Economy

The mental health crisis in Australia has reached a new low, as nearly half of workers report feeling overwhelmed by debt. The latest Mental Health Index™, from health care firm TELUS Health, shows mental wellbeing has declined sharply after three periods of improvement. The Index, designed to shed light on the current mental health status of Australian adults, shows 78% of working Australians report a high or moderate mental health risk - the highest level since the early days of the pandemic where mental health risk spiked at 87%.

Capital markets are crucial in expanding access to long-term local currency funding for infrastructure projects in Brazil, helping to close the financing gap and improve the quality of infrastructure services. IFC is investing up to BRL780m ($150m) in an infrastructure debt fund managed by Patria Investimentos to help enhance Brazil’s competitiveness by aiding critical infrastructure investments while also helping boost capital markets development.

Federal Budgets are not only about bold and visionary futures of the economy. They must, as a first priority, ensure we are caring for and including our most vulnerable in the immediate term. It is possible to invest for the circumstances we find ourselves in now, while retaining a long term view of the horizon. Here is how we can improve outcomes for the future. 

HESTA welcomes the Budget potentially providing significant cost of living relief to women and lower income earners, funding for a much needed 15% pay rise for aged care workers and measures to encourage green investment. While the Budget had a range of measures that could assist our members, we believe there needs to be an urgent stance to address long-standing super inequities that are seeing women miss out on billions in retirement savings.

The Budget missed an opportunity to appropriately boost business productivity, a critical tool in the inflation-busting toolkit. Reducing the cost of doing business is just as important as reducing the cost of living. The measures to support SMEs on issues like greater flexibility for the ATO to support small business navigate tax issues, increase to the instant asset write-off, small business energy incentive and relief fund, and digital tech uptake will be of assistance.

The Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (AIST) has welcomed the initiatives in the Federal Budget aimed at improving the wellbeing of Australians, particularly those on low incomes. This included announcements that the tax rate on the earnings of super accounts with balances of more than $3 million would increase to 30% from 2025-26, and that employers would be required to pay super at the same time as wages from 1 July 2026.

Moving superannuation payments to align with wages could give millions of Australians $50,000 more at retirement and drastically curb Australia’s unpaid super scourge which has cost workers $33 billion over seven years. The federal government should be commended for announcing in this Budget that super should be paid on payday and not at least once a quarter, a policy change that will get more workers all the super they have earned.

On 9th May 2023, the second budget was presented by Treasurer Dr. Jim Chalmers. It consisted of several measures related to tax and superannuation, with an emphasis on aiding SMBs, promoting investment in sustainable housing and buildings, modifying the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax, and executing Pillar Two of the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development / G20 Two-Pillar Solution to tackle digital transformation of the economy.

Every Tax Time, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) focuses on certain hotspots where taxpayers are prone – either accidentally or deliberately – to make errors. So, what is expected to be on the Australian Taxation Office’s list this year? Well, essentially, they will look at two main areas; work-related expenses and claims made by investment property owners.

Atradius, a world-famous trade insurance firm, has released its 2023 Regional Economic Outlook report, setting out growth forecasts for key economies in Asia, including the outlook for a newly reopened China, and offering a long-term view on the risks of geo-economic fragmentation resulting from ongoing supply chain reconfigurations and geopolitical tensions.