Recently updated on July 22nd, 2024 at 10:07 am
The Australian Federal Budget for 2024-25 has revealed huge, national investment in domestic businesses. As part of its Future Made in Australia agenda, the Australian government will implement a string of financial schemes to support the operations of small businesses and ‘priority industries’.
- The Future Made in Australia agenda introduces significant, long-term investment in priority domestic industries.
These priority industries will fall under two streams.
- The Net Zero Transformation Stream–any industry advancing renewable energy and carbon-reduced operations in Australia.
- The Economic Resilience and Security Stream–industries that strengthen domestic supply chains, notably looking at self-sufficiency in manufacturing, construction and IT sectors.
What does all this mean for your business? Some potentially big savings you can take advantage of right now. We’ve summarised the biggest wins below:
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$20k instant asset write-off
The $20,000 instant asset write-off threshold will be extended into the new financial year. This allows eligible businesses to immediately deduct assets under the threshold, up until 30 June 2025. This can cover new shop equipment, appliances, computers–anything intended primarily for business use.
Key criteria:
- The $20,000 threshold will be assessed on a per-asset basis, meaning small businesses can write off multiple, separate assets.
- This write-off applies only to assets costing less than $20,000 and first used or installed between the stated period.
Energy bill relief
The Australian Government has pledged $3.5bn in energy bill relief this budget. This translates to a one-off rebate of $325 to around one million eligible businesses. This is in addition to the $300 domestic rebate also announced.
Eligibility is yet to be confirmed, but will likely follow last year’s simple criteria for bill relief payments. Be sure to check your state or territory energy department for further announcements.
Nuisance tariff removal
The Treasury has announced the planned removal of 457 tariffs on a variety of imported goods. These tariffs have been reviewed and classified as ‘nuisance tariffs’, meaning they have little economic benefit while hurting Australian businesses.
The Treasury has stated this is a move towards “simplifying Australia’s trade system and removing compliance burdens for Australian firms.” I.e. less time wasted on proving compliance and less money lost to import tax. Affected goods range from household necessities to manufacturing supplies.
You can read the full list of abolished tariffs here.
Construction skills training
Fee-free short courses for priority industries
A key part of the Future Made in Australia agenda is the promise of a further 20,000 fee-free TAFE and VET course placements for key skills in the construction industry. This will be rolled out across every state and territory in addition to the 300,000 fee-free short courses already announced.
This includes around 5,000 pre-apprenticeship opportunities, so it’s a perfect time to start upskilling your team or to bring new talent into your workforce. Visit the fee-free TAFE and VET hub to search for relevant courses in your industry.
Priority industries include
Construction
Manufacturing
Defence
Technology & Digital
Talk to Spark, your trusted co-pilot
Continued incentives for renewables
As one of the major investment streams of its Future Made in Australia agenda, the government has revealed a huge $22.7bn of long-term spending in clean energy and renewable industries. The focus is on bolstering domestic skills and job opportunities in these sectors, which include:
- Establishment of a $1.7bn Future Made in Australia Innovation Fund to support new enterprises
- A 10-year funding extension to the Australian Renewable Energy Agency
- $44.4 million investment in the Energy Industry Jobs Plan
- $134.2 million in funding for skills and employment support
- $1.3bn expansion of the Hydrogen Headstart program
- A 10-year, $6.7bn Hydrogen Production Tax Incentive to fast-track Australia’s commercial hydrogen projects
You can read in greater detail how your business can benefit from these incentives in the full 2024-25 budget overview.
Small Business Wins
Alongside major funding announcements, the Australian Government has also outlined a large number of schemes aimed specifically at supporting small businesses. We’ve summarised the stand-outs below, but you can read through a detailed overview in the official Budget 2024-25 Small Business Fact sheet.
Payment Times Reporting Regulator
eInvoicing network
Small business helplines
$10.8 million over two years to extend the Small Business Debt Helpline and the NewAccess for Small Business Owners program. These two programs support small business owners through confidential, free-to-access services for financial counselling and tailored mental health coaching.
Paid Parent Leave scheme administration
In line with the expansion of the Paid Parent Leave scheme, there will be a dedicated $10 million in funding to help small businesses administer this scheme.
Franchising Code of Conduct
$3 million over two years will be used to remake the Franchising Code of Conduct, ensuring fairer conditions and better access to dispute resolution in the franchising sector.
Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman
What’s next for the financial year?
This budget has put the accelerator on domestic businesses. Now’s the time to start investing in your company’s future, as it’s unlikely you’ll see the same level of time-limited support schemes again.
But if you’re not sure where to start–that’s ok! The team at Spark are always available to discuss strategy, especially if you’re looking to break into the online market. We’ll help you uncover the opportunities waiting to take your business to the next level.
