The budget that wasn’t meant to happen faces a record wave of complex demands
A record-breaking number of budget submissions have landed on the Albanese government’s desk. Here's what is top of mind as an election looms.
The 2025 budget will go down in history as the one that was never meant to happen. But that hasn’t stopped a record number of organisations from calling for assistance and sweeping reform at a critical time for the economy.
A deep dive by Capital Brief into the 859 publicly available pre-budget submissions to Treasury for the 2025–26 federal budget reveals that concerns over lagging productivity and the cost-of-living crisis remain front and centre.
More than 540 submissions referenced “productivity” in some capacity, while over a quarter addressed cost-of-living issues. This includes submissions from health, social, financial and community services organisations, as well as accountants, local governments, construction industry associations, business groups, universities and renewable energy lobbyists.
The Australian Council of Social Service has called for a major $5 billion investment in energy efficiency, electrification and solar upgrades for low-income housing. It has also pushed for an increase in disaster recovery payments — from $1,000 to $3,000 — and a rise in the Disaster Recovery Allowance to $82 per day, indexed to wages. The organisation has recommended lifting government support payments, including JobSeeker, Youth Allowance and single parenting payments, to align with the pension at a cost of $10 billion.
