A new financial year means a new budget. Here's how West Australians will fare

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4 days ago

It's a new financial year, which means a new budget is in place.
But what does this mean for West Australians, and can they expect to be better or worse off over the next 12 months?
Here's what will cost you more, where you'll get some assistance and more importantly, when it will happen.
There are several changes to this year's state budget coming into effect today that might have some West Australians revising their financial spreadsheet.
Firstly, there will be an increase of 2.5 per cent to bills like water and electricity, which will cost the average household an extra $94 a year.
For the past five years, the Cook government has been helping WA households pay their power bills with electricity credits, but those payments will be put on hold.
But it's not all bad news, with the federal government promising to shave $150 off every household's yearly power bill.
It will also cost you more to keep your car on the road.
Car registration and drivers licence fees are expected to increase by 3 per cent, which means you'll be spending more than $1,000 per annum in on-road costs for households with one car.
In their budget's key initiatives, the WA government said it would spend almost a billion dollars — or $963 million to be exact — on cost-of-living relief measures.
If you have a mortgage, it's good news, with cash rates tipped to stay low.
But for renters, the next 12 months could see little reprieve, with weekly rents expected to remain high.
The government has allocated funding towards infrastructure to build new homes but this will take time, and it's unlikely benefits will be felt over the next year.
The budget set aside $337 million for the state's residential battery scheme, which is expected to support around 100,000 households.
The second round of the WA student assistance payment will get $89 million, supporting primary and kindergarten students.
For kids taking public transport to school, the government has promised $10 million to extend free public transport in the 2026 school year.
The latest budget has also pledged stamp duty relief for first home buyers.
So, will you be better off over the next 12 months?
Alan Duncan, director of the BankWest Curtin Economics centre at Curtin University, said the budget had taken some steps to help households across the state, but it would not offer immediate relief to those struggling the most.
Mr Duncan said the amount of pressure people were currently under had taken time to accumulate and therefore would take time to overcome.
"Proportionately, the rising rental costs in Western Australia are amongst the largest in the country," he said.
"The housing supply sector has been under special pressure in Western Australia … our property sector has been quite challenged in meeting the increased demands of the housing supply."
Mr Duncan said while wages and salaries were growing at a faster rate than prices in some respects, it was still not substantial.
"If it was half a per cent … that rate of real wage growth, it will still take you possibly three or four years to get back to the purchasing power wages had before the start of this huge trajectory of rising prices," he said.
In assessing whether there are enough measures to alleviate immediate cost-of-living pressures, Mr Duncan believes we're "a bit short".
"Not everybody is able to take advantage of the lower public transport fares or the free transport for school children," he said.
"We are seeing some relief for energy costs, but that comes through the Commonwealth government's measures and the state government's electricity credits being paused."
But he said the budget has been good for the time we are in.
"In the scheme of things, we're in a far, far better position in WA than pretty much any other state in that regard, so I'm very comfortable with the strength and the sustainability of our public finances," he said.
Mr Duncan said one budget could not overcome years of accumulated pressure.
"What I'm really looking for is a continuation and a sustained commitment to improve the support measures that are put in place to help our families and our community," he said.