the payroll tax threshold from the current level of $750,000 to $1 million by 2021-22.
- Nearly 40,000 businesses will save up to $5,450 each in 2018-19 and up to $13,625 per business in 2021-22.
- To further help businesses, the Government announced the Review of Payroll Tax Administration earlier this year.
- The increase to the payroll tax threshold means more than 5,000 businesses will no longer need to meet payroll tax compliance costs by 2021-22.
- NSW Treasury is seeking the views of stakeholders with final submissions due on 6 July 2018.
- The NSW Government has committed to a record paramedic workforce boost, and will deliver an extra 750 paramedics and ambulance call centre staff over the next four years.
- Communities across the State would benefit from the employment and training of the first round of 200 extra paramedics in the coming 12 months.
- The Budget included $944 million in recurrent expenditure – up $51.3 million from last year’s Budget – and an additional $72 million in capital works.
- This record boost to the paramedic workforce will improve paramedic safety and wellbeing and, importantly, their continued service to the community.
- A new $100 Creative Kids rebate will allow young people to experience cultural and learning activities outside of school and help ease cost of living pressure for parents.
- The new program takes lead from the hugely successful Active Kids program announced last year with $216 million of funding allocated over the next four years.
- From January 1, 2019, parents of school-aged children will be able to access both the $100 Active Kids Rebate and the $100 Creative Kids Rebate each year for every school-aged child.
- The Creative Kids Rebate will be available online or in person at a Service NSW centre, with more information around eligibility criteria for both parents and providers to be made available in the coming months.
- People living and operating businesses in regional NSW will continue to benefit from a record infrastructure spend, after the NSW Government secured billions of dollars in additional funding for regional towns as part of the NSW Budget 2018-19.
- The Snowy Hydro Legacy Fund will be invested in visionary projects that will deliver for regional NSW for generations to come.
- The Budget also includes $40 million for scoping studies into potential projects that may be supported by the Fund.
- The new Fund comes on top of the monies already committed to rural and regional NSW infrastructure projects in the 2018-19 Budget for the next 4 years.
- NSW Budget 2018 features historic firsts for education, including record funding to expand the number of new and upgraded schools, unprecedented investment to air condition more classrooms and universal pre-school for three year olds.
- The Government will be investing $6 billion over the next four years to deliver more than 170 new and upgraded schools, including planning for more than 20 new projects.
- In another landmark initiative, NSW will become the first Australian state to provide universal access to community preschool for three years old under a $197.8 million program.
- This brings total spending on early childhood education to $474.3 million in 2018-19.
- The community will be better protected from high-risk offenders who hold violent, extremist views, thanks to an $89 million investment by the NSW Government.
- The $89 million over four years will fund frontline officers, surveillance, compliance checking, intelligence gathering and other activities of the Terrorism High Risk Offenders Unit.
- THROU is a joint operation between Corrective Services NSW and NSW Police to manage offenders.
- The NSW Government will for the first time issue sustainability bonds, the proceeds of which will fund projects that deliver environmental and social benefits to the residents of NSW.
- A sustainability bond is a bind where the proceeds raised are exclusively allocated to projects that are environmentally or socially responsible.
- The bonds will be issued by NSW Treasury Corporation (TCorp) and will complement the existing general purpose bonds already issued by TCorp.
- TCorp will aim to issue its first Sustainability Bond in the second half of 2018.
BUDGET SHINES SPOTLIGHT ON COST OF LIVING
- Families across NSW could save thousands of dollars each year, with $19 million committed in this year’s Budget to develop a new Cost of Living Service designed to improve access to and awareness of Government rebates and refunds.
- Customers will be able to access the Service through a face-to-face interview in Service NSW Centres, via a simple online process, or by phone speaking directly to a Service NSW representative who can provide personalised feedback on what savings might be available.
- The service will be piloted in the second half of this year, with the findings to help inform a state-wide rollout.
- This new service could help a typical household save more than $1,000 a year on their bills.
$196M FOR A HEALTHIER ENVIRONMENT
- The NSW Government has committed $196 million in the 2018-19 Budget to protect the health of the environment, reduce waste and strengthen recycling.
