The Federal Government delivered its first budget on Tuesday night since taking on the leadership position.
The focus of Labor’s national budget was to provide relief to Australians facing cost-of-living challenges in an economy currently fuelled by inflation.
For small business owners, beauty salon owners included, this budget was hoped to tackle concerns around the skilled labour shortage and falling wages.
Some of the largest funding announcements were aimed to benefit working mothers with the provision of significant financial incentives surrounding childcare and Paid Parental Leave. Currently, 97% of Australian beauty therapists identify as female.
It was announced that $4.7 billion would be directed over four years toward the delivery of cheaper childcare to the 1.26 million families requiring these services. Expecting mothers will also benefit from the $531.6 million spent over four years to expand the government’s Paid Parental Leave program from 18 to 26 weeks.
To help alleviate staffing shortages, the government has promised to deliver 480,000 fee-free TAFE places (of which the first 180,000 places were promised last month), and a $50 million TAFE Technology Fund to modernise TAFEs. Around 50% of beauty-related qualifications are attained through TAFE, recent data shows.
Mature employees have also been incentivised to continue in the workforce with a boost to the Work Bonus scheme.
Rental costs are anticipated to continue rising – a sore point for salon owners managing their businesses’ overheads. It was also predicted that retail electricity prices will increase by 20% nationally by year’s-end, upping to 30% come 2023-24.
In line with the Labor Government’s investment in climate change policy, however, small businesses will be encouraged to improve their energy consumption via grants to the total value of $62.6 million.
The mental health of small business owners was also considered, with $15.1 million allocated to psychological and financial support programs NewAccess for Small Business Owners and the Small Business Debt Helpline.
For those affected by recent natural disasters, up to $200 million per year has been allocated toward disaster prevention through a Disaster Ready Fund, with extra funding also promised to flood affected areas.
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