Housing

• Governments, industry and investors have struck an accord, setting an ambitious target to build one million new homes in five years from 2024. The federal budget commits $350 million in additional funding for another 10,000 affordable homes, to get started towards the goal.
• The government will spend $13.4 million over four years from 2022-23, and $4.2 million per year ongoing, to develop a 10-year National Housing and Homelessness Plan in 2023.
  
• It is also making a $10 billion investment in the newly created Housing Australia Future Fund. The government says this will generate returns to fund 30,000 social and affordable homes over five years and to allocate $330 million for acute housing needs.

Health

• As promised in the election campaign, the Labor government is moving to make medicines cheaper by cutting the maximum Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme general co-payment to $30 per script, at a cost to the government of $787 million over four years.
• COVID-related measures receive more funding this budget, including $145 million to extend Medicare Benefits Schedule rebates for PCR testing. The government will put $808 million this fiscal year towards extending parts of its response to pandemic, including $760 million to fund 50 per cent of the cost of state and territory measures against COVID.
• The government will provide $410 million to secure and distribute rapid antigen tests, and $356 million towards distributing COVID vaccines.

Defence

• Defence funding will grow beyond 2 per cent of GDP in the next four years, as the nation funds military hardware purchases and realigns its defence posture amid heightening regional tensions.
• Ukraine's defence against Russia's invasion will gain more support from the federal government, which is spending $213 million over five years on military assistance including Bushmaster vehicles, armoured personnel carriers, howitzers and other equipment, and funding to allocate more temporary humanitarian visas to Ukrainians.

Aged care

• The government is spending $2.5 billion to increase the number of nurses in nursing homes, improve food quality and act on the recommendations of the Royal Commission.

Economy

• Economic growth is predicted to reach 3.25 per cent in 2022-23 but will slow to 1.5 per cent next fiscal year, as Treasury downgrades the nation's forecasts.
• Unemployment is expected to hit 4.5 per cent in 2023-24 and 2024-25.
• Inflation is forecast to peak at 7.75 per cent in late 2022 and fall to 3.5 per cent next financial year. It is expected to reach the Reserve Bank's target range in 2024-25.
• The government says real wages will start growing again in 2024 - when wage rises will overtake inflation.
• The deficit next financial year will be $36.9 billion, an improvement of $41.1 billion.

Disaster response

• The looming prospect of a summer of natural disasters has prompted Labor to reserve $3 billion over four years for potential future expenditure on floods or other disaster response payments.
• The government will spend $630 million over four years from 2022-23 to strengthen Australia's resilience to disasters.
  

Parental leave

• The budget includes a major expansion of Australia's paid parental leave scheme, promising $530 million to let parents access six months of paid leave by 2026. Two-parent families will have a portion of this leave reserved for each parent. Sole parents will be able to access the full six months.

Education

• Fee-free TAFE and vocational education places will grow under a $1 billion plan to increase the number of trade apprentices. The government's goal is to fund 480,000 fee-free TAFE courses, including 180,000 next year, in industries and regions with skills shortages.
• The government is ramping up spending on schools, announcing $770 million in measures to improve education. It will spend $271 million over two years from 2022-23 on capital works upgrades to school equipment and to improve ventilation in classrooms for COVID safety.
• University places will also grow for disadvantaged students. The government will spend $486 million to create 20,000 new places, starting in 2023 and 2024.

Anti-corruption

• The government will spend $263 million over four years from next financial year to create its new integrity watchdog, one of its major election promises.

Childcare

• Cheaper child care was one of Labor's major election promises, and in this budget Treasurer Jim Chalmers says the government will deliver higher subsidies for 1.2 million eligible Australian families. Under a $4.7 billion plan, it will increase the maximum child care subsidy rate from 85 per cent to 90 per cent for families for the first child in case, increasing the rate for all families earning less than $530,000.
• The government plans to maintain the current higher subsidy rate for families who have multiple children aged 5 or younger in child care. Higher rates will cease 26 weeks after the older child's last session of care or when the child turns 6.

First Nations

• The government will provide $75 million over two years from next fiscal year to prepare the delivery of a referendum on a First Nations Voice to Parliament in the Constitution.

Climate change

• The government is pouring $20 billion into energy transmission as a way to reduce emissions. The fund will provide concessional loans and equity to invest in transmission infrastructure projects that Labor says will increase storage capacity and lower energy prices.
• More than $800 million is promised in tax cuts for electric cars, a national vehicle charging network, and solar battery storage for up to 100,000 homes.
• The government wants to bolster its public service advice on climate change. It's giving the Climate Change Authority $43 million over four years to provide independent advice.
• About $225 million over four years will fund government efforts to try slowing the alarming rate of native species decline in Australia.

Communications

• The ABC is receiving a boost, as the government directs $84 million over four years to restore the national broadcaster's operational budget after a Coalition-imposed freeze in 2018-19.
• The government will spend $758 million over five years from 2022-23 to improve mobile and broadband coverage in regional areas, including $400 million to roll out mobile base stations.
• More NBN upgrades are on the way. The government will provide an equity investment of $2.4 billion to NBN Co over four years to upgrade the National Broadband Network and deliver fibre-ready access to an additional 1.5 million premises by 2025.

Infrastructure

• About $8 billion in spending over the next decade will fund priority rail and road infrastructure projects.
  
• The list includes $2.2 billion for the Suburban Rail Loop East in Victoria, $867 million for the Bruce Highway in Queensland, $500 million for planning and early works for the Sydney to Newcastle High Speed Rail, and $400 million for freight highway upgrades in South Australia.
• The aviation sector is receiving government funding, including $140 million over three years from 2022-23 for upgrades to the Hobart Airport runway and airfield facilities, and border service facilities at the Newcastle Airport international terminal.

READ MORE:

• Winners and losers
• Jim Chalmers delivers Labor's budget
• Budget's cost of living measures

Foreign Affairs

• The government is expanding its funding for regional development aid, announcing an additional $900 million in support for the Pacific and $470 million for South-East Asian nations.
• An additional $500 million over 10 years from the government's aid program will support grants from a facility financing infrastructure investment in the Pacific and Timor-Leste.
• The scheme supporting Pacific workers to work in Australia will expand, receiving $67.5 million over four years, starting in 2022-23.

Public service

• Average staffing levels will boom, growing from 173,000 to 181,000 in 2022-23.
• The Tax Office will expand as the government uses it to spearhead efforts to plug leaks in the nation's tax system.
• The government is also ripping $3.6 billion from public service spending on external labour, advertising, travel and legal expenses, flagging most of the cuts will arrive in 2025-26.
  

• Karen Barlow's budget analysis
• How the budget impacts the public service
• Mark Kenny's budget analysis
• Peter Martin's economic analysis