- The 2018-19 Budget provides support for programs and initiatives to reduce litter and waste, tackle illegal dumping and strengthen recycling.
- There is also funding for the emergency clean-up of asbestos, managing James Hardie Asbestos legacy sites at Parramatta and support for the Broken Hill Lead program and the management of PFAS.
SUPPORTING THE STATE’S MOST VULNERABLE
- Vulnerable children and families, those at risk of homelessness and victims of domestic violence and sexual assault will be better protected and supported with a $6.8 billion investment in the FACS cluster that will help them improve their lives and build their future.
- The Budget will deliver a $59 million boost to the child protection frontline over four years which will see more caseworkers and continue the Adoptions Taskforce’s record-breaking and nation-leading work in finalising adoptions from out-of-home care.
- The Budget will invest more than $33 million over four years in new funding to deliver the Aboriginal Housing Strategy that will provide homes and wraparound support services.
NSW GOVERNMENT CONTINUES TO BACK OUR KIDS: $474.3M INVESTMENT IN EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION
- The NSW Government is investing $474.3 million on our youngest learners in the 2018-19 Budget – a $29.8 million increase on last year.
- The Budget includes a record investment of $197.8 million over four years to provide universal access to community preschool for three year olds across NSW.
- The NSW Government will also invest in the 2018-19 Budget on a range of Aboriginal Affairs initiatives.
- The NSW Government is continuing its strong support of Aboriginal communities in NSW Budget 2018.
- The Budget includes $10 million over four years for a social impact investment to improve Aboriginal economic development opportunities.
- Funding for the Aboriginal Languages Trust is a critical step in continuing to acknowledge the value and importance of language to our First Peoples.
- The new strategy will focus on partnerships with local Aboriginal community housing providers to provide better services and more opportunity for our tenants.
- The NSW Government has delivered a record $3.9 billion budget for the NSW Police Force in 2018-19.
- More than $118 million has been dedicated in this budget to build six new police stations and redevelop eight regional police stations in towns across the state.
- Given the ongoing threat of terrorism, $12 million has also been invested in facial matching services in NSW under the National Biometric Matching Capability.
- One hundred new police officers, funded as part of this year’s record State Budget, will be deployed later this year.
- The 2018-19 NSW Budget includes $10 million to slash red tape for small businesses and funding for initiatives that put consumers first and protect workers.
- There was also significant investment in SafeWork initiatives to help bolster workplace safety, and improve the health and wellbeing of NSW workers.
- The Budget continues to deliver for businesses, and small businesses in particular, with $320 million in 2018-19 to support the vital work of NSW Fair Trading and SafeWork NSW, including $10 million specifically targeted at cutting red tape.
- Protecting seniors from elder abuse, connecting to the digital world, and easing everyday living costs are key initiatives to be delivered for older people in the NSW Budget 2018.
- The NSW Government will invest $8.8 million to ensure communities are more accessible and inclusive for seniors.
- The Budget will empower seniors across the State to live better lives by keeping them connected to the community, their family, and friends.
- NSW Budget 2018 supports the State’s NSW Ageing Strategy 2016-2020, which responds to the opportunities and challenges of the ageing population.
- For more, click here.
- NSW Budget will invest more than $3 billion to support people with disability in the NDIS.
- The investment will empower people with disability to live their lives independently and achieve their goals in more inclusive communities.
- More than 85,000 people with disability in NSW are already benefitting from the NDIS, including over 16,000 people who have not previously accessed government funded specialist disability supports.
- Over $6 million has also been committed to supporting youth and volunteers in NSW.
- NSW Budget 2018 provides multicultural communities with world class language services, and the delivery of partnerships and community grants.
- An investment of $12.4 million will continue to promote social cohesion by engaging with communities and funding grassroots multicultural festivals, partnerships, and events.
- Last year more than 160 festivals, partnerships, events, and programs were supported by the Liberal and National Government.
- In the coming year, more than 40,000 assignments in more than 100 languages will be delivered through the NSW Government’s world class interpreting and translation services.