The figures are in. Low and middle income families, old-age pensioners and carers are the big winners in tonight’s budget, while high earning families will see their health and family benefits reduced. While progressive steps have been made in regards to the introduction of paid maternity leave and increased funding for midwifery services, private obstetrician and IVF rebates have been drastically cut.
How will your family be affected? We’ve gathered the detail on the major family and pregnancy-related changes, and have the details for you below. Let us know what you think of Treasurer Wayne Swan’s new budget in the comments section.
Paid Maternity Leave
As announced on Mother’s Day, Paid parental leave will be introduced from January 1, 2011, at the federal minimum wage, currently $543.78 a week, for up to 18 weeks.
Parents who receive this payment will not be eligible for the Baby Bonus, except in cases of multiple births where parents will not receive the Baby Bonus for only the first child.
Parental leave payments will be taxable and will have an impact on the parents’ entitlement to family assistance payments, but will not be deemed income for income support payments.
Parents who choose not to receive the paid parental leave or who do not qualify will still receive the Baby Bonus and other family payments.
Primary carers will be eligible for paid parental leave if they earn less than $150,000 in the full financial year prior to the birth or adoption of a child, have worked at least 330 hours over the 10 months preceding the birth or adoption of a child and have worked continuously with one or more employers for at least 10 of the 13 months before the expected date of birth or adoption.
In some cases, the paid parental leave will be able to be transferred to another caregiver if the primary carer returns to work early.
Families Minister Jenny Macklin has attempted to justify the fact that a high-income woman with a poor partner would miss out on the payment, while a poorer woman with a billionaire husband would receive it.
“Paid parental leave is a workforce entitlement, so eligibility is connected with the individual worker,” she said.
Child care
In a move welcomed by working women, the rumours of the Child Care Rebate becoming means-tested were untrue (or perhaps intense lobbying made a difference!) It will remain at a 50% rebate on fees capped at $7200 per child, per year.
Baby bonus and Family tax benefits
The top income limit for family payments will be frozen at $150,000 combined income until 2012.
The payments themselves will continue to be indexed, though the government will bring Family Tax Benefit A into line with the other payments by linking it to the consumer price index rather than the couple pension rate.
Medicare safety net for IVF and private obstetrician fees
Although cuts to the Medicare Safety Net were widely predicted, the cuts have gone far beyond what was expected.
The Government will introduce a cap on Medicare benefits payable under the Extended Medicare Safety Net for a range of items with excessive fees including all obstetric items and some ultrasound items related to pregnancy.
From January 1, 2010, once a patient reaches the safety net threshold of $1111.60 in out-of-pocket medical fees, or $555.70 for those on low incomes, safety net payments will be capped at: – $200 for the planning and management of a pregnancy, including being booked into a hospital for delivery. – $30 for a pregnancy consultation, including blood, urine and weight checks. – $550 for the planning and management of an IVF pregnancy.
Keeping in mind that one IVF cycle can cost $6000, and many obstetrician’s pregnancy management fee sits around the $4000-$6000 mark, a few hundred dollars rebate will make these options largely unaffordable for most Australian women. “It’s going to mean that IVF for some people is only going to be available for the rich,” Access Australia chief executive Sandra Dill said.
Private health insurance
High-income earners have also been slugged with reduced rebates on PHI rebates, coupled with an increase in the Medicare Levy.
The rebate will be means tested once an individual earns more than $75,001 and a couple earns more than $150,001, and will decrease on a sliding scale, until $120,001 for singles and $240,001 for couples, at which point it cuts out completely.
In a double-whammy, the Medicare Levy Surcharge aimed at those people who do not take out private health insurance will climb from 1 per cent to 1.25 or 1.5 per cent depending on a person’s income.
Midwifery services
The budget has seen a surprise win for midwifery services. The Government will provide $120.5 million over four years for the introduction of Medicare‑supported midwifery services to provide greater choice for women during pregnancy, birthing and postnatal maternity care.
The new arrangements will allow midwives to work as private practitioners, provide services subsidised by the Medical Benefits Schedule and prescribe medications subsidised under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Schedule. The Government will also provide subsidised medical indemnity for eligible midwives working in collaborative arrangements in hospitals and healthcare settings (but not homebirths.)
A new 24‑hour, seven‑days‑a‑week helpline will also be established to provide antenatal, birthing and postnatal maternity advice and information to women, partners and families during the ante‑natal period and up to 12 months following the birth of a child.
Women in rural and remote areas will be assisted by an expansion in the Medical Specialist Outreach Assistance Program to provide integrated outreach maternity service teams for women in under serviced areas. The expanded teams will include midwives, obstetricians, general practitioners and other health professionals, such as paediatricians and Aboriginal health workers. Additionally, funding will be provided for the professional development of midwives and for general practitioners to undertake additional training to become GP obstetricians or GP anaesthetists.
Carers
In welcome news, the Government finally says it recognises the “vital role” that carers play in the community.
Those who receive a carer payment will receive the pension increases of $32.49 a week for singles on the full pension rate.
As well, a permanent carer supplement of $600 a year will be introduced for carer payment recipients and an extra $600 a year for carer allowance recipients for each person in their care. The supplement will replace the Government’s one-off bonuses and the first payment to carers will be made at the end of June.
Tax cuts
Proposed tax cuts for the new financial year, announced at the last budget, have not changed. From 1 July 2009:
First home buyers
First-home buyers rushing to sign contracts before July can breathe a sigh of relief with news the first-home owner’s boost will be extended in full for three months.
First-home owners entering contracts between July 1 and September 30 will get a total of $14,000 when they buy established homes and $21,000 for new homes.
The boost will halve for those entering into new contracts from October 1 until December 31, with those buying established homes receiving $10,500 and the latter will receive $14,000.
Sole parents
While the budget gave a well-deserved increase to aged pensioners, the pension for single parents remains unchanged, as do benefits for young people and the unemployed.
Printed from Babble Australia (babble.com.au). Copyright 2008 Allure Media. All rights reserved.